ForbesLife: 5 Florence Hotels With To-Die-For Views
From the bridges of the Arno to the iconic Duomo, the red-tiled roofs to the quaint cobbled alleyways, Florence is undeniably one of the world’s most beautiful cities. So nix the tourist crowds and check into one of these stellar retreats with to-die-for Florentine vistas all your own.
1. Hotel LungarnoSalvatore Ferragamo may have known a thing or two about Italian shoes, but his son Leonardo has mastered location: namely, Hotel Lungarno and its insane home smack on the banks of the Arno. Snag a high-floor suite and your Juliet balcony will open to stunning views of the famed Ponte Vecchio; its sister bridges that endlessly rainbow into the horizon; and the orange- and yellow-hued buildings across the channel that dance off the river’s reflection. And if you can pull your peeps away from the window, you’ll be rewarded with over 400 original artworks dotting the walls of this hotel, including Picasso, Cocteau, and Ferragamo’s own hand-drawn fashion sketches.
2. Grand Amore Hotel & SpaIt takes a lot of spunk to call a hotel “amore” in a city of passionate Italians, but this newly opened 11-room hideaway, just a stone’s throw from the Duomo, is delivering on its namesake. For starters, the staff is over-the-top, gung-ho for personalizing your stay–from your favorite marmalade flavor, to how you like your coffee and eggs, to mattress thickness–noting everything before your arrival (thanks to a pre-visit questionnaire). Then there’s the chef who wins over your heart–and stomach–with creatively plated regional dishes in the swanky bistro that pops with purple hues. But the piece de resistance is four-stories up in the rooftop terrace suite where you’ll be eye-to-eye with terracotta-roofs so quintessential Florentine, you can’t help but fall head-over-heels for these vistas.
3. Helvetia and BristolFrom its cozy lobby with cherry-wood bookcases and original stone fireplace; to the big, old-timey keys you hand-off to the front desk as you go; to the classical tunes and eager-to-please, white-gloved service in the dining room, this 19th century hotel is the epitome of old-world elegance in this town. And the views don’t disappoint either. Ask for a deluxe suite and your balcony will be perched above the stonewalled Palazzo Strozzi with a birds-eye of Piazza della Repubblica’s magnificent arch and the romantic buzz of Florentine life below. Not to mention once inside your plush room with a four-poster king bed, Murano glass chandelier, silk wallpaper, and Carrara marble bath, you won’t ever want to leave.
4. Hotel BrunelleschiBuilt on top of 2000-year old Roman baths, and linked (via an enclosed glass skywalk) to a 1500-year old tower that’s one of the city’s oldest buildings in existence, this Florentine landmark oozes history through every brick and stone. But its connection with the past doesn’t end there: Ask for room 406 and you’ll be gazing at dead-on views of the Duomo and bell tower that loom so close you could practically reach out and touch their mind-bogglingly ancient intricacies from your bedand bathroom. The only reason to relocate your eyeballs? The food. Book a seat in the candelabra- and chandelier-lit stone tower for breakfast where custom omelets and house-baked croissants look like art on plate; in the evening, the hotel’s Osteria della Pagliazza is where you’ll be face-planting yourself into fresh-made pasta ragù alla Bolognese.
5. Villa CoraSecluded by an emerald forest on a hillside just above Boboli Gardens–yet still walkable to the tourist-flocked city center–this impeccably restored 19th century mansion brings new meaning to the phrase “urban haven.” Roses in every imaginable shade color the well-tended grounds; while a white marble pool fringed with mod lounges and Renaissance sculptures set an utterly romantic stage for al fresco dinners. Inside is no less jaw-dropping from the floor-to-ceiling gilded “room of mirrors” to the museum-worthy breakfast room with every inch tiled in Moorish glass. But take this five-story villa to the top and you’ll find a sprawling stone terrace where, beneath a shaded canopy, you can sip Chianti, lounge on the all-white leather sofa, and drink in the unobstructed panorama of Europe’s most stunning cityscape backdropped by the rolling Tuscan hills.
