The Essentials With Hotelier Mariella Avino: Vintage Umbrellas, MAC Lipstick and Amalfi Coast Magic

As the co-owner and managing director of Ravello’s glamorous Palazzo Avino, Mariella Avino is well-versed in all things travel and design. The Italian hotelier is involved in every aspect of the Amalfi Coast property, from researching and creating the precise pink-and-white striped vintage umbrellas to use in the pool area, to sourcing artwork, to selecting the merchandise for the hotel’s on-site boutique, The Pink Closet, which opened in 2019.

While hospitality is in Avino’s blood, she didn’t join the hotel in an official capacity until 2011. “Deep down, I always knew that my path would eventually lead me to the hotel,” Avino tells Observer. Her father purchased the property in 1995, and subsequently completed two years’ worth of renovations before opening Palazzo Avino as a hotel in 1997. “Year after year, there were different additions and renovations—the spa, the gardens, the swimming pool. In 2009, we opened the beach club. It’s a project of love—every year, we add bits and pieces to it,” Avino, who runs the hotel with her sister, Attilia, shares.

Two years ago, they renovated Rossellini’s, the Leading Hotel of the World‘s Michelin-starred restaurant, and last year, they renovated the inside bar, Caffè dell’Arte, and refreshed some of the public spaces by reception, adding rattan furniture and plenty of plants. Avino traveled to a gallery in Naples to source artwork, and selected a Joseph Kosuth piece with 18 neon signs, which is now permanently installed in the hotel.

“We try to be consistent with our history, and respect that in our renovations,” Avino says. “The hotel now has a very specific identity.” On a recent trip to the 42-room hotel, I—like pretty much every other guest at the property—found myself snapping photo after photo of the unapologetically pink decor, particularly the pink-and-white umbrellas. The aesthetic has become so synonymous with the hotel and the area, I assumed they’d been there for decades, but Mariella informed me that they’re actually a relatively new addition to the property, from within the last five years. She had been researching vintage umbrellas, and fell in love with one particular style, but faced another hurdle when it came to actually creating them. “It was not easy to find an artisan who could make them—they have a specific design, but they’re special; they’re made with wood, not steel or an easier material. But I just loved the aesthetic,” she shares, and was able to take the time to properly source and create the umbrellas.

It’s that attention to detail that helps Palazzo Avino stand out, even among the glitzy hotels that dot the Amalfi Coast landscape. The hotel has amassed a dedicated following of in-the-know jet-setters, many of whom eagerly flock to the property summer after summer, sharing photos of those now-iconic pink-and-white umbrellas and sun loungers.

Avino takes a similarly detail-forward approach with the Pink Closet. “I always had a very strong passion for fashion, along with travel and the travel industry. Throughout the years, on every business trip, I would take a couple of days to research local designers. I knew in my mind I always wanted to have a boutique,” Avino tells Observer. While the hotel already operated a small pop-up shop, it wasn’t big enough for what Avino had in mind, and she waited for the right space to really bring her vision to life.

“I was a bit stuck,” she admits. “Then, in 2018, the art gallery right in front of Palazzo Avino went for sale. I said to my dad, ‘Let’s buy the space and do something with it.'” The family purchased the gallery space, and Mariella immediately began researching architects. She chose Cristina Celestino, who had worked with Fendi and Sergio Rossi, and who had, as Avino puts it, “a very nice pink touch in her works.” The Pink Closet opened the following year, and it quickly became popular both with hotel guests and other travelers to the area. Avino takes inspiration from her travels and online research, perusing Instagram and looking into small designers. She’s an ambassador of the Camera della Moda fashion trust, and sources from their list of young designers, as well.

Palazzo Avino will close from October through April, but that doesn’t mean Mariella is taking time off. This off-season, the sisters are working on the on-site cooking school, which Avino is hopeful will debut next year. “Every year we try to explore one topic more than another. It’s nice to write a different chapter in the story every year,” she explains. As Avino comes off another successful summer, she sat down with Observer to share her current essentials, from her go-to Amalfi Coast pastry shop to what’s in her travel bag.