Help Hotel Etico deliver a program that will transform the lives of its trainees with intellectual disabilities. Every dollar donated will go toward supporting the hotel’s training program.
Hotel Etico will be Australia’s first hotel staffed by hospitality trainees with intellectual disabilities and industry professionals.
Guests of Hotel Etico will not only stay in elegant rooms, enjoy delicious Italian cuisine and thoughtfully selected wines or find spaces for socialising, a quiet read or watching a favourite flick, they will also be contributing toward a proven employment training and social inclusion program making a real difference.
The vision for Hotel Etico came to life 10 years ago in Italy from the dream of a young Down Syndrome man called Niccolò Vallese, who worked as an intern at his local restaurant. It was the Head Chef’s first experience dealing with a person who had an intellectual disability and he didn’t know what to expect, but it didn’t take long to see how Niccolò was flourishing and the remarkable potential he had as a hospitality professional. The Chef suddenly understood the need to remove the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from achieving their full potential. When Niccolò was nearing the end of his internship the Head Chef asked him what he hoped for in the future and Niccolò replied; “My dream is to work in a Hotel”.
Niccolò didn’t know it at the time but his dream was about to become a reality. The first Hotel Etico (Albergo Etico) opened in Asti, a town in the north of Italy in 2015 and since then 3 more hotels have opened across Europe.
In November this year, the first Australian Hotel Etico will open at the historic Mount Victoria Manor, located at 11 Montgomery Street, Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains, and it will also be home to Niccoló’s Restaurant & Bar.
Hotel Etico is the trading name for Project Etico Australia Limited, a registered charity with deductible gift recipient endorsement (DGR) and a registered NDIS provider.