Adalberto “Al” Stratta was born on June 29, 1936 in the Alpine region of Piedmont, Italy, 15 miles from the French border to Mario and Piera (Rosso) Stratta. His grandfather, who was an innkeeper, was knighted by the Royal House of Savoy for service to the Crown. In 1949, the family moved to Rome where his father continued the family hotel tradition until 1954 when they immigrated to South America.
While in Rome, Al had distinguished himself as an exceptional soccer player and was recruited at 14 to Lazio, one of Rome’s First Division professional teams. When his family decided to immigrate to South America, he was faced with the choice to remain in Italy and pursue a professional soccer career or join his family in Colombia in order to continue his studies. Al chose academics. In order to learn English, he went to Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, GA. Subsequently, Al was accepted into Cornell University’s Hotel Management School, where he graduated in 1959.
Al continued playing soccer at Cornell. He was selected to the All-New York State, All-Ivy and All-American Teams for 3 consecutive years. He was captain of the team for 2 years and also captained the North Team during the North-South game of 1959, scoring twice in a victory for the North. He broke and held many of Cornell’s soccer records and was inducted into the Cornell University Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. Al also succeeded in his academic life. He was invited to join the “Quill and Dagger Society”, which recognizes exemplary undergraduates at Cornell who have shown leadership, character, and dedication to service.
After graduation, and considering that Al spoke 4 languages fluently, he decided to pursue an international career in hotel management and spent the next 20 years working abroad. His career took him to South America, Mexico, Europe, Asia and finally back to the United States.
In 1979, he worked in New York, Vail, Pinehurst and Beverly Hills. Al held positions as President and CEO of Princess Hotels International and the Beverly Hills Hotel Corp, Managing Director of Orient Express Hotels, Executive VP of American Airlines Hotel Division, Diamondhead Corporation (owners of the Pinehurst Hotel Resort and Golf), and Cunard Lines. In addition, he held several General Manager’s positions in the beginning of his illustrious career. Al was known in the industry as being the first one to conceptualize and execute the first truly resort destination hotel, the Acapulco Princess.
After his retirement from the hotel and hospitality business, Mr. Stratta went on to teach hospitality services at Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC for many years. His path led back to family in Greenwich CT in 2018.
Adalberto “Al” Stratta died peacefully at Greenwich Hospital on May 12, 2022 after a short illness. He was predeceased by his brother, conductor, producer, pianist and composer Ettore Stratta. He is survived by his 5 children and 6 grandchildren: daughter Danielle Stratta Claroni (Michael) of Greenwich, CT, daughter Maria-Pia Schneider Bennett (Keith) of Carthage, NC, son Chef Alessandro Stratta of Scottsdale, AZ, son Davis Stratta (Alyssa) of Epsom, NH and son Mario Stratta of Las Vegas, NV, grandsons Tim Claroni of Los Angeles, CA, David Claroni of Delray Beach, FL, Daniel Claroni (Liz) of Bellevue, NE, grandchildren Bianca Stratta and Marco Stratta of Scottsdale, AZ and granddaughter Octavia Stratta of Epsom, NH. He will be sorely missed.
Funeral services will be held at 11am on September 17 at Stanwich Church in Greenwich.
