Villa La Vedetta

"Almost every visitor to Florence makes the pilgrimage to the Piazzale Michelangelo for its astonishing view of the city’s monuments. Now—hidden amid olive, fruit, and laurel trees, and with a formal garden and a heated outdoor pool—a luxury hotel shares that view. Housed in a former private residence, each of the 18 rooms is different, decorated with rich fabrics in nuanced shades of a single hue—creamy ivory to deep gold, powder to royal blue, celery to cypress green; the white-marble bathrooms are trimmed with colored marble to match the fabrics. Canopied and four-poster beds are draped in silk taffeta and covered with double-faced satin and velvet spreads and pillows. There are expansive terraces with the same breathtaking view, two restaurants, a poolside café, and a translucent honey-colored onyx bar with beaded Baccarat crystal chandeliers. In welcome counterpoint to the old-world elegance and high standards of service are twenty-first-century flashes of contemporary art, and big TVs with Internet access."