WHERE TO STAY

A 15th-century Renaissance palazzo hotel with original frescoes and chandeliers, steps from San Vitale and the Galla Placidia Mausoleum.

A 1938 Art Deco spa palace built around Castrocaro's thermal springs, set in an eight-hectare park in the Tuscan-Romagna foothills.

Rimini's only five-star hotel and only private beach, a national monument since 1994 and the Art Nouveau icon that raised Fellini's imagination.

A Relais & Châteaux palace inside a 16th-century Renaissance residence in the heart of Ferrara, with gold-friezed ceilings and a kitchen devoted to old Emilian recipes.

An elegant hotel in the heart of Parma, named for the Duchess who once ruled the city.

A 16th-century palazzo turned boutique five-star, steps from the Duomo and Osteria Francescana.

Bologna's only five-star hotel — an 18th-century palazzo built over an ancient Roman road, with 109 rooms of aristocratic Italian elegance and a restaurant frescoed by the Carracci school.

A family-run boutique in the green heart of Salina — terraced gardens, a Michelin-starred kitchen, and a geothermal spa that draws from the island's volcanic soul.

A fortified hermitage on the Hyblean plateau, once home to the Knights of Malta — now one of Sicily's most singular rural escapes, with a private airstrip and a necropolis in the garden.

A restored art nouveau villa at the foot of Monte Pellegrino — once owned by the Florio family, Sicily's greatest industrial dynasty — now Rocco Forte's most Sicilian property, with frescoed halls, harbour views, and a history of Gatsby-esque parties.

A 15th-century Dominican monastery converted into Taormina's most prestigious hotel — Four Seasons service, double Michelin-starred dining, and an infinity pool above the Ionian Sea.

A 17th-century papal palazzo three minutes from the Piazza del Campo — frescoed ceilings, a wine cellar carved into a medieval tower, and the only five-star address inside Siena's walls.

A historic palazzo in Lucca's walled centre — rooftop champagne bar, Legacy Bistro, and 55 rooms that know exactly where they are.

A 1960s clifftop love nest on the Argentario peninsula — Michelin-starred dining, a legendary pool, and the particular glamour of a hotel that has never needed to try very hard.

The grande dame of Lake Como — belle époque palace, floating pool on the lake, and a century of doing this better than anyone else.

A 15th-century Medici palazzo with Florence's largest private garden, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and the quiet conviction that this is simply the finest hotel in the city.

A 5,000-acre Brunello estate with a two Michelin-starred kitchen, its own winery, and a medieval borgo.

A medieval castle that earns every cliché it inspires.

A 18th-century palazzo tucked into the heart of Positano, steps from the beach and the chaos of the main drag — yet somehow removed from both.

A cliffside retreat in Positano with a private beach path, a sun-catching pool, and rooms with genuine comfort.

An 18th-century noble residence turned hotel, with an intact chapel and frescoed ceilings, directly across from the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.

A restored 1920s villa on Cattolica's promenade, blending art deco elegance with a deluxe wellness centre and sea-facing pool.

A six-room locanda tucked into Ferrara's historic center, steps from Castle Estense, with rooms guests consistently single out for their views.

A 13th-century palazzo on Piazza Duomo, still partly home to the noble family whose name it bears.

An eight-suite wine and balsamic vinegar estate in the hills above Castelvetro, 25 minutes from Modena.

Modern design, terrazzo floors, and a rooftop bar with views over Bologna's terracotta skyline, just three minutes from Piazza Maggiore.

A Relais & Châteaux vineyard estate on Salina's northeastern tip — whitewashed cottages scattered among Malvasia vines, with Stromboli and Panarea framed on the horizon like a painting that never changes.

Eleven rooms carved into the limestone of Ragusa Ibla, a Michelin-starred restaurant below, and a wine cellar with over 2,000 labels — the La Rosa family's love letter to Sicily, two decades in the making.

A meticulously restored 18th-century palazzo steps from Palermo Cathedral — twelve rooms, a 9.8 guest rating, champagne service, and the kind of breakfast that makes the morning the best part of the day.

A 1919 private villa on the Bay of Mazzarò — Belmond's most intimate Sicilian property, with direct private beach access, baroque interiors, and sunset boat trips to the Grotta Azzurra.

A restored 10th-century medieval hamlet in the Chianti hills — with a Michelin-starred restaurant and a glorious spa.

An 18th-century Grand Ducal palace with natural hot springs, original frescoes, five pools, and a restaurant with views of the Leaning Tower

The former Grand Duke of Tuscany's hunting estate — 500 Maremma acres, Enrico Bartolini's Michelin-starred kitchen, and wine from the property's own vines.

A 10th-century monastery above Gaiole in Chianti with Michelin-starred dining, two pools, and Sangiovese vineyards on every horizon.

A restored medieval hilltop village in the Val d'Orcia — part hotel, part culinary academy, part art gallery, entirely itself.

A Ferragamo-owned boutique hotel on the Arno — river views, Ponte Vecchio fifty metres away, and the whole of Oltrarno on your doorstep.

A 10th-century bishop's estate, quietly restored — Tuscan cooking, estate wine, and rooms that ask nothing of you except that you stay longer.

A grand 18th-century villa perched on Sorrento's cliffs with direct sea access and views across the Bay of Naples to Vesuvius. Old-world elegance done without apology.

A historic Italian grand hotel with unmatched views over the Bay of Naples.

A 17th-century palazzo B&B in Ravenna's historic center, once home to the Rasponi-Bonanzi family, with frescoed vaults and a bathroom converted from a private chapel.

An Art Nouveau residence built in the early 1900s as Riccione's grand bathhouse, restored with a spa, four restaurants, and the golden beach two minutes away.

A boutique inn in the heart of Comacchio's canal town, built for travelers who want comfort at the edge of the Po Delta wilderness, not in spite of it.

A Renzo Piano–designed 5-star hotel in a converted pasta factory, steps from Parma's historic center.

A Renaissance-era palazzo hotel in Modena's historic center, five minutes from the Duomo.

A 19th-century palazzo beneath Bologna's famous porticoes — and a hotel that treats contemporary art as seriously as it treats its Michelin star.

Perched on the Vulcanello promontory with the entire Aeolian archipelago spread before it — two Michelin-starred restaurants, an infinity pool that meets the horizon, and interiors built from the volcano's own stone.

An 18th-century noble palazzo in the heart of Modica Alta — frescoed ceilings, pitchstone floors, and a family-run warmth that no luxury chain has ever managed to replicate.

Palermo's oldest grand hotel, open since 1874 — where Wagner finished Parsifal, where the Sicilian Mafia allegedly held its first American summit, and where the 19th-century ballroom still stops guests mid-stride.

Taormina's oldest hotel, open since 1873, steps from the Greek theatre — Belmond's most Sicilian property, with a Michelin-starred restaurant and a literary terrace that D.H. Lawrence, Oscar Wilde, and Truman Capote all called their own.

A 14th-century Carthusian monastery one kilometre outside Siena — Relais & Châteaux, Renzo Mongiardino interiors, fifteen rooms, and the particular quiet of a building designed for exactly this kind of stillness.

A meticulously renovated 13th-century palazzo in Lucca's historic centre — whitewashed rooms, exposed beams, superb breakfast, and Roman ruins in the basement.

A thermal spa resort built around hot springs that have been flowing for 3,000 years — travertine stone, 53 treatment rooms, an 18-hole golf course, and the particular stillness of the Maremma hills.

A contemporary design hotel on Lake Como's eastern shore — intimate, Urquiola-designed, and completely certain of itself.

A 15th-century Franciscan monastery on a wooded Fiesole hillside — with a facade attributed to Michelangelo, views across Florence to the Duomo, and the quiet conviction that it has no equal in the area.

A thermal wellness resort carved from a travertine quarry at the edge of the Val d'Orcia — restorative, deeply Tuscan, and one of the most complete spa experiences in Italy.

A medieval hamlet restored as one of Chianti's most complete luxury experiences — Michelin kitchen included.

A clifftop hotel above Amalfi with a saltwater pool carved into the rock and sea views that stretch to the horizon. Unpretentious and genuinely restful — the Amalfi Coast without the performance.

A hotel for travelers who’ve lived enough to know what matters, and want the rest to disappear.