SAN GIULIANO (PISA). Right in front, right across the street, Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley lived at the beginning of the 19th century. However, Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama have also recently stayed inside and then, among others, Renato Zero and Sabrina Ferilli. «In the 2000s, together with the Region and the management company, we completed the recovery plan for the entire structure of the San Giuliano Baths» says Matteo Cecchelli, the new mayor of the Municipality. To be precise, the last intervention was the redevelopment of the Bagni di Levante, inaugurated in August 2013. Overall, the investment for the recovery and redevelopment interventions was almost 20 million euros, 4.5 million paid by Region and Municipality, co-owners of the spa establishment (50% for one) and 14 million in the account of Terme di San Giuliano srl, the then management company.
Then came the Fonteverde Collection and today there is the Ihc Italian Hospitality Collection. The scheme and strategy, however, do not change: the palace chosen in 1743 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany as his spa residence, since the early 2000s has been called “Bagni di Pisa Palace” and is an exclusive five-star resort and spa. «It is highly sought after especially by foreign customers, Northern European and American, but also Russian, who stay there, using the spa and then move on to the nearby art cities of Pisa and Lucca, but also Florence, or to the seaside resorts of Versilia» says the mayor.
The property is public (of the Municipality and the Region) and IHC manages the establishment. It is a synergy between public and private that, for now, works quite well. Now the priority of the municipal administration is the redevelopment of the historic center of San Giuliano Terme: “We have some construction sites already underway and others that will start in the coming months”, explains Cecchelli. The goal? We want to ensure that at least some of the visitors who frequent Bagni di Pisa choose us not only for the spa”.
