Imaginative Tourists by Romanelli Family

Imaginative Tourists, the genesis

Take a Venetian family of hoteliers for three generations, who for sixty years have welcomed travellers from all over the world into two hotels – Hotel Flora and Novecento – and a residence, Casa Flora – each with its own unmistakable warmth and charm.

Take, too, the need to craft a special kind of hospitality which, beyond offering a “beautiful room”, could provide an authentic perspective on the city, through unexpected experiences and genuinely heartfelt advice.

Consider the tourist who, in recent decades, has increasingly longed to return. To experience the lagoon with curious eyes and with the respectful attitude of someone who already lives there. To be welcomed as a friend.

And finally, imagine an extraordinary archive of guestbooks in which stories, drawings and characters intertwine. Think: memories of guests who stayed in Venice feeling at home more than in a hotel; the tangible testimony that a certain kind of tourism truly exists, if only one knows how to recognise it.

It is from the interplay of these elements that “Imaginative Tourists” comes to life – the first By Romanelli Family project exploring the possibilities of a sensitive, unconventional kind of tourism. One that rises above the clichés we tend to associate with tourism itself. And one which, in Venice of all places, despite the millions of visitors, continues to grow.

The project is also an invitation to reflect on the By Romanelli Family’s heritage, and on the narrative, non-extractive form of hospitality they have cultivated over the years.

Imaginative Tourists, the project

Leafing through a treasure-trove seemingly suspended in time — where past and present merge — ARCHIVIO.COM explored guestbooks chronicling the story of one of Venice’s most renowned hotelier families, alongside vintage photographs, old documents and other heirlooms.

From this material, they reimagined the unique connection that forms between host and guest, and that feeling of an unrepeatable, unforgettable journey that stays with us long after our days — or weeks — as a tourist.

Who is the Imaginative Tourist? The ideal guest: someone unafraid of the word “tourist”, who inhabits a place with intention, whether for a fleeting visit or a longer stay, and in harmony with those who call it home. A traveller with an open spirit, able to feel both elsewhere and at home at the same time.

This project therefore speaks not only to tourists, but also to those who welcome them, because hospitality is a universal language — one that unites cultures, heals wounds, restores connections and brings distances closer. In a world growing ever more closed, opening a door is a revolutionary act.

Imaginative Tourists is, above all, an invitation to rediscover the joy of travel and to mend our relationship with tourism. In Venice too.

Imaginative Tourists, the exhibition and postcards

To share the archive and research carried out in recent months, By Romanelli Family has chosen to open the doors of Casa Flora — the place that most fully reflects their way of welcoming others: a home by name and nature, open to the city all around it, rooted in its social fabric and always looking outwards to the world.

The most meaningful messages found in the guestbooks have been reinterpreted and transformed into vivid contemporary illustrations with a subtly retro charm by the talented Sarah Mazzetti, a Bologna-born illustrator who has known Venice both as a visitor and as a resident, and who is internationally recognised for her multidisciplinary approach to image-making.

For two days, on 14 and 15 November, Casa Flora will become her studio and temporary home, hosting an exhibition of ten previously unseen, dream-like works that bring to life some of the most remarkable stories uncovered in the guestbooks.

Completing the exhibition, spread across every room of the house, are the original guestbooks, print fragments, vintage photographs and meaningful archival finds that together tell the story of By Romanelli Family.

Sarah Mazzetti’s illustrations will continue their journey as a collection of art postcards, presented in beautifully crafted sets to be shared within the By Romanelli Family venues and throughout the city.

By Romanelli Family, the story

It was 1965 when, just a stone’s throw from St Mark’s, Hotel Flora opened its doors. Founded by Diana and Alessandro Romanelli together with their son Ruggero, the hotel — with its damasklined rooms and period furnishings — quickly became, thanks in part to Ruggero’s flair, a cherished landmark in Venetian hospitality, distinguished from the many hotels in the city by its warmth and eclectic circle of guests.

The legacy of Hotel Flora has since been passed down through the generations to Gioele who, together with his wife Heiby, created Novecento in 2002 — a small and charming nine-room, ethno-chic hideaway, where their desire to offer guests a more genuine and personal stay first took shape.

From here, Gioele and Heiby began to define a new idea of hospitality. This first found expression in Inside Venice — a digital editorial project dedicated to sharing the city through stories, itineraries, interviews, perspectives and collaborations with artisans, locals and creatives — and later, in 2017, in Casa Flora, a fully bespoke Italian-designed home where the space itself becomes an experience.

Gioele & Heiby in the Hotel Flora's garden

Today, conscious of the heritage built over time, and continuing to nurture the relaxed atmosphere, artistic sensibility and creative partnerships that have long defined their family, Gioele and Heiby present By Romanelli Family: a boutique brand uniting all their projects under one identity, renewing and reimagining a traditional craft with a contemporary outlook.

The first project launched under By Romanelli Family is Imaginative Tourists, which sets out the portrait of the ideal guest the family has always sought to welcome.

Sarah Mazzetti, biography

Sarah Mazzetti is an illustrator known for her multidisciplinary approach to image-making. Her commissioned work is characterized by a strong influence derived from her constant personal research and artistic practice focused on drawing.

Her illustrations have been featured on The New York Times, The New Yorker, Die Zeit, Esquire, Vanity Fair and Wired, among others. Her commercial clients include Louis Vuitton, Warby Parker and Dr. Martens.

Some of her most recent works are Elsa, Morandi e l’Uovoverde (Canicola Edizioni, 2023) and Il Parco della Luna (Ciao Discoteca Italiana, 2023). In 2019 she received the International Award for Illustration Bologna Children Book Fair/FUNDACIÓN SM. She currently teaches Illustration at ISIA (Urbino) and at IUAV (Venice).

Imaginative Tourists

Postcards from a Guestbook Archive

By Romanelli Family

Artwork by Sarah Mazzetti

Curated by ARCHIVIO.COM

Casa Flora, Venezia

Open House 15 November 2025

11 am - 6 pm

↓ Dive into the story Italiano ↓

Imaginative Tourists, the genesis

Imaginative Tourists, the project

Imaginative Tourists, the exhibition and postcards

By Romanelli Family, the story

Sarah Mazzetti, biography

Curated by
ARCHIVIO.COM

Imaginative Tourists, the genesis

Imaginative Tourists, the project

Imaginative Tourists, the exhibition and postcards

By Romanelli Family, the story

Sarah Mazzetti, biography

Curated byARCHIVIO.COM

Curated by
ARCHIVIO.COM