Simone Marigliani, Ethical Luxury Hotelier of the Year 2026 at Borgo Scopeto

Simone Marigliani — Ethical Luxury Hotelier of the Year 2026 © European Hotel Awards 2026

Luxury becomes more convincing when it belongs to its place. In Tuscany, Borgo Scopeto Wine & Country Relais does not try to neutralise the landscape, history or agricultural culture around it. Under General Manager Simone Marigliani, those elements are treated as part of the hotel’s value. That approach earned him Ethical Luxury Hotelier of the Year 2026 at the European Hotel Awards.

Simone Marigliani received the Ethical Luxury Hotelier of the Year 2026 distinction for his leadership at Borgo Scopeto Wine & Country Relais. The Award recognises a view of luxury in which responsibility is not positioned as a separate sustainability message, but integrated into the way a historic property, its territory and its guest experience are managed.

A historic borgo that remains readable

Near Siena, Borgo Scopeto occupies a preserved historic settlement surrounded by the landscape of Chianti Classico. Stone buildings, courtyards, gardens and the profile of the old borgo give the property a sense of place that cannot be reproduced through interior design alone.

Transforming such a site into a five-star hotel creates a clear responsibility. Comfort and contemporary service need to improve the guest experience without turning the heritage into a theatrical backdrop. The original architecture must remain understandable, because it is one of the reasons the hotel has meaning.

Borgo Scopeto places the hotel experience within the landscape and cultural identity of Tuscany © Borgo Scopeto Wine & Country Relais

Ethical luxury as a relationship with territory

Marigliani’s approach starts from a broad idea of responsibility. A luxury hotel does not exist independently from the people, landscape and local economy around it. It uses resources, employs teams, receives visitors and becomes an ambassador for the destination.

At Borgo Scopeto, that relationship is particularly visible because the property is surrounded by vineyards, olive trees and a region where wine and gastronomy remain central to cultural identity. The experience is strongest when the hotel allows that context to remain present rather than replacing it with an international luxury language that could exist anywhere.

Preserving the legibility of the historic property is part of the responsible luxury philosophy developed at Borgo Scopeto © Borgo Scopeto Wine & Country Relais

Responsibility without reducing pleasure

The most useful definition of ethical luxury is not one based on restriction. Guests still expect beauty, comfort, gastronomy and attention. The question is whether those qualities can be delivered in a way that respects what already exists and strengthens the territory instead of making it invisible.

This changes the role of the hotelier. Performance is no longer measured only through occupancy, revenue or formal service standards. It also includes the ability to preserve identity, support teams, respect the long-term value of the property and ensure that the hotel remains connected to the culture that gives it meaning.

The relationship between property, vineyards and Tuscan landscape is fundamental to the identity of Borgo Scopeto © Borgo Scopeto Wine & Country Relais

Why Simone Marigliani received Ethical Luxury Hotelier of the Year 2026

The European Hotel Awards Board selected Simone Marigliani because his work demonstrates that high-end hospitality and responsibility can reinforce one another when both are anchored in the identity of the property. The Award recognises the coherence between his leadership and a hotel where heritage, landscape, wine culture, gastronomy and human relationships are treated as parts of the same long-term project.

The distinction is not based on an isolated environmental initiative. It reflects a wider philosophy: preserving a historic site without freezing it, delivering contemporary comfort without standardising the experience, and using the hotel’s position to reveal Tuscany rather than simply consume it as scenery.

The Board therefore chose the word Ethical deliberately. It describes a way of managing luxury in which the quality offered to the guest is inseparable from respect for place, people and continuity.

At Borgo Scopeto, hospitality, wine, gastronomy and landscape are experienced as one expression of Tuscany © Borgo Scopeto Wine & Country Relais

Hospitality through wine and the table

Food and wine give this philosophy a particularly direct expression. In Tuscany, the table connects agriculture, craftsmanship, seasons and social life. For the hotel, it becomes another way of allowing guests to understand the destination through taste rather than explanation alone.

That continuity between room, landscape, heritage and gastronomy is one of the strongest arguments for Marigliani’s recognition. It allows luxury to feel specific rather than generic, and responsibility to feel like part of the pleasure of staying rather than an obligation imposed on it.

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European Hotel Awards 2026 Partners

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