A New Version of the Orient Express Train Is Coming to Italy in 2023
Main Photo: The suite on the new Orient Express La Dolca Vita – imagined Photo Credit: Dimorestudio
Date: February 2022
Name: Orient Express La Dolce Vita
Location: Six different trains across 14 Italian regions, three international routes, and more than 10,000 miles of railway lines
Number of Keys: Each of the six separate trains will vary slightly from each other, but every one will include 12 Deluxe cabins, 18 Suites, one Honor Suite… Where trains start, hotels will follow
Owner: Accor, who acquired 50% of the brand in 2017, alongside SNCF as the fellow 50% owner…has partnered with Italian real estate investment firm Arsenale, with the support of Italy’s main train operator Trenitalia and Fondazione FS Italiane, which manages the country’s historic tracks and trains.
Few names in travel are as evocative as The Orient Express. The Paris-to-Istanbul railway service that pioneered a new age of transcontinental upscale train travel has captured our collective imagination for more than a century.
Next year, travellers will have a new opportunity to experience the iconic train’s reputation for adventure and glamorous style when a new iteration of the Orient Express debuts in Italy. Dubbed the Orient Express La Dolce Vita, the project will launch six different trains across 14 Italian regions, three international routes, and more than 10,000 miles of railway lines. Trips are expected to run between one to three days, and reservations will open in June 2022 for travel in 2023.
It’s been 45 years since the original Orient Express was discontinued due to a decline in ridership, though similar trains following slightly different routes have emerged over the years including the Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express rail service, part of a completely separate venture, which runs from London to Paris and Venice.
Partnering for the relaunch are French hospitality group Accor, which acquired a 50 percent stake in the brand in 2017 (the other 50 percent is under SNCF Group, France’s state rail company) and Italian real estate investment firm Arsenale, with the support of Italy’s main train operator Trenitalia and Fondazione FS Italiane, which manages the country’s historic tracks and trains.
“We are bringing back a luxury icon, but giving it an all-Italian twist,” says Paolo Barletta, CEO of Arsenale. “The Orient Express La Dolce Vita is going to offer a window into some of the lesser known parts of our country, while still stopping in Rome, Florence, and Milan, and providing that high level of service it’s always been known for. The idea is to give passengers the chance to get off the train and explore beyond Italy’s most obvious destinations—a ‘dolce vita’ experience at 360 degrees.”
Besides Italy, the revived train service will also head to three international destinations from Rome: Istanbul, Paris, and the Croatian port of Split. “Being the Orient Express, it had to have a transcontinental element to it,” says Stephen Alden, CEO of Raffles and Orient Express. “That cross-cultural spirit is what makes it special.”
But the journey will be more than just a mode of transport; there will also be “bespoke excursions” along the way, according to Alden. “You’ll be able to go truffle hunting in Piedmont in the morning, then to the theatre in Milan in the evening, and off to visit a tiny village in the Sicilian countryside the following day,” he says.
Just as it was back in the golden age of train travel, when well-heeled travelers would sometimes leave their cabins for an overnight stay in a luxe hotel, modern-day passengers arriving in Rome will also be able to check in at a dedicated Orient Express hotel, the Minerva, slated to open in 2024. The historic property—a 17th-century Baroque palace near the Pantheon—will be the first of a collection of Orient Express hotels.
“Think of it as an update on the Orient Express [legend],” Barletta says. “The rail line redefined luxury travel, and came to represent so much more than just a train. With this new project, we want to write its next chapter.”
When the original Orient Express train debuted in 1883, its carriages were among the most luxurious of the time with features like intricate wood paneling, leather armchairs, and silk sheets. On board, passengers were treated to eight-course meals served on crisp white tablecloths and the finest dinnerware, as they were whisked away to different destinations in Europe from Budapest and Munich to Venice and Paris.
According to Dimorestudio, the Milan-based design firm that’s been trusted with the decor and livery of the Orient Express La Dolce Vita, the new locomotive will strive for that same refined style, without trying to copy it.
“We’re not creating a replica, but our own interpretation of the train, with an eye towards our heritage,” says Emiliano Salci, one of Dimorestudio’s co-founders. “The interiors will draw influences from the golden age of Italian design—the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s—and combine retro touches with a more modern aesthetic. Every aspect of it will be a balance between the historical and the contemporary.”
From the renderings released to date, that seems to translate into a number of different textures, plush carpets, contemporary artworks, brass accents, and layered design details across the trains. Each of the six separate trains will vary slightly from each other, but every one will include 12 Deluxe cabins, 18 Suites, one Honor Suite, and a restaurant featuring local and international chefs and sommeliers. Menus will reprise the five-star dining of the original Express, with a focus on Italian ingredients and dishes. (A lounge bar and entertainment areas are also bound to be on the agenda, though there’s no info available yet.)
“In a way, it’ll be a whole new train,” Salci says. “But also one that’ll stay true to the Orient Express’ original ethos to charm, inspire, and make you feel like you’re in an opulent boutique hotel rather than a railway car.”
The Orient Express’ comeback fits within a larger trend currently gaining traction in Italy: the resurgence of historic trains and railway lines by Trenitalia and Fondazione FS—steam, diesel or electric locomotives from various eras that spirit travelers across Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Tuscany, and Abruzzo (where visitors can catch the so-called Italian Trans Siberian), through forgotten borghi, and on less-frequented routes.
But it’s also part of a general shift in Europe toward slow travel. “Rail travel is only set to gain more prominence as we collectively rethink the way we see the world and the impact we make,” Barletta says. “And a luxury offering like the Orient Express is only set to become as alluring and aspirational as it ever was.”
Arsenale Spa, the Italy-based luxury hospitality subsidiary of Gruppo Barletta, the Italy-based real estate investment and development group, announced that it has secured up to €300 million of equity and financing from Oaktree Capital Management, the US-listed investment group. The investment will support Arsenale in the development and launch of fleet of the Orient-Express trains as well as the development of the Orient Express Hotel de La Minerve, Rome and Palazzo Dona-Giovannelli in Venice, Italy
Price: Undisclosed
THPT Comment: It’s been a while coming, but delighted to see such a major announcement…awaiting with bated breath for more news on the hotels
First Seen: Conde Nast Traveller
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