The ANNOTICO Report

 Why should  The Fasano be considered the best modern European hotel? The reason is: the Fasano family has poured generations worth of Italian heritage into their new venture, the quality of  the hotel's service and  aesthetic is unmistakably old-school European, and is unassuming but quietly impressive.

The well traveled speak about the place in disconcertingly hushed tones, and are the same who most often lambast the dire state of Europe's modern hotel offerings.

The Fasano family, were immigrants from Milan, Italy  to Brazil in 1902.  The Fasano chain now consists of ten highly regarded restaurants and cafes, including this new jewel in it's crown, that of South America, and Europe!!!

The Financial Times
London, England
By Laura Houseley
March 25 2005
 

It's not that I've been purposefully searching for the perfect European hotel. That would be, after all, a rather pretentious way to holiday. But it is fair to say that regular travel, for work and pleasure, does sharpen the senses when it comes to checking in and checking out new places to stay.
So it is with genuine surprise that I find myself enthusiastically recommending my latest favourite European hotel to everyone I come across. The hotel is new (it opened in September 2003) so it usually wouldn't even register on my radar. And its not in Europe - but that's a minor detail.
The Fasano hotel is a hefty red brick tower that hugs the sidewalk in the wealthy Jardins district of San Paulo. The building and its interior are the work of the country's most celebrated contemporary architect. Rogerio Fasano, is the current head of the fabulous (in the most glamorous sense of the word) Fasano family, immigrants who arrived from Milan to Brazil in 1902. The Fasano family's San Paulo properties now consists of ten highly regarded restaurants and cafes.
The architectural style is slick and sophisticated, but much more than that he has an understanding of scale and function that makes it work more than simple eye candy....The hotel is a fine piece of architecture certainly, but why should I consider the Fasano to be the best modern European hotel? Its a bit far fetched I know.
The reason is this: the Fasano family has poured generations worth of Italian heritage into their new venture, the quality of service is unmistakably old-school European and the hotel's aesthetic is more believable as a modern interpretation of a Lake Como chalet than a South American tower block.
I'd heard about the Fasano from friends and colleagues who spoke about the place in disconcertingly hushed tones. As these were the same friends who most often lambasted the dire state of Europe's modern hotel offerings with me, I took them seriously. And I wasn't disappointed. From the well turned-out bell boys to the tweed upholstery on the bar stools, I lapped up every intricate detail of the Fasano from the onset. I liked the story about how, three years ago, Fasano himself would visit the owner of a building that sat on the current site of the hotel every day for six weeks and tell him about his dream until he agreed to sell.
Indeed he is both an ambitious professional and a warm, affable man. That combination of professionalism and intimacy is the magic ingredient he has instilled in the Fasano's service. During my stay the concierge thought nothing of riding around the city all morning with me in a taxi trying to track down an obscure building I wanted to photograph.
Neither was he too jobsworth to enlist my help in choosing a birthday present for his niece. You get the impression that Fasano doesn't have much time for fakes. His staff are polite and smart but savvy too.
Most of them are gleaned from the other Fasano enterprises across town and have long been under Fasano employment or come fresh from Europe's best hotels (Marco Vazzoler, the general director comes from the Four Seasons in Milan).
Atico Alves, an adorable doorman with a face as wrinkled as an old crab apple has worked for the Fasano family for over 60 years - the sum of this experienced and characterful staff are a charming foil to the stereotypes of a "new" hotel.
Excellent service aside, and there are plenty more examples, the Fasano's luxurious interior design is a real crowd pleaser. Weinfeld employs rich hardwoods on every surface possible. Amber lighting, leather and brass are other constants. Weinfeld likes to call the interior "hand-crafted" and that, in a fashion, is accurate. In true testament to the passion behind the hotel's details, he and Fasano took themselves off to Europe to source each antique sofa individually for the lobby.
The design plays with scale a lot; the huge curtained doors on the exterior of the building lead you, Alice in Wonderland style, into a small and dimly lit bar area. Rogerio was adamant, that the first thing to greet his guests would not be a huge, oppressive reception desk - this can be found hidden away around a corner. The rooms include such covetable features as a marble shower with banquette seat, electronic exterior blinds to cut out the blaring San Paulo sunshine and a bed that is big enough that, should you roll over to the other side, you may find yourself in another time zone.
The Fasano restaurant is a bustling, extravagant space. It's a natural draw for the glitterati of San Paulo society and has achieved Rogerio's principle ambition of being cited as the best Italian restaurant in the city. The menu includes some intricate dishes but the best on offer comes in the form of set menus that chronicle the ingredients and culinary habits of different Italian regions - delicious.
From the Fasano's burly exterior with its fleet of shiny black Chrysler cars lined up outside to the elegant silver cocktail stirrers served with every drink in the smokey Baretto bar, the hotel is unassuming but quietly impressive.
These are the qualities that run through the building as a conscious stream of thought. And they are the details that could easily convince you the Fasano has always been in existence, just like other classic hotels with their familiar faces, steadfast approach to service and wonderfully ageless interiors.
Staying at the Fasano reminded me of favourite hotels, places filled with personality, such as the SAS Royal in Copenhagen, Excelsior Gallia in Milan and the Hotel des Bain in Venice Lido. Fasano has ensured that his hotel is marinated in European spirit, service and visual splendour. It succeeds because of this heady cocktail - and every other quick-fix European boutique hotel would do well to take note.
And the only problem with the Fasano? If it were in Italy then maybe I could visit it a little more regularly.
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