Luxury hotels in Italy and the local culture
Enjoying a stay in any of the luxury hotels in Italy is naturally going to be enhanced by having even a passing knowledge of the local culture. While visiting the north of Italy, you will meet occasional clusters of predominantly German, French and Slovene Italians. Alternatively, a visit to the south of Italy will bring you into contact with predominantly Albanian- and Greek-Italians.
The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, yet there is also a well-established Jewish, Protestant and Muslim immigrant community. Italy’s official language is Italian, with roughly half of the population speaking a regional dialect. Friulian is spoken by roughly 600,000 north Italians. Other minority languages include German, Ladin and Slovene in the province of Alto-Adige, along with French in the Alpine region of Val d’Aosta.
Family is of the utmost importance in the Italian culture, with families in the north usually residing with only the nuclear family, while in the south extended families co-exist under one roof. An invitation to dine in an Italian home is always a welcome treat, but do remember that Italians are quite fashion conscious, so dress elegantly. An invitation stating informal dress will still require as jacket and tie for the men and an elegant dress for the ladies.
It is considered polite to present the hostess with a wrapped gift, usually of a good quality wine or chocolates, or one may have flowers delivered on the day of the occasion to show one’s appreciation for the invitation. Any of the luxury hotels in Italy that you choose to stay at should be able to arrange flower delivery for you, or alternatively, point you towards a suitable shopping destination.
As mentioned before, Roman Catholicism is the primary religion in Italy. Each day of the year has at least one patron saint associated with it and most businesses will have at least one statue representative of a patron saint or even a crucifix in the entryway. Each profession has its own patron saint and children are often named for a particular patron saint. Luxury hotels Italy are no exception and you will notice religious memorabilia here as well.