40 YEARS WITH YOU

Our History

In 2021, after being hit hard by the pandemic of Covid19, Michele and Ruth decided to relaunch Conca Bella as the first Wine Hotel in Ticino, creating a unique experience for guests, thanks to the long tradition and culture of wine and food.

A renovation of the hotel, from the rooms to the common areas, while maintaining one common thread: wine.

In early 2018, Ruth and Michele decided to make a decisive change to their restaurant, opting to forgo the Michelin Star and reorient themselves toward a simpler restaurant concept focused on maintaining quality and constant attention to detail, but with amore flexible offering geared toward enhancing the value of local products.  

A happy and pleasant place where you can feel at home, where you can find good service and carefully prepared dishes, where you can breathe in tradition, personality and history. A place where you can have informal, but always professional, contact with guests, bringing you even closer to the hotel's customers.  

In 2012 his son Michele joined the company, bringing his own educational background and love for the project he grew up with.  

Together they decide to give it a new twist by renovating the restaurant, which acquires brightness and a more modern look, as well as expanding the offer by creating a Bistro, ready to welcome with its bright colors a clientele looking for an easier version of good food. A cozy Wine-Bar completes the offer and becomes a reference point for a quality aperitif.  

The drama came on the night of 13 December 2002: Rocco fell fatally ill.  

Rocco's untimely death, just one year after the general renovation, leaves an unbridgeable void in the Montereale family. Ruth, with great drive and passion, took over the management of Conca Bella and successfully carried out the ambitious project, to which she is dedicated with great pride.

The new building, built on the side of the original structure, modernises and enlarges the restaurant and creates 8 new light-filled rooms in addition to the 9 existing ones. 

With the expansion, Rocco's dream of designing and building a cozy and prestigious Enoteca was realized, and it became Conca Bella's crowning achievement: more than 20,000 bottles of the world's best varietals find space in the meticulously designed facility, ready to welcome the many friends who are passionate about Enogastronomy. 

In 1998 Luca Alberti devoted himself to opening his own business, and Ambrogio Stefanetti joined the kitchen. 

Hard work and great passion are soon rewarded with further awards: three stars in the former Guida Veronelli, inclusion in the Grandes Tables de Suisse guide and entry in the Italian Le Soste association. 

Not only the cuisine, but also the wine cellar, thanks to the large selection of wines, catches the eye of wine experts and is repeatedly awarded the Best of Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator magazine, which ranks it among the most prestigious wineries in Switzerland. 

The great sommelier Paolo Basso, who subsequently won the title of Best Sommelier in the World in 2013, is in the room to enhance the prestigious labels.  

The official opening of Conca Bella took place on 14 April 1984, exactly 20 years after Rocco's arrival in Switzerland.  

In Vacallo, the Montereale Family initiates the writing of an important chapter. 

Rocco, considered to be one of the greatest wine connoisseurs in Switzerland, brought his passion into the establishment and started to set up his precious wine cellar. 

In the kitchen at the stove is "Albino," who after two years gives way to Luciano Rodio , and in the dining room an excellent collaborator, Gino Fontana, later established as one of Switzerland's most accomplished sommeliers. 

Hotel Conca Bella has a centuries-old tradition. Founded in 1906 and named Ristorante della Posta or Caferin in 1918, it took a turn in 1984 when the Montereale couple opened Conca Bella.  

Thanks go to our long-time employees...