Owner & Principal of Chapter Hotels Italia
Marco Cilia was born and raised in Rome until the age of 12 when he started living and studying abroad, mainly in the USA and later in Spain and Germany. At the age of 18 he returned to Rome to attend a British University and complete a degree in International Business and Finance.
Straight out of University he decided to pursue a career in Finance and landed a job as a starting investment banker. After a few months into the job, his father asked him to help running a hotel he owned and still owns in Viareggio, Tuscany. Cilia decided to leave finance to help his father for a year or so and then return to Finance. He ended up staying longer and running the Hotel as GM and understood he no longer wanted to pursue a career in Finance but instead focus in Hospitality and Real Estate Development.
After 3 years he realized he needed to leave Italy to expand his horizons follow his own path of learning and developing. He landed a job at Blakes in London working under Anouska Hempel. Blakes, built in the 70’s, was the world’s first luxury boutique 5-star hotel and it is at Blakes and working with Anouska Hempel that Marco Cilia learned impeccable service and attention to detail. Marco Cilia was London’s youngest General Manager of a 5-star hotel at the age of 29.
After 4 years at Blakes and after completing a full refurbishment of the property under new ownership, Marco Cilia was approached by Carlos Couturier and Moises Micha of Grupo Habita to open their first property in the USA, Hotel Americano in New York, and later help them grow their Brand with new hotels in the USA. At first Cilia was unsure to leave Blakes and the world of 5 stars to move to lifestyle hotels, he thought it could have been a step back rather than forward, but after meeting Carlos and Moises and understanding their vision he had no doubt that this would be a great experience for him.
In January 2012 Marco Cilia moved to New York as GM of Hotel Americano. The Hotel was not only very successful but also quickly became the hub for the worlds of Fashion, Art and Design. After a few years Marco Cilia, as Vice President for Grupo Habita in the USA alongside Carlos Couturier and Moises Micha, started looking for new opportunities and this resulted in the opening of the Robey in Chicago in 2016 and properties in Los Angeles and Austin, currently in Construction.
In 2016 Cilia realized the time had come for him to develop his own brand of Hotels and also move back his roots. He left his job in New York and after a few months off, traveling and spending time with newly married wife, he relocated back to Europe, living between London and Rome.
Cilia’s plan was to develop a brand of Lifestyle hotels in Italy. Starting from Rome, his home city.
Check out some images of Marco’s boutique hotel
