San Rocco Hotel in Brtonigle, in Istria, has received the prestigious Adrian Award for best small family hotel. The award was presented at a ceremony in the Diocletian Palace, where Gibonni performed. This is the second time the hotel has received the award, the first being 18 years ago.
The hotel’s owner, Tullio Fernetich, recalls the day of the award as if it were yesterday. The Fernetich family now carefully guards the statue of the Adrian award in a display case. San Rocco had already gained recognition from the industry and satisfied guests by the time it started operating. Tullio’s wife is Rita, and the hotel’s general manager is 46-year-old Teo, while Luana manages the hotel and restaurant. Rocco, at the time of the award, was only nine years old; today he is 26 and is an excellent waiter in the family pizzeria.
The Fernetich family still operates the ‘Primizia’ pizzeria in the town centre, which is not part of the hotel but is located in a different spot. The couple opened their first private business in 1989: a mixed goods shop called ‘Primizia’ in Brtonigle, and they also opened a shop in nearby Novigrad. Rita and Tullian were employees of the ‘Digitron’ company in nearby Buje. Rita worked in the personnel department, while Tullian worked in the planning and analysis department. Tullian served two terms as the mayor of the municipality from 1993 to 2000. Four years later, relieved of his municipal duties, he and his wife opened the hotel. They were closely linked with municipalities in Italian Tuscany.
The hotel is open all year round, and many employees have been with the hotel for more than 15 years. The Fernetich family has been in Brtonigle for some five hundred years. They started cautiously, slowly, acquiring some surrounding land. In the early 2000s, they applied for a tourism credit. Tullian also built an olive grove. Today, he has around 1,200 olive trees. The oil is branded ‘San Rocco’, and they have three single-variety oils and one blend. Tullian maintains the entire olive grove himself with the help of the latest machinery.
Last year, they undertook a major energy renovation that lasted for six months, during which they were closed. They implemented a project for smart rooms and are highly certified energetically. They invested their own funds, with part of the funding provided by HBOR. The pool, which was in the garden at the time of the award, has now been moved slightly further away. Instead of that pool, they have a beautiful fountain. The hotel now has one fewer accommodation unit, but in place of that room, a more luxurious suite has been created. Brtonigle is not on the sea, but the San Rocco hotel performs better than many located right by the coast. Tullian is a member of the board of the Croatian Association of Small Hotels, which has been chaired for many years by Šime Klarić from Trilj.
