“If you work in a hotel bar, you have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone.” Giorgio Bargiani sees it as almost a prerequisite for the job. “If you want to build a career in hospitality, I think you have to. It’s when you feel uncomfortable that you learn fastest, because it pushes you to pay attention, ask questions and engage with the people around you.”
Before technique, before cocktails, even before languages, there is curiosity — particularly about what you don’t yet know. Bargiani is now Assistant Director of Mixology at London’s Connaught Bar, one of the world’s most celebrated drinking destinations. He arrived in 2014 as a barback and steadily worked his way up, a journey that culminated in his being named Bartenders’ Bartender at Europe’s 50 Best Bars 2026.
From His Early Days on Elba to Luxury Hospitality
His first lessons in hospitality, though, came a long way from five-star hotels. At 16, he left Pisa for Capoliveri, on the island of Elba, to work in a nightclub. “I was young, and everyone I worked with was much older than me. More than anything, it was the first time I’d been away from home, living and working with complete strangers from all over Italy.” Suddenly, he was surrounded by people with different habits, backgrounds and ways of looking at the world. Years later, he encountered much the same thing in hotels, only on an international scale. “A hotel forces you to be open-minded because most of the people walking through the door aren’t from there. You can’t possibly know everyone’s customs or habits, but you can be open to them.”
Giorgio Bargiani on the Power of Positivity in Luxury Hospitality
Curiosity was one lesson. Discipline was another. After several years working in bars and nightclubs, Bargiani decided he wanted something different. His move into hotels eventually took him to Splendido Mare in Portofino, where he met Santo Ayosa, one of the people who would have the greatest influence on his understanding of hospitality. “I saw him turn difficult situations around in a way I’d never seen anyone do before. He always had this huge smile, a very strong Italian accent when he spoke English, and he would welcome people with open arms.”
When guests arrived frustrated because their room wasn’t ready, Ayosa could not always solve the problem. But he could change the mood. Bargiani remembers him pointing toward the piazza and saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, look. I’ve arranged this little corner of paradise for you.” Portofino had obviously been there for centuries. That wasn’t the point. “It was the gesture, the positive body language. He knew how to put people at ease.”
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Images courtesy Connaught Bar
