Time travel in the Italian Alps: a glam stay in a 70s design hotel

On the shores of Lake Caldaro in South Tirol, the striking Seehotel Ambach has barely changed since 1973 – and is all the better for it

When I was about seven years old, my aunt brought me back a souvenir from her trip to America – a yellow trouser suit with yellow-and-purple zigzag-patterned flared trousers. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen and, 50 years later, as I walk into the Seehotel Ambach in Italy’s South Tirol, I can’t help thinking how it’s just the kind of look I should be rocking in the 1970s lobby.

We are greeted by a riot of yellow and orange and a selection of the Italian design industry’s greatest hits from the 70s by Joe Colombo, Ettore Sottsass and others. More recognisable to those not in the know about Milan’s design elite are ashtrays advertising Cinzano, glasses promising the delights of Martini and evocative period commercial poster art. At first it’s hard to get your bearings. It’s not unlike walking into a packed vintage shop on Portobello Road or in Margate, except it’s 33C outside and I can see Lake Caldaro glistening through the window.

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