The history of the oldest and most famous hotel in Sorrento is inextricably linked to the Tramontano family. Pasquale Tramontano, who moved to Sorrento at the end of the 18th century, was the first member of the family to start a hotel business and who, with the help of his son William, managed in a few decades to create one of the most consolidated realities of Sorrentine hospitality. The current structure was born from the union of several villas: Villa Strongoli - Pignatelli and Villa Laurito - Mastrogiudice. The latter, nowadays still called “Hotel du Tasso”, was where the Sorrentine poet Torquato Tasso was born in 1544.
The fortune of the Hotel Tramontano has grown hand in hand with the development of tourism in Sorrento, consecrated thanks to its many illustrious guests.
The Prince of Wales, (the future king Eduard VII), and Prince Federico and the Princess of Prussia stayed there in 1862, and in 1868 the Queen of Denmark was also a guest. In 1868, the Tsarina of Russia with an entourage of 200 people stayed there for two whole months. It was after this visit that the Hotel Tramontano added the title “Imperial” to its name.
However, the event that still resonates in the heart of all Sorrentines was when, on 15th September 1902, during the visit of Giuseppe Zanardelli, the notes of “Torna a Surriento”, written by the poet and artist G. Battista De Curtis, were heard for the first time on the hotel’s terrace.