The past: my present and your future

I would like to tell you what brought me here… My name is Andrea, and this is my story.

THE BEGINNING

As fate would have it, my grandfather Andrea bought the small villa in the Calanca area of Marina di Camerota in 1962.
At that time, the villa was rented to two Austrian ladies, Ms Lausch and Ms Conrads, who sell in love with Marina di Camerota and decided to spend part of their lives in this corner of Cilento.
Ms Lausch, the owner of two tourist agencies, had the idea of bringing in German tourists to enjoy the beauty of the Cilento coast. So, she asked my grandfather if she could extend the villa to create a guesthouse with breakfast and meals.
My grandfather accepted the proposal and on 30 November 1963 submitted a project to the municipality of Camerota for a single-storey extension with four double and two single rooms. Once the work was completed, the small guest house was named “Casa Calanca” and the management of the business was handed over from Ms Lausch to Ms Anna Maria Wiese Zoltan, who ran it until 15 November 1968.
At that time, the rooms were on the second floor, the kitchen was where the bar is today, Ms Zoltan’s bedroom was where the lounge bar is at present and the breakfast and dining room was where the lounge and TV room is now.
In the almost five years that Ms Zoltan ran her guesthouse most guests were German. At that time, the transport routes were nowhere near as developed as they are today. The Autostrada del Sole (Milan-Naples) was only opened on 4 October 1964, and from Naples you had to cross the whole of Campania via mountain roads. This is also the reason why Marina di Camerota and Cilento were still unknown and were only gradually discovered and appreciated for the natural beauty of the coast and the beaches.
In 1968, my uncle Vincenzo took over the joint management of the hotel with Ms Zoltan. However, this arrangement lasted only a few months, because in March 1969 my uncle gave up the business, as he had obtained his diploma as an electrical engineer and opened a shop for electrical appliances in order to live his great passion.
At this point, my grandfather decided to entrust the management of the guesthouse to his other son Giuseppe (my father). Giuseppe, known as Pino or Pinuccio, was attending the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy in Naples at the time and was well prepared to take on such a job.

Far-sighted and hopeful for the future of tourism in Marina di Camerota, Pinuccio thus began his new adventure. In the meantime, in 1968, my grandfather presented the municipality with an expansion project which would transform “Casa Calanca” into “Hotel Calanca”. The project involved the rear of the building, where the garden was located, with the construction of the restaurant and kitchen on the ground floor, and on the upper floors the capacity was increased to 19 double rooms and one single room, also changing the appearance of the building. My father’s business began on 1 May 1969 with the arrival of the first guests, the activity taking place mainly in the summer months. During this first year, the kitchen was run by my grandmother Iolanda and her granddaughter Sofia. The famous “scarpetta” (whereby bread is used to clean the plate at the end of the meal) was the prerogative of every guest who tasted her cuisine and a sign of their appreciation of her cooking. On 10 December 1978, my father married my mother Rosanna, who worked with him in the hotel for 34 years, until December 2012. In the 1990s, my father had a multi-purpose room for meetings built in the basement and added an attic apartment and the swimming pool. Throughout all these years, the management of the business was very much a family affair in which my siblings Vincenzo and Iolanda helped out alongside me. This allowed us to grow and acquire new knowledge with an open view of the world. The summers, even if they were exhausting and stressful for us, have left us with wonderful memories. We made many friends with whom we are still in contact today, met our first childhood sweethearts, and my brother Vincenzo even met his partner during that time.

In 2013, when my father decided to retire, that’s when my adventure began – a generation change in which my management has continued with the same values that accompanied my parents throughout their working lives. Today, my companion, Valentina, has joined forces with me on this “adventure” and is a great support not only to me personally, but also to the hotel. With her valuable contribution and her enthusiasm, she ensures that all our guests and staff feel at home. So, now you know my family history… I hope that you, too, will soon be a part of it. I look forward to your visit!
Andrea Bifulco

The past: my present and your future

Marina di
Camerota / SA
Via Luigi Mazzeo, 18
84059 - Italy

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