Take a chance on me

Once frequented by David Bowie, Monte Argentario, Italy, is back in the spotlight a half century on and betting on a new wave of popularity. A reimagined hotel and ABBA both have a part to play, discovers Rosie Paterson

MONTE ARGENTARIO was a destination in the mid 20th century,’ explains Luca, the guest-experience manager at La Roqqa hotel—by which he means luminaries such as Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Slim Aarons and David Bowie holidayed there, spreading their particular brand of stardust over its rocky shores, as they did on other places in the Mediterranean, thus making them desirable. And then, he adds, unlike St Tropez and Capri and Spetses, ‘it fell asleep’. Two decades ago, the Jonssons, the Swedish family behind ABBA Voyage, made the decision to purchase a holiday home. They bounced from Spain to France to Italy to ‘the usual suspects’, including Amalfi, before settling on Monte Argentario because ‘there were only Italians’ and because they ‘fell in love with the Nature and the culture and the extremely well-kept…

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Country Life (Digital) - 1 Issue, February 5, 2025

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