Rome's Ethical Hotel: Where Disabled People Work

Antonio Pelosi was a well-known hotelier living and working in Rome when, in 2007, he was nearly killed in a serious motorcycle accident. He miraculously survived, but had to endure a long rehabilitation period, during which his idea developed: to create a completely new hotel, where the staff consisted of professionals working with young people with serious disabilities , including Down syndrome, Easy X syndrome, and even post-coma outcomes.

The project began after Antonio Pelosi discovered and studied a similar hospitality facility in Piedmont (the Albergo Etico in Asti), which inspired his own hotel. Today, the Albergo Etico in Rome is a well-established establishment in the capital's hospitality sector, with 18 rooms in an old, early 20th-century building in Piazzale Flaminio, right in the city center, a stone's throw from Piazza del Popolo. Until recently, the Albergo Etico housed the Institute of Our Daughters of Mercy, but now it's a place where several people with disabilities work at the front desk, in cleaning, in the restaurant, and at the bar, under the guidance of professional tutors. They are determined not to waste any of their lives, even amidst so many difficulties, and to have the opportunity for training, employment, and even personal growth.

(Featured image accompanying the text taken from the Facebook page of the Albergo Etico Roma )

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