Passing through the main gateway of Villa Irlanda Grand Hotel this is the first building we encounter. Realised by the restoration of an old rural structure, itself built within the walls of an antique Roman villa (1st Century B.C.).
In its time this villa belonged to Marco FIlippo, adoptive father of the emperor Ottaviano Augusto. Erasmo Gesualdo, historical researcher of year 1700, had no doubt about the origins and ownership of the Roman ruins now occupied by the hotel’s reception and hall, as he says in one of his texts: Passing Via di Flacca, along the Arcella beach…..a few steps away, there are the foundations of that so called road and along her right side, where there is the Arcella di Andrea del Sole, one finds the wonderful remains of the villa of M. Filippo, Azia’s husband, M. Azio Balbo Pretore’s daughter, and of Giulia, Julius Caesar’s sister.
When she married M. Filippo, she was C. Ottavio’s widow, with whom she had given birth to Ottaviano Augusto… therefore I am certain that M. Filippo frequented his villa – as we can see from the writings of Cicerone- and it seems to me more probable, for climate reasons that this, and not the Pontine Marshes , was his childhood home. Therefore, according to Erasmo Gesualdo, the Great Emperor Ottaviano Augusto was raised where Villa Irlanda’s buildings and gardens are today.
The recent restoration works of the ancient building have given birth to the reception and hall or Sala Octaviano which serves as a small meeting room. The guests are welcomed in a bright environment, where the new pavements and furniture meld seamlessly with the ancient walls of the Imperial Villa.
Specialised personnel assigned to the front office are always available for our guests from the moment of their arrival to the moment of their departure. At the reception, guests may have information on the hotel services, the curiosities worth seeing in town and in the surrounding areas and on how, in general, to best enjoy their stay. At the reception, the hotel provides currency exchange services and the possibility to make payments with credit cards, cash or travellers cheques. For who arrives by car, there is an ample parking situated within the hotel complex. From the reception a ramp leads to the pedestrian area of the hotel, rich in Mediterranean vegetation. Here the gardens and the avenues surround the swimming-pool, the solarium and the other four buildings of the hotel.
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