ATo the east of Lake Garda and south of the Lessini Mountains, between the walls of the city of Verona and the banks of the river Adige, small villas were built in line with the style of the time, Art Nouveau, to house the military officers of the Royal Post Office of the newly born kingdom of Italy. Built in the same mould, until the 1950s it was possible to visit six of them in the same neighbourhood.
In those same years, grandfather Ghelli Santuliana bought "Villa Alice" to make it his main residence and to house part of his wealth from the mountains: wood and coal. Aware of the precariousness of such a resource, his grandfather had a "barchessa" built next to the villa, in which to store wood and, later, paraffin.
However, due to the high consumption taxes imposed by the Italian government on hydrocarbons, he soon had to give up this last project as well: this is how the idea of building the Hotel San Marco came about.
Hotel San Marco has invested more and more since 1987 to offer the best to its guests. The original building had 36 rooms, with an adjoining breakfast room. An indoor swimming pool, a sauna and a small fitness area were also built into the building.
Two years later was joined the historic "Marietta" conference room of 63 square meters.
In 1990 the superelevation of the structure of a floor marks the add of 12 rooms and in 1993 more 14 rooms are joined on the right wing of the existing building. An year later is inaugurated the new porch breakfast room (1994).
In 2005 is further expanded the connected structure, with the add of 50 deluxe rooms, one restaurant and a new breakfast room both with modular walls, an underground garage on 3 levels and a conference centre with no comparison able to contain till 400 people and able to be divisible in 6 rooms of 30 people each.
In 2007, the indoor pool was considerably enlarged and a 1,000-square-metre wellness centre was designed and built around it, with a fitness area with modern equipment, a wellness area with swimming pool, whirlpool for up to 8 people, 2 relaxation rooms, a herbal tea room, Kneipp bath, tropical spiral shower, cold spray shower and, last but not least, 3 cabins: Turkish bath, Roman bath and sauna.
In the second decade of the 2000s, Hotel San Marco changed its look again by renovating its wardrobe. We made a radical transformation, rebuilding the original 36 standard rooms and moving the main entrance from Via Longhena (now the service entrance) to Via San Marco. From here you can see the picturesque garden over which stands "Villa Alice", the Art Nouveau villa that houses our exclusive Liber-Tea Room in the old living room, the scene of music concerts and the ideal place to sip an aperitif or a hot tea: in this place, where it all began, we start again.
The Ghelli Santuliana family is waiting for you. Become part of our history!
