Sveti Stefan - History

History

Formerly a village, all of the buildings were acquired by the Yugoslav government and turned into an upscale hotel during the Tito regime. In the 15th century, the island had a fortified village which was known as Divic; a Muslim village on the periphery of land on the Drina, which was renamed as Sveti Stefan, after the Christian Saint Stephen. The fortified village was built to defend against the Turks and became a haven for pirates of the Adriatic. Initially, the island with its fortress had 12 families. Later, the village came to be established in the 1800s, when the population was about 400 people. Consequent to the villages getting moved to the mainland, the island village became an exclusive resort frequented by high profile elites of the world. However, the separation of Montenegro from Yugoslavia saw the decline of this resort, in the 1990s. Villa Miločer built between 1934 and 1936 was the summer residence of Queen Marija Karadordevic (1900–1961) of the Karađorđević family of Serbia, which was refurbished as part of the Aman Sveti Stefan resorts that opened in 2008–2009. The villa, surrounded by 800 olive trees is laid out over a 32 hectares (79 acres) plot.

Formerly under ownership of the Radenovic family for some forty years, between the 1960s and 80s, the place was patronized by many celebrities like Orson Welles, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Princess Margaret, Carlo Ponti, Ingemar Stenmark, Kirk Douglas and many others.

The resort was described as "a '70s Adriatic playground on a hilly peninsula that's barely connected to the mainland". It was also a venue for political conferences, and an occasional chess venue, attracting top-class players such as Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer.

The old charm of the Sveti Stefan island was proposed to be recreated by the Government of Montenegro. Action was initiated by inviting international bids for the revitalization project. The contract for such development was awarded to Aman Resorts, in 2007. Now the newly refurbished resort, while retaining the old world charm of its exterior view, has modernized its interior facilities to contemporary modern standards.

The hotel is now a 5-star franchise hotel of the international group of Aman Resorts in the historic fishing village of the Stefan Island. The Aman Sveti Stefan is a renovated resort, under a 30 year lease completed in 2009. On July 13, 2010 Montenegrin Statehood Day, Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli gave a concert at the resort, to mark the Golden Jubilee of the hotel. During the hour-long show, on a stage right in front of the island-hotel’s perimeter wall, Bocelli sang well-known arias, as well as some of his more popular hits, to the assembled dignitaries, including Montenegro’s top officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps and many faces from cultural, political and public life, as well as many current and former tourist entrepreneurs who had contributed to the development of Montenegrin tourism. Bocelli was also the first guest of the renovated hotel. The hotel won the Hotel of the Year award from Gallivanter's Guide in 2010.