The Essentials With Hotelier Mariella Avino: Vintage Umbrellas, MAC Lipstick and Amalfi Coast Magic

As the co-owner and managing director of Ravello’s glamorous Palazzo Avino, Mariella Avino is well-versed in all things travel and design. The Italian hotelier is involved in every aspect of the Amalfi Coast property, from researching and creating the precise pink-and-white striped vintage umbrellas to use in the pool area, to sourcing artwork, to selecting the merchandise for the hotel’s on-site boutique, The Pink Closet, which opened in 2019.

While hospitality is in Avino’s blood, she didn’t join the hotel in an official capacity until 2011. “Deep down, I always knew that my path would eventually lead me to the hotel,” Avino tells Observer. Her father purchased the property in 1995, and subsequently completed two years’ worth of renovations before opening Palazzo Avino as a hotel in 1997. “Year after year, there were different additions and renovations—the spa, the gardens, the swimming pool. In 2009, we opened the beach club. It’s a project of love—every year, we add bits and pieces to it,” Avino, who runs the hotel with her sister, Attilia, shares.

Two years ago, they renovated Rossellini’s, the Leading Hotel of the World‘s Michelin-starred restaurant, and last year, they renovated the inside bar, Caffè dell’Arte, and refreshed some of the public spaces by reception, adding rattan furniture and plenty of plants. Avino traveled to a gallery in Naples to source artwork, and selected a Joseph Kosuth piece with 18 neon signs, which is now permanently installed in the hotel.

“We try to be consistent with our history, and respect that in our renovations,” Avino says. “The hotel now has a very specific identity.” On a recent trip to the 42-room hotel, I—like pretty much every other guest at the property—found myself snapping photo after photo of the unapologetically pink decor, particularly the pink-and-white umbrellas. The aesthetic has become so synonymous with the hotel and the area, I assumed they’d been there for decades, but Mariella informed me that they’re actually a relatively new addition to the property, from within the last five years. She had been researching vintage umbrellas, and fell in love with one particular style, but faced another hurdle when it came to actually creating them. “It was not easy to find an artisan who could make them—they have a specific design, but they’re special; they’re made with wood, not steel or an easier material. But I just loved the aesthetic,” she shares, and was able to take the time to properly source and create the umbrellas.

It’s that attention to detail that helps Palazzo Avino stand out, even among the glitzy hotels that dot the Amalfi Coast landscape. The hotel has amassed a dedicated following of in-the-know jet-setters, many of whom eagerly flock to the property summer after summer, sharing photos of those now-iconic pink-and-white umbrellas and sun loungers.

Avino takes a similarly detail-forward approach with the Pink Closet. “I always had a very strong passion for fashion, along with travel and the travel industry. Throughout the years, on every business trip, I would take a couple of days to research local designers. I knew in my mind I always wanted to have a boutique,” Avino tells Observer. While the hotel already operated a small pop-up shop, it wasn’t big enough for what Avino had in mind, and she waited for the right space to really bring her vision to life.

“I was a bit stuck,” she admits. “Then, in 2018, the art gallery right in front of Palazzo Avino went for sale. I said to my dad, ‘Let’s buy the space and do something with it.’” The family purchased the gallery space, and Mariella immediately began researching architects. She chose Cristina Celestino, who had worked with Fendi and Sergio Rossi, and who had, as Avino puts it, “a very nice pink touch in her works.” The Pink Closet opened the following year, and it quickly became popular both with hotel guests and other travelers to the area. Avino takes inspiration from her travels and online research, perusing Instagram and looking into small designers. She’s an ambassador of the Camera della Moda fashion trust, and sources from their list of young designers, as well.

Palazzo Avino will close from October through April, but that doesn’t mean Mariella is taking time off. This off-season, the sisters are working on the on-site cooking school, which Avino is hopeful will debut next year. “Every year we try to explore one topic more than another. It’s nice to write a different chapter in the story every year,” she explains. As Avino comes off another successful summer, she sat down with Observer to share her current essentials, from her go-to Amalfi Coast pastry shop to what’s in her travel bag.

Her favorite beauty products

For skincare, I like an Italian brand called Veralab. It’s actually founded by a very strong and smart entrepreneur [Cristina Fogazzi]. I think she has the best products for removing makeup. There’s one product called the Luce Liquida, it means liquid light. It helps keep the skin very bright. It feels like a tonic.

For makeup, I love everything Charlotte Tilbury and MAC. I have a MAC lipstick that I buy almost every month, in the Ruby Woo color. It’s my 100 percent go-to. I rarely go out of the house in the morning without my lipstick.

When I travel a lot, I use a lip mask, as well. I use different brands, I don’t have a specific one I love, but it’s something I always travel with.

What’s in her travel bag

I must have my scarf. I have a couple—always black; I love my iconic Louis Vuitton one. I always have a small version of my makeup and skincare to bring with me, and a sweater. I think it’s fundamental to have skincare set and makeup sets. Those are two things I will never travel without, and I have my favorite products that I always keep with me when I travel. Then I always have a black jacket and a pleated skirt. [I bring a] bigger shopping bag and a small purse where I can have the phone and the passport in hand. And comfortable shoes—I love ballerinas. I have to admit, I love the Chanel ones.

Her favorite hotels on the Amalfi Coast

I really love places with some tradition. In this area, it’s very difficult to pick a favorite hotel—I love Le Sirenuse, Il San Pietro di Positano, Santa Caterina. I love them all, because I think each of them has something very special and different to one another. And I really think we all do keep the soul of the region in a certain direction, each of us with our own visions, but similar in respecting the traditions of the area. I am a big fan of Capri. The J.K. Place is one of my favorite hotels; it’s a strong hotel and brand.

A place that inspired her

I loved going to India—it was one of the last big trips I did, and I found lots of inspiration there, especially in terms of the colors, the textiles, the mix of materials. It was very, very special. We went to Jaipur—the Pink City—and to Agra, Udaipur, and New Delhi, which I loved. We stayed at the Lake Palace in Udaipur, and I loved the atmosphere there. I want to go back soon.

A favorite from the Pink Closet

I am a fan of rattan, and I found a local artisan who makes these bags for us in natural rattan and in different colors, from yellow, pink and red. It’s a vintage look, and we sell so many of them. You can tell that they’re artisanal, because they are all very different, and you can see that they are not coming out of a machine. That’s a special part of it, and the number one item we sell.