Our history

In August 1790 the local news reported an extraordinary event. An Irish woman, married to a roman nobleman called Marchese Giuseppe Rondinini, spent fifteen days in Rimini in order to "plunge into the sea-water". This is the first sea bathing, as we intend it today, recorded in the Italian history.

This is the beginning of a long story that will make the 'Riviera di Rimini' the most famous seaside resort in Europe. It is also the beginning of that process that will transform radically, in less than two centuries, the panorama, the economy, the coastal territory, the dimension , the soul and the meaning of Rimini, not to mention the inhabitants' lifestyle.

The Kursaal's square looking the sea, "il salotto buono d'Europa" (the most fashionable place in Europe), on a sunday during summer 1904.
The building, designed by the architect Gaetano Urbani and officially opened in 1873, was built were the "Stabilimento dei Bagni Marittimi", pulled down in 1870, originally stood.
In the Kursaal's mezzanine, meeting point for the guests, there were the most beautiful rooms of the building while the basement was assigned to the domestic staff. The guests entered the hotel from a wide flight of steps .On the right side of the lobby, used for gatherings and conventions, the guests could find the restaurant's rooms and the 'Caffè', while on the left side there was a spacious ballroom. On the same floor there were reading rooms, rooms where people could play and where the guests could meet and talk.

The mezzanine was surrounded by broad terraces facing the sea on one side and the hills on the other. The Kursaal together with The Grand Hotel, Villa Roma and Villa Milano, formed a square known for decades as the elegant and lively seaside resort of Rimini full of shows and entertainment .

Via Regina Elena, 159 - 47900 Rimini (RN) - Tel. (+39) 0541.380472 - Fax (+39) 0541.389301 - info@hotelariminum.com