Regular guests of Villa San Michele need not worry. After eighteen months of uninterrupted work, Belmond’s hotel on the hills of Fiesole has reopened completely renewed, improved and refreshed — without losing any of its indefinable allure. Arrive and you will find the same magnificent avenue leading you to the Renaissance façade attributed to Michelangelo. Step inside and the sophisticated elegance you remember is entirely intact.
The achievement of the LVMH group, which acquired Belmond in 2018, has been to begin the quiet evolution of genuinely iconic properties into something that represents the very highest standard of hospitality conceivable today — and that did not seem possible. To take only Italian examples: the Cipriani in Venice, the Splendido in Portofino and Villa San Michele itself were already the fullest expression of luxury. And yet, without eroding anything of the history or personality of these historic hotels, this series of renewals and restylings opens an entirely new chapter in the story of Italian hospitality. More distinctly Italian in character, playlists included, increasingly artisanal and bespoke, and with a remarkable ability to discover new talent.
Beyond the project by Luigi Fragola Architects, which has brought colour and lightness to the interiors in the manner of the private residences the studio typically works on, Villa San Michele now has a new coherence between inside and out; between the exterior landscape and the interior world, which together form a single image of Florence: cradle of culture, with Brunelleschi’s dome visible from above, and all around it the bucolic countryside and the deep green woods of Monte Ceceri.
From breakfast through to the evening, the rhythm of the day is shaped by beauty and wellbeing. The Spa by Guerlain, the first in Italy, opened simultaneously with a sister spa in Venice, is entered through the illusion of a frescoed garden and left, an hour or two later, feeling restored and, for those who wish it, beautifully made up. But wellbeing today extends well beyond the walls of a spa, however extraordinary. The point is reconnecting with oneself and with the surroundings; an experience available here through gong baths and Tibetan singing bowls in a tiny chapel among the trees designed by JJ Martin as part of her new holistic direction, with one of the most perfect views of Florence as a backdrop.
From there, guests can set out along one of the new woodland paths through the estate, eventually arriving at the pool, where the mood shifts back to glamour: enigmatic crosswords by the water, a four-finger-thick Fiorentina on the grill, beautiful gardens that green designer Luca Ghezzi has filled with citrus trees, rosemary hedges and pergolas of roses. In the kitchen garden, now enlarged, chef Alessandro Cozzolino picks his aromatics to add bursts of flavour to his cooking, both the genuinely Italian dishes of San Michele (do not miss the pasta with mussels, potatoes and smoked provola) and the more refined preparations of Antesi, offered across three varied tasting menus, including an irresistible vegetarian option that leaves no room for regret at any course.
*previously published on IlSole24Ore