The Mariani family, proprietors of Castello Banfi, has been named “Hotelie of the Year” by the New York Chapter of the Cornell Hotel Society (CHS). The award, bestowed at a banquet held in the Plaza Hotel in New York City on December 1, marks the first time that this prestigious honor has been given to a family for its joint accomplishments rather than to an individual.
The CHS was founded in 1927, made up of Alumni of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and including active, associate, honorary and affiliate members, with 60 national and international chapters within 12 regions, consisting of 8,800 members.
The New York City Chapter, the largest worldwide, selects recipients for the Hotelie of the Year Award on the basis of long-term involvement and outstanding contributions, both to the Chapter and to the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. “No recipients have ever better exemplified this than the Mariani family,” said Philippus Miller III, CHS Director of Alumni Affairs.
The Mariani family has endowed a Chair in Wine Education at Cornell, lectures frequently at the Hotel School, and underwrites scholastic seminars in Italy. Family proprietors John F. Mariani, James W. Mariani, and Virginia Mariani are Cornell graduates.
Past honorees include Curt R. Strand ’43, Robert S. McCarthy ’54, Fred J. Eydt ’52, Robert A. Beck ’42, Bjorn R.L. Hanson ’73, Drew A. Nieporent ’77, Dennis J. Sweeney ’64, Stephen Rushmore ’67, and William V. Eaton ’61.