"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."
