Dolce Villa

By Paul E. Kandarian

South Beach, Florida is pretty far from Providence, Rhode Island. But the unmistakable white-on-white style of the former is being felt in the latter at Dolce Villa, a relatively new boutique hotel on Providence’s historic Federal Hill.

Located on the Hill’s pedestrian-friendly DePasquale Plaza with its al fresco dining and giant fountain, Dolce Villa opened to rave reviews two years ago for good reason. The little piece of Italy in the Italian section of the city is gloriously Mediterranean in its stylish look, from the lemon-yellow stucco exterior walls to the ship’s-hull balcony railings on suites facing the plaza to the small, very European looking hotel lobby.

Inside the three-story, 16,000-square-foot hotel are 14 magnificently appointed one- and two-bedroom suites, and this is where the crisp South Beach styling comes into play. The rooms are brilliant white to the point your eyes almost hurt walking into them, with white marble floors, white walls, and white leather memory-foam pull-out sofas and chairs. All furniture for each room has been custom made, said hotel owner, Gianfranco Marrocco, co-owner of nearby successful Hill restaurants, Meditarraneo, Caffe Dolce Vita and Geppetto’s, adding that when he opened the hotel, he wanted to offer “luxurious accommodations not found anywhere else in the city.”

He has definitely succeeded. The suites here boast fully equipped kitchens, complete with gleaming stainless steel refrigerators, ovens and dishwashers and snow-white cabinets stocked with anything you need for a short- or long-term stay. Two-bedroom suites feature gas fireplaces.

The bedrooms are well appointed, right down to the soft slippers and plush robes, and whirlpool tubs, flat-screen televisions and memory-foam beds that adapt to the contours of sleeping guests. Every ultra-modern accoutrement has been thought, right down to stainless steel martini glasses.

Each suite also comes with DVD, VCR and CD players, free high-speed Internet service and complimentary popcorn, hot chocolate, biscotti, and Baci chocolates.

The hotel is in a building that once housed a jewelry business, Marrocco said. He spent about $2 million refurbishing it over a four-year period, leading to the grand opening in 2005. In its most immediate incarnation, it had been an apartment building on two floors; Marrocco added a third.

As beautiful as the hotel itself is, many consider the facility’s crown jewel to be Villa Toscana at the rear of the hotel, a stand-alone refurbished carriage house as private as private can be with ivy-covered exterior walls, two courtyards (both ideal locations for parties, one with a coy pond, the other with a gently flowing fountain), one gorgeous bedroom (next to the memory-foam bed is a two-person Jacuzzi), two phenomenal mosaic-tiled bathrooms, a gigantic commercial kitchen (with 10-burner Vulcan gas stove), a huge living room with working fireplace and all the Italian ambience you could possibly find outside of Italy itself.

The 3,500-square-foot, two-story brick structure was once a stable, then an auto-repair garage, then rehabbed into a private home by an attorney. It is now Marrocco’s pride and joy, he says, and it shows.

The rich dark interior woodwork against ancient, well-kept brick in the spacious and wonderfully romantic structure is perfect for private parties of up to 400 people.

For those who love to cook, you couldn’t find a better spot than this. Nestled in the bosom of Federal Hill, the villa is a very short walk to the gastronomic wonderland that is the Italian heart of Providence from the delightfully decadent desserts at Scialo’s Bakery to the fresh-made sausage and pasta at Venda Ravioli to a wide range of sweet chianti at Gasbarro’s Wine and Liquors. Stock up and then fire up the massive Vulcan stove and cook for your friends as they unwind with a glass of vino on the patio.

Providence has been a changed-for-the-better city over the past 20 years, a destination location known nationwide for its culinary delights, architectural magnificence and rich history. And there is no better place in which to stay to enjoy it all than Dolce Villa.

(For more information, visit www.dolcevillari.com)