Inside Villa San Michele, Florence’s Most Romantic Luxury Hotel

Set in a former monastery above Florence, Villa San Michele feels impossibly romantic, with impeccable interiors, terraced gardens, intimate dining and sweeping city views that make every minute feel like a cinematic movie.

New opening April 2026

Villa San Michele has always had the sort of setting that feels almost unfair on other Florence hotels. Still, its recent reopening has sharpened the appeal rather than merely polishing the legend. Reopened on 28 April 2026 after an 18-month renovation, this former monastery in the Fiesole hills now feels both more refined and more grounded in place, with restored architecture, reworked gardens and interiors by Luigi Fragola Architects that lean into Tuscan craft rather than decorative excess. The façade, long associated with Michelangelo’s school, still gives the first impression, but the deeper pleasure lies in the hush, the light and the sense of retreat above the city.

Rooms and suites

There are now 39 fully reimagined rooms and suites, split between the monastery building and the gardens, and the reduction in scale only strengthens the hotel’s residential feel. Original features have been restored, including frescoes and stone fireplaces. At the same time, new materials such as Impruneta terracotta, Cipollino marble and bespoke Tuscan-made furniture give the rooms a richer, more tactile identity. The signature suites sound especially persuasive, from the two-storey Limonaia with its private plunge pool to the Grand Tour suite, once used by Napoleon Bonaparte. Yet even the simpler rooms seem designed less for spectacle than for calm.

Food and drink

Dining has been refreshed with real intent. Antesi is the hotel’s headline restaurant, newly opened within the convent’s 16th-century loggia and led by Executive Chef Alessandro Cozzolino. With just eight tables and panoramic views across Florence and the surrounding hills, it sounds intimate rather than performative, with menus shaped by seasonality and local produce. Elsewhere, Ristorante San Michele keeps things more relaxed, drawing on Slow Food Foundation ingredients and traditional Tuscan cooking, while Bar Doccia offers cocktails in the cloister or overlooking the skyline. The whole set-up feels rooted in place, which matters more than imported glamour ever will.

Hotel amenities

The biggest shift may be the wellness offer. For the first time, the hotel now has its own spa, and not just any spa, but Villa San Michele Spa by Guerlain, described by Belmond as the first Guerlain spa in Italy. It's intentionally intimate, with three treatment rooms including a double suite, and sits alongside a 24-hour panoramic gym, personal training on request, in-room treatments and the heated outdoor pool with those famously cinematic views. Add the redesigned gardens, woodland walks and curated retreats with La DoubleJ, and the hotel feels more complete than ever before, and not just beautiful to look at.

Location

Its position in Fiesole remains one of its greatest strengths. You're above Florence rather than in it, surrounded by woodland, olive groves and terraced gardens, yet the city centre is still reachable in roughly 15 to 20 minutes via the hotel’s courtesy shuttle. That balance is the magic. After a morning among crowds at the Uffizi or around the Duomo, returning here feels like stepping into a quieter, more spacious version of Tuscany. It is not the address for those who insist on being in the middle of the action, but for almost everyone else, it is the perfect choice.

Hotel rating

Villa San Michele sits right at the top of Florence’s luxury scene. Condé Nast Traveller readers named it their favourite hotel in Florence in 2025, and with the new renovations, things have only got better. What makes it stand out is not just heritage or views, though it has plenty of both, but the coherence of the whole experience after reopening: architecture, service, food, gardens and wellness all pulling in the same direction.

Hotel vibe

The vibe is deeply romantic, quietly cultivated and more restorative than showy. There's grandeur here, certainly, but it's softened by cypress, birdsong, terracotta and the sort of light that makes even a late breakfast feel cinematic. Villa San Michele doesn't try to sell Florence through noise or excess. Instead, it offers a slower, more lyrical version of the city, one that feels beautifully suited to travellers who want culture, beauty and proper stillness in equal measure.

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Inside Villa San Michele, Florence’s Most Romantic Luxury Hotel 2026