Midweek catch-up with Italian hotelier Gaia Quartucci

By sudeshna

This week, we sit down with Gaia Quartucci, global sales and marketing director for a family-run collection of boutique luxury hotels in Sicily: Villa Ducale, Villa Carlotta and Q92, part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the world group.

Tell us about how your family came up with the inspiration for a boutique hotel?

Creating Villa Ducale as a boutique hotel was an idea of my parents, Andrea and Rosaria almost 30 years ago. It was originally my grandmother’s house – she gave it to my mother, and at that time only had nine rooms.
My dad at that time was a lawyer in Rome, but hated the job, and he hated living in Rome. When my grandfather passed away, my dad said to my mum ‘right, let’s sell my practice, you have your house, let’s do something different’. They were very young! They created this concept which didn’t really exist back then. And everyone thought they were crazy. Because it is up there on the hill, there was nothing there. But they fell in love with the view.

How did you become involved in the family business?

Villa Ducale was doing well, we expanded to 19 rooms and my parents bought Villa Carlotta in the centre of Taormina. A couple of years back, the business was going well and we had a family reunion. My parents said to my brother and me, ‘Okay, guys, what do you want to do? Do you like this world, you want to keep going or do you want to do something else?’
They didn’t want to push us in this direction but they wanted to know if we would be willing to continue on. Personally, I started working when I was 13 on my family property. I know what it means to work in a hotel. I grew up living and breathing hospitality. I really love this job so I said, yes, I want to keep doing this. My brother said the same (we both studied hospitality at university, you see). My parents then acquired another hotel which became my baby – Q92 is a Baroque palace in the heart of Noto.

Where did you train for this job?

I have a bachelor degree in hospitality management and business administration from Lyon University, which is a Swiss university, but I mainly studied in London to improve my English. I also did an internship in Hong Kong and my second one in London at the Savoy Hotel. After graduation I decided that I still wanted more experience. I moved to Florence and worked at a five star hotel there in the marketing department. I moved back to Sicily to open Q92.

What has been your experience of being a woman in the hospitality business?

It is a bit tricky as a woman in business in a place like Sicily. And I am quite young too. So I just do everything to show I am not above anyone. I will scrub the bathroom and serve coffee as well as work on the marketing strategy!

What would you say to the Australian travel industry and travel advisers about Sicily?

What I really love about Sicily is our culture and our heart. Our hospitality is known all over the world, we are so welcoming. This warmth is just part of our culture, people will invite you to their home, cook you a meal, give you everything, even if they have nothing. We treat our guests like if they were old friends coming and you know, we want them to be happy. The philosophy is family, and coming here offers a real and authentic experience. Each of our properties has a soul and you can say that about most of the places you visit here in Sicily.

Advertise with us

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

boutique accommodation boutique hotel Hotelier italy sicily slh small luxury hotels of the world Visit Italy