Never give up!

Valeriano Antonioli, CEO of Lungarno Collection

A fter A ll the ch A llenges A nd eventful esc A pA des , here is the first ch A pter in our new story , p ortr A it M il A no

When Leonardo Ferragamo asked me to direct his family’s hotel portfolio, which he had founded in 1995, I had 14 moves and 30 years of intense living behind me, which had seen me go from Milan to Saint Petersburg, Los Angeles and Phoenix, with various stays in Germany and the United Kingdom along the way. From Arizona, the was ready to come back to Europe. My wife and I wanted our daughters to grow up in Italy and for them to fall for our culture and beauty. Florence was the perfect solution and Lungarno Collection was the right challenge for me; I’ve always enriched my life with new experiences, transforming whatever

I’ve happened to have in my hands. After a few years, I succeeded in assembling a fantastic team and elevating the hotels in the the time there were four hotels in Florence and one in Rome), but it was already clear that there was the need for a top-tier brand rich in content that could be replicated and recognized in other cities. Hence, the creation of the Portrait brand in 2013. ‘Portrait’ is an encounter between two portraits: that of the guest and the host city. The pillars of its success would be a city centre location, families too) and exceptional personalized service aimed at optimizing the guests’ stay and creating memorable experiences and opportunities.

While these ideas became reality with the conversion of Portrait Suites into Portrait Roma and the opening of Portrait Firenze, in 2014 we started to look for possible connections between Portrait and other big cities. Portrait Milano was the product of in December 2022 after nearly 10 years of Bishop’s Seminary), and opened to the public not only as a hotel, but as a piazza destined to become a hub of life and events in the heart of Milan’s fashion district. It’s a story of when reality surpasses the dream!