Hotel Il Salviatino - A room with a view in Florence
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Not all of us are lucky enough to live like royalty all of the time, but most of us manage to find a few occasions when we can treat ourselves to the very best, be that a honeymoon, 40th birthday celebration or, for those who can afford it, an annual treat. If you've been looking for a luxury hotel to splash out on, somewhere you can carouse like a king, lounge like a lord, parade like a princess, dine like a duke and sleep like a sultan, then you should put Florence's luxury Hotel Il Salviatino at the very top of your list.
This stunningly converted 15th century Tuscan villa is no ordinary luxury hotel. Situated high on a hill overlooking the domes and towers of Florence, Il Salviatino will send their driver to collect you from pretty much any location in Italy, allowing you to make the approach in an air-conditioned car as you wind up through the manicured gardens of the slopes to the imposing, aristocratic house at the crown. There, a team of staff give you a presidential welcome, offering cold towels and chilled water while you are met by your "service ambassador", a kind of butler who will remain at your disposal throughout your stay. There is no reception, no forms to fill in, nothing mundane. Your passports are simply whisked away and returned again with the minimal of fuss - your arrival is as a long-awaited guest at the home of a very wealthy friend.
The villa is truly magnificent, from the stone floors and high-ceilings of the entrance hall, you enter the wood-panelled comfort of the library, where leather sofas hug tables laden with flowers and fruit, which fill the air with a fragrant aroma not usually associated with a room full of dusty volumes. Outside, Salviatino's terrace is bedecked with huge white cotton sofas overlooking the geometric shapes of the English garden and bar staff are always on hand to supply you with a cocktail or glass of ice-cold prosecco.
Once you've been given a chance to have a good nose around, you are led up a gargantuan stone staircase lined with huge flickering candles. You can feel your back elongating as you literally rise to the occasion - it is impossible to slouch in such surroundings. The rooms are exquisite, and each of them unique. From the floor-to-ceiling windows of the deluxe rooms on the piano nobile - with views reaching over the dome of Florence's famous cathedral beyond to the Tuscan hills - to the converted dining room of the Melodia suite, with its open fireplace and intriguing wooden shuttered bathroom. All the rooms have handcrafted Tuscan linen and maxi toiletries, which include toothbrush, toothpaste, floss and a red wine face cream, along with the usual array of oils, soaps and foams. As you rise further up the house, the suites get grander and more interesting, with a private dining room in one, an enormous roof terrace in another, and many original 16th-century frescos, which were uncovered during the conversion.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the villa belonged to the respected art critic and journalist Ugo Ojetti and his family, who would gather the local great and good for heated discussions about art, politics and literature in a Florentine version of a salon. In the 1970s, with the upkeep too much for a small family to sustain, it was taken over by Stanford University who used it to house their overseas arts programme. The hotelier Marcello Pigozzo, harbouring a dream to convert the beautiful building into his vision of the perfect hotel, managed to convince the Ojetti family to sell in 2007, and now - after three years' work - his vision is almost finally realised.
Over the next few weeks the finishing touches will be made to this Promethean enterprise. A spa will provide Thai massage and beauty treatments, a swimming pool will cool the summer visitor and already the excellent fine dining restaurant Grappolo is drawing the Florentine epicureans to venture out of the city, with promises of Tuscan classic dishes with an international finish and one of the best cellars in the neighbourhood.
At Hotel Il Salviatino you really can live like a lord.
If you visit the luxury Hotel Il Salviatino in Florence before May 31 2010, you will be able to have any available suite for the price of a deluxe room - that could be a massive saving of £3,500 a night.
Via del Salviatino 21, Florence, Italy
Cost standard double room: ££££, suite: £££££+
Services spa, swimming pool, fitness equipment, parking, hotel restaurant, hotel bar, room service, business services, internet access
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