The Family

A story that starts from afar

The Gallia name is closely tied to the history of Italian hotel hospitality. Carlo Gallia is its founder. Fascinated by the brilliant career of Cesar Ritz (considered "the hotelier to kings") in the late 19th century, at the age of 17, he left his family to learn what was then called "the art of the foreigner," and remained abroad for 15 years. He worked in various European countries, alternating between tourist destinations and major cities (London, Paris, Berlin, Lucerne, Monte Carlo, St. Moritz).

Having established himself in his profession, he returned to Italy and opened the Hotel Excelsior Gallia and the Grand Hotel Continental in Milan. Luxury hotels had become the center of high society life, and the Gallia family, thanks to their exclusive hospitality, soon became a symbol of the finest hotel tradition in Italy.

The most social events of the time took place in this family's hotels, and great artists such as Rubinstein, who were performing at the nearby Teatro alla Scala, stayed there, as did pioneers such as Umberto Nobile and the other members of the famous expedition of the airship "Italia" to the North Pole.

The Gallia family also paid particular attention to the evolving needs of business travellers and was a key player in important innovations in the tourism sector. For example, the Grand Hotel Continental was the first hotel at the time "to be completely lit with Edison-style electric lighting (thanks to an internal generator) and equipped with a Stigler hydraulic lift."

Meals were also prepared here for the first planes serving the "new" Milan-Brindisi route (Seaplanes), thus giving rise to one of the first examples of aeronautical catering (1931).

The quality of hospitality of the Gallia family, now in its fourth generation, is still passed down and renewed today in the exclusive Hotel Cavour in Milan, the Gallia Palace Hotel in Punta Ala, and the Hotel Lantana in Sardinia.