In the south of Tuscany, where the rolling hills turn into rocks and the sea draws closer, the region shows its wild side. On the Monte Argentario peninsula, everything is a little more intense: the scent of the pine trees, the screeching of the cicadas, the salty air from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The days seem longer, the evenings softer – as if time flows more slowly here.

On this very coast, where land and sea meet like old friends, a special place was created in 1965: Il Pellicano – a hideaway that is still one of the most elegant hideaways in Europe today.

A story of love – and style

Il Pellicano was born out of a transatlantic love story: British jetsetter Michael Graham and his wife Patsy fell in love with this coast – and founded a small hotel here, named after a pair of pelicans that reminded them of their own faithful connection. From the very beginning, the house was more than just a place to stay: it was a meeting place for friends, thinkers, artists, aristocrats and eccentrics. It was a way of life.

The Italian entrepreneur Roberto Sciò later took over the property and gave it architectural depth and timeless charm. Today, his daughter Marie-Louise Sciò runs the hotel – as creative director, hostess and stylistic visionary. She has succeeded in preserving the heritage and shaping the future at the same time. Not loudly, but with intuition.

Il Pellicano embodies a rare blend of intimacy and cosmopolitanism. The architecture is minimalist Mediterranean, but never austere. The colors are soft – white, ochre, sea green – yet full of expression. Everything seems to have been carefully chosen: The terracotta tiles, the sunlight on the fabrics, the smell of lavender and rosemary in the air.

You don’t stay here to be seen, but to disappear – into your own being. Into the infinity pool, into a glass of Vermentino, into a conversation by candlelight. The surroundings do the rest: Porto Ercole, the small harbor town within sight, looks like a hidden watercolor spot on the horizon.

In culinary terms, the heart of the hotel beats in the Michelin-starred restaurant “Il Pellicano”, where head chef Michelino Gioia creates sensual compositions from regional ingredients – never pretentious, always sincere. The cuisine reflects the hotel: grounded, Mediterranean, timeless.

The wine cellar is also a journey through Italy, curated with profound knowledge. If you want, you can drift from the bar to the bay – with a Negroni in your hand and the feeling that life really does taste better here.

On its 60th anniversary, Il Pellicano is in full bloom – not as a nostalgic monument, but as a living icon. The atmosphere has remained, the standards have grown. Numerous regular guests have been coming for decades, while new visitors discover the magic today via ISSIMO, the hotel’s own platform for design, enjoyment and style.

Highsnobiety × Il Pellicano – a capsule collection for the new Dolce Vita

On June 11, 2025, Il Pellicano is celebrating its latest collaboration: together with the Berlin lifestyle collective Highsnobiety, the hotel is launching an exclusive capsule collection. The result is a wearable love letter to the Italian way of life – and a new way to bring the magic of this place into everyday life.

The collection includes stylish essentials: hoodies, T–shirts, terry shorts, beach accessories – subtly branded and inspired by the colors, textures and nonchalance of the hotel. It will be available from June 11 via the Highsnobiety app, on issimoissimo.com, in the hotel’s own boutique and in the Highsnobiety flagship store in Berlin.

A fashionable echo of an attitude to life that has been at home at Il Pellicano for 60 years – between sunset and morning dew, between past and future.

Photos: Hotel Il Pellicano & Highsnobiety

---