Royal Victoria Hotel 12, lungarno Pacinotti – 56126 Pisa, Toscana +39 050 940 111
Pasquale Piegaja, a member of a rich family of landowners from Lucca, graduated from the University of London and, well introduced to society, first began to accompany English aristocrats to discover Tuscany thus, providing them with appropriate structures, including his own villa.
He soon understood and took up the opportunity to start his own business in this sector, starting in 1837 the dynasty of passionate hoteliers, acquiring the Palazzo Del Vigna-Aulla together with some surrounding buildings, now the Royal Victoria Hotel.
From the beginning, he managed to create a structure of high level of hospitality, with services worthy of the elite range of customers who soon started to attend the hotel.
Between 1896 and 1904, thanks to Domenico Piegaja, important renovations were started which, while maintaining the old style, adapted the comfort to the levels of the time, with electric light, running water, heating, the lift and the telephone.
After five generations, today it is Maurizio and Nicola Piegaja who follow the family tradition of hospitality with an always careful look at the future.
Over the years the hotel has undergone the usual modernizations and structural renovations that have led it to be the first hotel with the telephone, the first hotel to have central heating, the first hotel to have an elevator and, despite the inclusion of these "modern installations" in such an ancient context, very little has been modified of the original aspect since the renovations have always been carried out with attention to the smallest details, in order not to affect the ancient materials and send it to us perfectly preserved, with the same light, the same essence, the same breath of time.
The current appearance of the facade of the hotel dates back to 1912 when the front of the tower house existing on the left side of the building was demolished and it was incorporated into the basic building. The result was the opening of a sixth row of windows on the façade to replace the tower itself. At the same time, terraces were built on the first floor, the sandstone cladding of the ground floor and the elimination of the bottom rostrums.
The living spaces of the hotel are almost the same where illustrious steps of yesterday and today resounded, the large hallways on the various floors lead us to rooms where Liberty involves us because on the walls, on the ceilings and on the windows and where the walls tell us about our history.
