The Hotel

The Hotel and Avallone’s Family
After the end of the War in 1945, the Hotel continued to be requisitioned until 1947, the year in which the owner Loelinger died.
The Hotel was inherited by Loelinger’s son, Hans, who however put the Hotel up for sale at an auction. At the auction, the Hotel was awarded to Francesco Avallone, an attorney, who became the proprietor and initiated the restoration of the Hotel after the occupation.
These were the years of the referendum between monarchy and republic, the rebirth of the city after the allied air raids; tourism was a standstill and many years were to pass before it was to acquire a new driving force.
Naples was still however a live city with albeit few hotels. Francesco Avallone squared up to the task of restoring Hotel Parker’s to its rightful position at the top of Neapolitan Hotel accommodation
So many famous people who left their mark on the Sixties and Seventies have passed through the salons of Hotel Parker’s, always expressing their enthusiasm for the marvelous view and the warm welcome of the city, but as we continue to stress, their thanks should go to the discretion of the staff of the Hotel and the fact that they are assured a peaceful stay far from fans, paparazzi and journalists.
As we sadly recall, on November 23, 1980 the region of Campania was hit by one of the most tragic earthquakes ever recorded. Naples was also damaged, although to a minor extent, with cracks in many constructions and historical buildings including Hotel Parker’s.
The building had to be restructured without however altering the external architecture of the façade. An arduous task, involving both soul-searching and courageous decision that the proprietors, Francesco Avallone and his daughter Sissi completed successfully, endowing the city with a renewed Grand Hotel Parker’s.
Work started in 1982 and was completed in 1990. Eight years of work that, while safeguarding the monumental façade with the beautiful Liberty arcade, redesigned the interior, without however impairing the historical character of the Hotel and retaining that particular atmosphere of the time and of the travelers who have experienced this.
Those who enter the Hotel today cannot help but admire the sumptuously-decorated salons and the authentic antique furniture that the proprietors have arranged in the salons and rooms, the paintings and the bronze and marble sculptures that decorate the walls of the Hotel and the antique library with around 700 volumes dating back to the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th.
Many companies have preferred the warm, welcoming atmosphere of Grand Hotel Parker’s and the impeccable professional expertise of its staff, combined with an ancient tradition of hospitality. The managers of the major international cosmetics industries have preferred this Hotel that also traces a path of styles and eras in the connotations of the furniture and fittings that stretch from Louis XVI to the Directory, from Charles X to Empire style; the attentively-selected shades of colors, a successful blending with those of the Gulf just outside the front of the Hotel.
In 1990, Naples hosted the World Soccer Championships, an event that helped relaunch the image of Naples all over the world after twenty years of transition for the tourist sector. The rediscovery of the city’s cultural and artistic heritage, always present in the minds of cultivated tourists, also proved to be highly effective in attracting visitors.
There is no doubt however that a cultural event such as “Napoli Porte Aperte”, firmly desired by a non-institutional organization such as “Napoli 99”, has succeeded in rekindling the interest of that large swathe of not only foreign tourists who, for years, have “skipped” the city on their way to the resorts of Amalfi and Sorrento coast, considered to be safer.
The unequalled cultural heritage of Naples has promoted the city to a prominent place on the Italian scene and the large Neapolitan hotels are also part of this “wealth”.
Grand Hotel Parker’s is undeniably the oldest of these and has preserved its peculiar trait of being present with discretion in a city that has always been warm-heartedly chaotic.
During the G7, the Russian delegation headed by Boris Yelstin, accompanied by his wife, lodged at Parker’s. They were visited by the British Premier John Major and the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Other distinguished visitors to Naples included the President of the United States, Clinton and his wife Hillary. Parker’s has offered its hospitality to such famous personages as the author Domenico Rea, Princess Alexandra of Greece, Prince Philip of Bourbon, the heir to the Spanish throne, the ballerina Luciana Savignano, the film director Nanni Moretti, the actor Giorgio Albertazzi and Nino Manfredi, the actress Stefania Sandrelli and the amusing Lino Banfi and Pietro de Vico; without forgetting David Bowie, Amii Stewart, Zucchero and the historical rock group Deep Purple.
In the year 2000, Grand Hotel Parker’s will have one hundred and thirty candles on its birthday cake, each representing a milestone in the long history of this Hotel that has witnessed the dawn of a new society, projected towards the new century of progress, which is now drawing to a close.
Parker’s is preparing to enter the new millennium, firmly supported by its history and experience, with new services to be offered to guests and an unswerving commitment to identifying solutions in tune with the times without, however, forgetting its long life.