"The fashionable nine-room U Palazzu Serenu fills a real need on the island, where most of the lodging choices are large, fusty hotels or modest B&Bs. The hotel’s aesthetic is minimalist but not at all chilly thanks to the friendly, well-traveled owner, who has created a cosmopolitan place that still feels like a home (his sizable art collection features Anish Kapoor and Paul de Pignol, among others). Designed by Nathalie Battesti, a protégée of Andrée Putman and Christian Liaigre, the interiors are fresh and comfortable, with oak parquet floors, large beds with crisp linens, pale stone bathrooms with counter space galore, and large windows with sweeping views to the Gulf of St-Florent. Meanwhile, the setting above Desert des Agriates is the perfect launchpad to St-Florent, rugged Cap Corse, and the sweet interior mountain towns that make Corsica so unique."
