Our story as Orobie Alps Resort began not long time ago, in 2016, but actually has its roots far beyond in time and is a family story, which has been passing from generation to generation for over a century.
The Second World War was in progress, when grandpa Tarcisio Barbanti, engaged as a technician for aircraft construction at the historic Breda factory in Sesto San Giovanni, was captured by the German army together with other 562 people. Only 9 of them were able to escape, under different circumstances, from the means of transport going to Germany. He was right one of them: grandpa Tarcisio managed to find a refuge in a small mountain village called Roncobello.
Here he met a girl called Rosa - everyone used to call her “Ilde” – who, together with her parents Paolo and Angelina and his brother Giorgio managed the historic “Trattoria Alpina” later known as “Alpino” right in downtown Roncobello.
In 1948 Ilde and Tarcisio got married and after a few years spent together running the Trattoria Alpina, they came to the conclusion that it was time to take one step further and start a new adventure. In 1964, just out of downtown Roncobello, the construction works for a new hospitality business began: the aim was to give a new drive and opportunity both to the village and tourism in the valley.
The resort was born on 29 June 1965, day of St. Peter and Paul, patron saints of Roncobello, as Hotel Milano, an avantgarde 2-star hotel offering a restaurant and 32 rooms, some with a shared bathroom, other with a private bathroom (a real luxury at that time). Granma Ilde and her husband Tarcisio Barbanti were the managers of the resort.
In 1992 Rosa and Tarcisio entrusted their son Luciano and his wife Maria for the management, who decided to renovate the hotel taking it to an upper level turning it into a modern 3-star hotel: the rooms were reduced from 32 to 26, all equipped with private bathroom and TV.
Evolution is not over, on the contrary, has just begun: on 26 May 2016 the well-known Hotel Milano officially becomes “Orobie Alps Resort”. It's not just the name that changes, but the whole hotel and the concept itself: after a new refurbishing arrive new rooms and comfortable suites, then also spacious apartments, a wellness center, a new restaurant and new services. The management now passes to Paolo, the son of Luciano and Maria, who in the meantime has been training in the hotel industry, and his girlfriend Katia.
Two years later, on 26 May 2018, Carlotta was born; on 2 May 2021 also Tessa: the Barbanti family and the hotel are now in their fourth generation.
New pages of our resort’s story need to be written… and we just can’t wait to share them with you!
