The
hotel “Croce Bianca” in the Dolomites has
a long history that goes back to the 19th century. The
story takes you back in 1869 when all this area including
the magical mountains called Dolomites was still a part
of the great Austro-Hungarian Empire ruled by the Habsburg
family. Everything started precisely on the 2nd of September
when Andrea Detone’s tavern called “l’ost
dal bosch” (ladin for: the innkeeper in the woods)
got its first license to sell wine, spirits and all kind
of products from the colonies like coffee, tea and others.
Then in 1882 the innkeeper
Andrea Detone, who originally was from Alba, had been
given the permission to give bed and board to the first
tourists coming to see the famous mountains. Nevertheless
those years were not easy for Andrea Detone; in summer
he took care of his guests in Cianacei and from October
to May he worked very hard as painter and decorator in
Switzerland like many others around this area. Right at
that time the most famous and luxurious hotels in Switzerland
were called “Weisses Kreuz”(German for: White
Cross), so Andrea thought it to be a good start calling
his own inn in Cianacei like the best hotels in Switzerland.
Together with his son Josef he started restorations in
his guesthouse and in 1905 the “Weisses Kreuz”
was provided with some out-houses with a place for the
diligences, a post office and of course a stable were
to change horses.
The real jump in quality took place in 1929 when Josef,
together with his son Ermanno, amplified the hotel taking
the total numbers of bedrooms up to 39. They were all
equipped with cold and hot running water and- except for
the central heating- all the comforts one can imagine
for that time. In those days, instead of the central heating,
there were traditional wood burning stoves in each room;
fire was lit in the morning by two local ladies that were
very careful to make as little noise as possible when
entering the bedrooms where most of the guests still laid
in bed. A truly romantic picture of life at the turning
of the past century! Due to the First World War peace
treaty and the new setting of borders between Austria
and Italy, the Dolomites became Italian territory and
so the hotel “Weisses Kreuz” was translated
into the Italian “Croce Bianca”.
Around 1940 the idea of winter tourism in the pale mountains
got to Canazei. It was mainly Francesco Dezulian called
“del Garber” (family nickname in ladin, the
local language) that brought up the idea and took the
first tourists to get to know the mountains. This new
perspective required of course new investments for the
Detone family. Therefore in 1939 the final step for tourism
during the whole winter season was done and the central
heating was installed in the hotel.
The actual hotelkeeper, Armin Detone, recalls that time
as the era of the first scientist, explorers and mountaineers,
wealthy people who were enchanted by the pale mountains
and had a real passion for them.
In those days during the winter and the summer season
German and Hungarian tourists confirmed once more an ancient
tradition reaching back to the time when this area was
still a well known part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire
and both, the Emperor and his most famous wife Elisabeth,
adored the Tyrolean country.
The Second World War transformed the “Croce Bianca”
into barracks first of all for the German Wehrmacht, then
for the Americans and at last for the Italians. The war
left the hotel almost completely destroyed, so that it
was rented to the “pro Civitate Cristiana”.
Finally in 1949 the hotel returned to Ermanno, the actual
hotelkeeper’s father, whom together with his wife
Erina and their daughters Lorisetta, Iris, Marika, Anneliese
and son Armin, ran the hotel for half a century. Erina
was an exceptional woman and a marvelous cook; her meals
were simple, as well as the ingredients she used, though
the menus at the hotel were for no ordinary people. For
all her work as a hotelkeeper and her life dedication
to the increasing prestige of the “Croce Bianca”
Mrs. Detone got a star of merit. In those days the SITC
(association for the development of tourism) in Cianacei
was founded and of course that helped to increase the
number of tourists visiting the area especially during
the winter season, which had long ever since become the
most important one.
In 1970 after a four-year experience in an excellent hotel
in Canada, Armin took over the reins from his parents
at the hotel. In that same year Armin renovated two floors
of the hotel and in 1980 the big last renovation was done.
Nowadays the hotel has 45 bedrooms, all with private facilities,
thirty of them with lounge and a characteristic small
suite and a total of 83 beds. Recently the hotel achieved
his fourth star confirming its prestige but also the efforts
of the hotelkeeper’s family and their great commitment
put in the family business for over five generations.
Andrea, Josef, Ermanno, Armin, and Derik, all those names
recall a life-long effort to keep up the family tradition
in tourism and hotel-management.
And how will the future look like?
The future lies in the hands of the youngest member of
the Detone dynasty, Derik, who is already following the
footsteps of his father and his Canadian mother and who
fortunately has the right enthusiasm to carry on with
a long tradition. Therefore further investments are planned
to maintain the hotel’s historical prestige and
to keep up with the developing of tourism in our modern
world.
