THE STORY FROM CAMANA
THE BIRTH
“Le steita feita su in dal’an dal 1970 da Sandro da Bepin da Giusef Motin Brozol.”
THE FAMILY MEANING
Many will wonder what this phrase means, it means that this house was built in 1970 by Sandro son of Giuseppe son of Giuseppe Mottini. Brozol is the family’s nickname and represents a two-wheeled cart on which our ancestors transported goods.
WHO IS SANDRO
Sandro is a curious character in the Livigno area. Several newspaper articles are written about him, ranging from skiing, pastry making, the importation of champagne and much more.
THE LIFE
In his life as a visionary mountaineer he traveled the world curious about what he could bring home. Both physically and as simple ideas.
ALPINE INFLUENCES
Hanging out in nearby Switzerland and Austria, he began to see restaurants and hotels with rooms finely furnished in pine with carvings and inlays by true artisan artists.
THE BIRTH OF A DREAM
It was in these places that the idea of building his own hotel began to flash in our Sandrino’s head.
STRATEGIC POSITION
Fortunately, building land was not a problem and it was right next to the Livigno hotel. Property of his father.
SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE
Stubborn in his pursuit of exclusivity, it was not enough for him to furnish it with new wooden rooms but he decided to recover the old walls and ceilings of the houses that existed where Lake Livigno now stands, dating back to the 1600s.
MATERIALS AND INNOVATIONS
The works progressed and Il Camana took more and more shape with cutting-edge materials and technologies. An example are the Swiss brick bricks never used in Livigno until that moment as well as the adjustable light dimer in the room, the built-in music system, the bell to call to the kitchen from the private room, the ice cream batcher and the pedal sheeter. .
MULTIFUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE
The structure consisted of a large bar and ice cream parlor on the ground floor where he planned to sell his cakes, a kitchen and, at the bottom of the stairs, a sauna for use in the rooms.
THE RESTAURANT
The restaurant room was located on the first floor, where there were also bathrooms and a technical hallway to make room for the room’s lift. The location of the restaurant room has remained unchanged.
ROOMS
The 17 rooms were distributed on the second and third floors, as today.
START OF HOTEL BUSINESS
He decided to improvise as a hotelier supported by his wife and a hotel manager from Como, inaugurating the business in December 1972.
INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
He coordinated it until 1975 with a Swiss director (who emigrated to Australia) and Alfons, also Swiss. (emigrated to Santo Domingo).
HOTEL RENTAL
Given the many commitments of those years he decided to rent the business. First it was carried on by her niece Erika until 1978 and subsequently by a dining room manager expert in luxury services on cruise ships named Cirrincione.
MICHELIN SUCCESS
Camana entered the Michelin guide as a restaurant. The room was always packed with people, the service in the room was very important. Fish were filleted, crepes and prawns were flambéed. Turtle broth was a luxury in those years like smoked salmon.
CARLA TAKES COMMAND
This continued until 1992 when Carla, Sandro’s third daughter, a recent graduate in languages, decided to take charge of this structure.
TIME PASSES
The telephone switchboard was still manual, the rooms were small, the curtains and accessories were starting to show the signs of time and the customers were starting to demand more and more.
THE FIRST MODIFICATIONS
First he decided to move the kitchen to the dining room floor in order to enlarge the common area for the guests of the rooms.
NEW LOCATIONS
He moved the bathrooms to the place of the sauna and created a telephone booth for those who needed it.
THE REFURBISHMENT
After careful evaluation he decided to renovate the roof and the rooms, increasing them from 17 to 12 and inserting an elevator into the structure.
PATERNAL ADVICE
Sandrino monitored the construction site with his watchful eye, dispensing advice and supporting his daughter in this ongoing project.
THEMATIC ROOMS
Each room has a themed noticeboard with period objects and is equipped with a hydromassage tub or hydrojet shower, in one of the rooms there is an infrared sauna.
BREAKTHROUGH
The hotel qualified highly and went from two stars to three and after a few years the fourth star also arrived.
UNDERGROUND RENEWAL
The basement was renovated, creating more spaces for warehouses, laundry and ski/bike room.
MODERN RENOVATION
Finally the ground floor was renovated, giving the Camana that modern and chic touch by optimizing the spaces as much as possible by combining the warmth of the fireplace, the new bar and finely matched furnishings.
CARLA, EFFECTIVE MANAGER
Carla, with her unmistakable style, innate hospitality and excellent knowledge of languages, managed the structure excellently for a total of thirty years.
NEW DIRECTION WITH MATTIA
In 2022, Mattia, Sandro’s youngest son—who had already worked as a chef in the structure from 2007 to 2011—together with his wife Silvia, decided to embark on this challenge, striving to keep the authenticity of Camana intact while offering a unique and personalized service for the years to come.