Belmond Villa San Michele

The road to Villa San Michele winds up through Fiesole in a cypress-lined procession that feels designed to prepare you for something. It is. You pass through an iron gate into gardens that have been tended since the Franciscans were here, and then the facade appears — weathered stone, porticoed, attributed to Michelangelo — and Florence lies below you like an argument you've already won.

The Property:The monastery dates to the Renaissance period, built by Franciscan monks on the Fiesole hillside. By 1600 the Michelangelo facade and loggia were added — the loggia now forms the main dining area. Belmond's restoration has been done with characteristic intelligence — 46 rooms and suites across the main building and garden apartments, each one different, none of them disappointing. Not a single false note is struck — from the reception area in the former chapel to the dining rooms in the covered cloister and former refectory, to the antiques and art throughout.

The Rooms: Rooms in the main monastery building are the ones with history — vaulted ceilings, antique furnishings, the particular quiet of very thick walls. Garden apartments offer more space and privacy, with terraces looking directly over Florence. All rooms are dressed with Belmond's characteristic restraint — nothing showy, everything right. The bathrooms are marble and generous. The views from the better rooms are the kind that make checkout feel like a small bereavement.

Food & Drink:There are three dining options — La Loggia fine dining restaurant operating at Michelin star level, the more casual Ristorante San Michele championing the Slow Food Foundation with local ingredients including raw milk pecorino from Maremma and Sorana beans, and a poolside restaurant. The loggia terrace, where tables sit beside open windows with the entire city spread below, is one of the great dining settings in Italy. Breakfast here, with Florence going golden in the morning light, is worth the room rate alone. A caveat — food prices run high even by Belmond standards. Worth it for the setting; less so for the cooking alone.

The Experience:Executive chef Attilio di Fabrizio offers hands-on cooking classes covering regional dishes — pasta, pastries, and desserts — suitable for all levels. The pool is 25 metres, intimate, with attentive service and views across the valley. The hotel runs a complimentary shuttle to central Florence — useful, though the bus from Fiesole works equally well and feels more like the real thing. Five minutes on foot takes you into Fiesole village itself, which most guests never bother to explore. They should.

Worth Knowing: The location is the tradeoff — you are above the city, not in it. For some travellers this is the entire point. For others who want to walk to the Uffizi at nine in the morning, Hotel Lungarno makes more sense. Villa San Michele is for people who want Florence as a view rather than a neighbourhood. Both are valid. Know which one you are before you book.

Everyone who has ever stayed here has looked at Florence from the loggia and understood, perhaps for the first time, exactly what all the fuss was about.