Quisisana! Sit omen in nomine. So wrote Friedrich Spielhagen, the most famous German novelist of the late 19th century, in its novel called “Quisisana”: for him that name evoked Italy, and especially Capri and the Quisisana, symbols of peace and happiness.
At the beginning of the second half of the XIX century an English doctor from Liverpool, George Sidney Smith Clark, visited Capri, fell in love with the island and with Anna Lembo from Capri and founded a private hospital for lung disease patients, La Villa Quisisana.
After a few years he turned it into a hotel.
After Clark, many businessmen took turns in managing the hotel, also including the German tycoon Grundig. Since 1981 the Grand Hotel Quisisana has been managed by the Morgano family, descendants of Donna Lucia Morgano, founder of the legendary “Zum Kater Hiddigeigei”, an historical café where, in the early XX century, people of different cultures and class used to meet.
Over the years many well-known, wealthy guests of various nationalities have chosen the Grand Hotel Quisisana to spend a relaxing stay. Our guestbooks hold signatures of world-renowned celebrities. Political leaders, princes, movie stars, writers, artists and dancers, singers, Nobel Prize winners, fashion stylists and top models, stayed in its charming suites.
From Oscar Wilde to Ernest Hemingway, many poets and writers looking for an oasis of tranquility spent their summers at the Quisisana; Friedrich Alfred Krupp stayed for a long time here, while he was waiting for the construction of his villa.
Big Hollywood stars, from Rita Hayworth to Ingrid Bergman and Kirk Douglas and more recently Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas with his wife Catherine Zeta Jones, appreciated the unique style of Capri’s hospitality and mild Mediterranean climate.
Among the most distinguished politicians and statesmen we’d like to mention the Hohenzollern, the Savoia family and many American celebrities, like President Gerald Ford and Ted Kennedy.
Big movie and music stars such as Dustin Hoffman, Claudia Cardinale, Sting and the Duran Duran.
With devotion, constancy and high attention to guest’s needs the Morgano family has made the hotel an internationally renowned jewel and works day after day to adapt it to the best international standards.