Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel, Florence

Character and identity

Set in the hills of Fiesole above Florence, this 46-room Belmond occupies a 15th-century former monastery whose Renaissance loggia, vaulted ceilings and old cloister still set the tone. The look is what you might call monastery chic: period furniture, leaded glass, marble bathrooms with sunken tubs, restraint over ornament. Executive chef Alessandro Cozzolino runs two restaurants under the loggia, the tasting-menu La Loggia and the more Tuscan Ristorante San Michele, with aperitivo hour spent on the garden terrace looking down over the Duomo. There's a pool, a 24/7 TechnoGym, cooking classes, kids' programmes and a shuttle into the city.

Who's it for

Bottom line

The pull here is the setting and the kitchen, a Renaissance monastery on a Fiesole hillside with two serious restaurants under its loggia, not city-centre convenience or spa facilities. Book it for a honeymoon or a milestone trip, request a main-villa room with a city view rather than the annex, and lean on the complimentary shuttle for Florence itself.