The Grand Hotel Sitea is 114-room hotel that is centrally located in the city and conveniently located within walking distance of excellent shopping, the palace and museums.
In October 2004, Edward F. Nesta and I visited Turin, Italy and stayed at the Grand Hotel Sitea, part of the Turin Hotels International (THI)(www.THI-Hotels.com) collection. The 114-room hotel is centrally located in the city and conveniently located within walking distance of excellent shopping, the palace and museums. Our large room had a king-bed, desk and chair, television and mini-bar, as well as comfortable sofa and a coffee table with a large fruit basket to welcome us to the hotel. There was a large walk-in closet in the foyer, convenient to hold all of our shopping purchases. The large bathroom had a combination tub/shower, a bidet, a heated towel rack, as well as robes, slippers and ETRO of Milan amenities. Guests won’t miss any of their telephone calls since there were three telephones in our room.
Breakfast, is served in their elegant restaurant, Carignano, with an ornately carved ceiling, salmon colored fabrics grace its large windows, and when we were there, each of the tables were draped with white linen tablecloths and had fresh floral arrangements of orange daisies, greens and miniature red and green apples tucked in pretty silver containers. A large, exotic arrangement of lilies and eucalyptus separated the two rooms of the dining room. The restaurant offers breakfast guests a lavish buffet including an assortment of cheeses, meats, eggs, bacon, sausages, fruit, cereal, yogurt, fresh breads and sweets, as well as a selection of juices. To make guests feel totally at home, there was a wide variety of international newspapers to read. Attentive wait-staff and silver service started our day off to a gracious beginning each day.
For lunch, we went to the stylish Ristorante del Cambio, (www.THI-Hotels.com), located at Piazza Carignano, 2, and owned by Turin Hotels International (THI) for the last fifteen years. This opulent restaurant was built in 1757, was expanded in 1859, and has been in continual operation since 1859, and is a “must” when visiting Turin. (Read our article on the Ristorante del Cambio in our Restaurant section and recipes from Chef Giuseppe Fonsdituri in our Chefs’ Recipes section.)
In the evening, the hotel’s cozy cocktail bar was busy with activity, where Simone Fiorito, their barman, was ready to serve guests their favorite beverages. For business travelers, the hotel also has meeting rooms, and is conveniently located only 16 kilometers from the Turin International Airport. The hotel also has different public seating areas, perfect for enjoying a cup of tea or coffee, or meeting with friends. While in Turin, we also saw our friend, Alice Boccalate, who met us at the hotel for a nice chat. Although we met Alice on the yacht, the Blue Diamond (see article on the Blue Diamond in our Events section), she was in Turin finishing her Masters Degree at the University in Turin.
In addition to the 12 hotels in Italy that THI owns, as well 2 hotels in Egypt and 1 in Albania, they are pleased to announce that they will add yet another hotel to their portfolio, the Golden Palace, (www.THI-Hotels.com), Via dell’Archivescorrado, 18, which will provide Turin with a luxurious five-star hotel, and is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2005, just in time for the 2006 Winter Olympics. The 200-rooms and suites hotel will have two restaurants, a Beauty and Wellness Club with Fitness Center, Conference facilities, the latest in technology and an indoor parking garage. I look forward to visiting the Golden Palace on my next visit to Turin.
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