The Hotel Pitrizza on Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda will become Italy’s first Cheval Blanc in May 2027

On the Costa Smeralda, in north-eastern Sardinia, the Hotel Pitrizza, designed by Luigi Vietti in 1963, is preparing for a new chapter. Cheval Blanc, LVMH’s hotel brand, is aiming for May 2027 to make it its first maison in Italy, under the name Cheval Blanc Pitrizza, Costa Smeralda. The rebranding, first planned for 2026, has slipped by a year.

☰Contents

1. Why May 2027 rather than 2026
2. A 1963 hotel you cannot see from the sea
3. 49 rooms, 16 villas and their private pools
4. A seawater pool carved into the granite
5. What Cheval Blanc still has to change
6. The seventh Cheval Blanc, and the first in Italy

Why May 2027 rather than 2026

The story begins on 10 February 2023, when Sardegna Resorts, a subsidiary of Smeralda Holding, signs with LVMH Hospitality Excellence: Belmond will take the Romazzino, Cheval Blanc the Pitrizza. The announcement states that the Pitrizza will keep its name until 2026, then become Cheval Blanc Pitrizza, Costa Smeralda, once the works are complete.

In March 2026, Cheval Blanc moved the deadline: the brand is now aiming for an official launch in May 2027, after three years of transformation. It explains that it only puts its name on a hotel once that hotel is ready. As of 18 October 2026, chevalblanc.com does not yet list the Pitrizza among its maisons, and LVMH has not issued a statement setting the date.

A 1963 hotel you cannot see from the sea

Italian architect Luigi Vietti designed the Pitrizza in 1963 on the hills of the Costa Smeralda. Its low buildings, with grass-covered roofs, merge into the granite and the maquis. The hotel’s website quotes his line: it can be seen “neither from the sea, nor from the land, nor from the sky”, so naturally does everything blend together.

The Pitrizza and its neighbour, the Romazzino, are two historic hotels of the Costa Smeralda, designed in the 1960s by Luigi Vietti and Michele Busiri Vici. Porto Cervo, with its boutiques and restaurants, is 5 kilometres away.

49 rooms, 16 villas and their private pools

The hotel has 65 rooms, suites and villas. The 49 rooms and suites, from the Classic Room to pool suites such as the Roccia Pool Suite, each have a balcony, terrace or garden. The website presents several sea-facing categories as new, including the Sea Room and the Frontline Sea Room.

The 16 villas are aimed at couples, families and groups of friends. Most have a private pool with views of the Mediterranean, from Villa Corbezzolo, right by the water, to the 3-bedroom Pitrizza Pool Villa, the largest.

A seawater pool carved into the granite

The hotel’s signature is its seawater pool shaped into the granite, around a boulder, facing the bay. Below, a private beach offers swimming and snorkelling in turquoise water.

For dining, The Grill restaurant overlooks the pool and cooks Sardinian produce; the Bar Pitrizza serves cocktails and small plates on its terrace. Add to that a spa, a gym open around the clock, a tennis court, a padel court, water sports (jet ski, windsurfing, kayaking) and a club for children aged 3 to 12.

What Cheval Blanc still has to change

According to the brand, around 80% of the rooms had already been renovated by March 2026. Two projects remain: a redesigned spa and a new fine-dining restaurant.

In its other maisons, Cheval Blanc designs its treatments with Guerlain or with Dior. The partner for the Sardinian spa has not yet been announced, nor has the chef for the future restaurant.

The seventh Cheval Blanc, and the first in Italy

Cheval Blanc currently has six maisons: Courchevel, Saint-Tropez, Paris, St Barts, Randheli in the Maldives and the Seychelles. In Paris, the Cheval Blanc at La Samaritaine has been awarded Palace status and this autumn hosts Arnaud Donckele’s La Table Ruinart. The Pitrizza would be the seventh address, and the first in Italy.

The property remains with Sardegna Resorts, owned by the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority; LVMH manages the hotel. The set-up is the same at the neighbouring Romazzino, run by Belmond since the 2024 season. To place these addresses in context, see Bernard Arnault’s hotel empire; a few minutes away, the W Sardinia has opened in Poltu Quatu.