“Love yourself.”
This simple suggestion is scribbled on a modest strip of brown paper, tucked into a brass holder inside Ciao Bella of Islamorada Salon, Day Spa, Wellness & Yoga. Beneath the mandate, it’s signed “Bella” with a squiggle.
At first glance, it could pass as part of the décor in a space designed to feel warm, intentional and a little bit different from anywhere else.
But for owner Gilda Rroshi, it holds special meaning.
“It’s become an intention,” she told Keys Weekly. “Something we try to practice and share.”
The words were written by her younger sister, Bella Morina. Over 20 years ago, the two opened Ciao Bella together after moving to the Keys from Albania. They were young, starting over and figuring things out as they went.
“I grew up behind the Iron Curtain,” Rroshi said. “When I left, I left everything behind.”
What Rroshi and Morina built together in Islamorada wasn’t driven by market trends or ambition. They followed something more instinctive.
“We opened this space because we felt a calling,” the elder sister recalled. “We wanted to create a sanctuary to make people feel better, not just physically. … A place where people can feel restored and the best version of themselves.”
The sisters didn’t have the kind of backing most new business owners rely on. When the chance came to buy their building during a recession, no bank would approve them. The landlords took a chance anyway.
“Everything was on a handshake,” Rroshi said. “They asked us, ‘What if it doesn’t work?’ And we said, ‘It’s going to work. We don’t have any other option.’”
The space grew slowly and continues to evolve into something broader than “just a salon.” Hair, nails and skincare remain the foundation, and you can now also enjoy yoga glasses, suspended yoga, sound healing sessions, red light therapy and newer modalities that reflect a more holistic approach to care.
“Wellness is not just physical,” Rroshi said, “It’s emotional, energetic, spiritual.”
Morina, especially, had an instinct for how people wanted to feel, and she channeled that into Ciao Bella, Rroshi said. The salon at MM 81 continues to espouse whole-body wellness as a guiding principle.
“She was the face of the business,” Rroshi said. “She answered the phone … and people were drawn to her.” More than that, “She knew how to carry people. She knew how to make people feel seen.”
The sisters’ philosophy has resonated with the Upper Keys community they serve. In recent years, Ciao Bella has been recognized in the Best of the Upper Keys awards – including winning Best Salon in 2024, Best Health & Wellness in 2025 and Best Overall Business in 2025 – which are voted on by locals who know these islands well.
The recognition took Rroshi as a surprise. “I was so humbled,” she said. “I had no idea.”
The work is simply what she knows she was meant to do.
Sisters Bella Morina and Gilda Rroshi opened Ciao Bella in Islamorada over 20 years ago. The love they shared remains central and transcends even death and loss. CIAO BELLA/Contributed 
A simple note from the late Bella Morina guides Ciao Bella owner Gilda Rroshi and her team in all they offer to the community: Love yourself. TIFFANY DUONG/Keys Weekly 
Ciao Bella’s boutique offers curated wellness products and beautiful items to boost mind, body and spirit. CIAO BELLA/Contributed 
Ciao Bella’s boutique offers curated wellness products and beautiful items to boost mind, body and spirit. CIAO BELLA/Contributed 
The legacy of Ciao Bella: Dea Morina, Bella Morina and Gilda Rroshi. CIAO BELLA/Contributed 
During monthly gong immersions, Gilda Rroshi invites other sound practitioners from all over to join. TIFFANY DUONG/Keys Weekly 
One of Ciao Bella’s newest offerings is infrared yoga, with light panels installed in the main studio space. The light stimulates cellular activity and repair. CIAO BELLA/Contributed
“The best days are when I walk in and see everyone here,” Rroshi said. “There’s this familiarity, this ease. … It feels like home. It feels like Bella.”
In November 2023, Morina unfortunately passed away.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Rroshi quoted her late sister through tears, “but our journey has been beautiful.” It’s something Morina told her during treatment as a way of holding both hard truths and gratitude at once.
The loss gutted Rroshi, and she continues to navigate through her grief by pouring into Ciao Bella, now with Morina’s daughter, Dea Morina, joining her in this wellness journey.
“The love I had for her has become a frequency in my life,” Rroshi said. “It guides me.”
Some of the newer and expanded wellness offerings grew out of that period of grief. “These modalities helped me,” she said. “So my intention behind them is very personal.”
A new upstairs studio serves as the home base of these therapies. Traditional classes of mindful yoga with breathwork are punctuated by monthly gong sessions, a vitality booth that layers dry salt, red light, infrared and sound therapy and a recovery room offering compression therapy for circulation and muscle relief. On the downstairs back patio, nestled among tropical greens on a wooden deck, suspended yoga takes place in a space lovingly dedicated as “Bella’s Heartspace.”
Some of it sounds technical: Rroshi talks about mitochondria, frequencies and lymphatic systems, but her intention is straightforward: help people feel better, however they come in.
When people leave, she hopes they feel “cared for. Restored,” she said. “Like the most vibrant and radiant version of themselves.”
She paused, then added, “That always happens when beauty is nurtured from within.”
This is Morina’s legacy, one that Rroshi and the younger Morina continue to cultivate within our community through every service, styling and savasana.
“Love yourself.”
