Amalfi Hotels: Palazzo Sasso Renamed Palazzo Avino

Five-star Palazzo Sasso on the Amalfi Coast is renaming itself the Palazzo Avino, starting in 2013. Following a legal battle over the use of the Palazzo Sasso name, the hotel’s owners have decided to rename it in honor of the hotel’s founder.

The hotel was founded by Giuseppe Avino, the owner of a successful tomato canning factory who built the hotel out of a shell of 12th-century ruins perched atop a hill along the Amalfi Coast in Ravello, in 1997.

“For 15 years, my father was always behind the scenes, making the important decisions,” says Mariella Avino, the new managing director of the hotel. “Now, the family has decided to lead the management part of the hotel and, with a name-change pending, publicly put our face on the hotel. We will all be involved - especially my sister Attilia and me.”

Mariella holds a degree in business administration (Hotel Management) and worked as a credit analyst (Luxury Hotels division) for HSBC in Milan before attending a Master in Hospitality Administration at the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne and entering the family business three years ago.

“The idea of having the Avino name on the hotel is actually very special for me and my sisters, Attilia and Mariavittoria,” Mariella said. “We have no men in the family besides my father, so our name, Avino, will eventually disappear. But with `Palazzo Avino’ the name will always remain. My grandfather is no longer with us, but now his name is here forever. I know this would have made him very happy.”