Rachel Rock
Rich in history, culture, and stunning scenery, Italy presents a wide range of opportunities for visitors. From the picturesque canals of Venice to the ancient ruins of Rome, the nation is a treasure store for people looking for luxury, adventure, and gastronomic pleasures. We will explore Italy’s best 10 hotels in this book, each masterwork of location, design, and service. These venues provide a window into the core of Italian culture and elegance, therefore beyond mere accommodation to become doors to extraordinary experiences.
List Of Top 10 Best Hotels In Italy 2024
1. COMO Castello del Nero
Not your typical Tuscan estate, COMO’s first purchase in mainland Europe is this 12th-century castle buried deep into the Chianti countryside 40 minutes south of Florence. And what a place: From a flouncy Italianate hotel, a completely modern, city-sleek flat with somber gray and putty-colored walls combined with eau-de-nil sofas and the odd jade patio door has been created. Of course, COMO’s highlights are its spas; this one doesn’t disappoint with trademark COMO Shambhala treatments, Guinot facials, and an outdoor pool in the summer (when outdoor yoga, overlooking the undulating hills, is also scheduled). Executive chef Giovanni Luca Di Pirro works magic on local foods at Michelin-starred La Torre; pre-game with an oil or wine tasting in the historic wine cellars.
2. Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel
With a very good reason, staying at this five-star hotel on the edge of a cliff on the Amalfi Coast could feel like a religious experience. Before the building was turned into a hotel, the site housed the Capuchin monks from 1583 to 1826; it was a monastery with elements from 1212. Early on, it was a popular stop for globetrotting visitors on their Grand Tour of Europe; over the years, it has accommodated Greta Garbo, Victor Hugo, and Elizabeth Taylor. Though guest rooms clearly lean toward the comfy and unassuming with white linens and terra-cotta tiles, monastic simplicity is not what you should expect. While the poolside La Locanda is the spot for lunch in the sun, Dei Cappuccini Restaurant by Chef Claudio Lanuto delivers humorously reinterpreted Mediterranean cuisine with equally exquisite views out over the coastline. The hotel still hosts a 13th-century cloister and a Catholic consecrated church for an even more unique event—the ideal location for a vacation wedding including up to 70 of your closest friends and relatives.
3. Hotel Il Pellicano
The legend of this great escape started in 1965 when a British pilot and his American socialite wife erected a big villa above the sea close to Porto Ercole and let people visit it. Originally acquired by present owner Roberto Sciò in the 1970s, it attracted foreign A-listers and has remained as seductive fifty-plus years on. Divided between the main villa and six cottages buried among olive trees and cypresses, the 50 airy bedrooms feature polished terracotta flooring and a color palette reflecting the surrounding land and seascapes. With Fornasetti-inspired wallpaper, jazzy fabrics, a great spa, and a boutique selling super-chic Eres swimwear, the retro yellow-and- white-striped beach towels are still laid out around the heated saltwater pool and along the famous bathing platform over the sea, but the place feels fresh too. On the terrace of the Michelin-starred restaurant, lazy lunches of octopus salad and chilled local Ansonica carry on into pre-dinner Pelican Martinis and risotto with pears and summer truffles. Candlelit terrace By miles, this is Tuscany’s most remarkable beach haven.
4. Caruso, A Belmond Hotel, Amalfi Coast
Though this one originated in the 11th century, people still discuss famous works from long ago. Built on a limestone bluff above Ravello, a monument to their strength and good fortune to have escaped unharmed, a rich Italian family built the foundations of the Caruso on the way to Constantinople. And here their towering eyrie stayed, withstanding the Middle Ages’ conflicts, ignored, rebuilt, forgotten once more, until Pantaleone Caruso intervened and turned it into a hotel in 1893. Belmond (formerly Orient-Express hotels) seized control in 2000 and started a major restoration: archaeologists arrived to find the original medieval foundations and art historians were sent in to find the Arcadian frescos of the edifice. Old Masters hang in the marble hallways today, and the 50 bedrooms have been brought up-to-date but not quite renovated to crush appeal. They have bathrooms tucked away with Penhaligon’s bottles and still have their original vaulted ceilings, stone fireplaces and terra cotta tiles. It has also lately opened Villa Margherita, a two-bedroom haven tucked far within the fragrant gardens. Lunches of lobster, langoustine, and truffles abound among guests, or stroll down to the water to explore the jagged coastline on the lovely wooden boat of the hotel. With its lemon-scented air, hanging gardens spilling down onto the Tyrrhenian Sea, stone coves, and peaceful areas to sit and soak in the dizzying vistas, this place is one associated with solitude. And romance: Humphrey Bogart, Greta Garbo, Virginia Woolf came to hide away with Jackie Kennedy and Gianni Agnelli allegedly started their affair. A really brilliant, timeless location.
5. Il San Pietro di Positano
Il San Pietro di Positano burrows into a cliff and pays homage to the ambition and foolishness of its founder by having an elevator drop down to the shore via a shaft cut out of rock. Made especially more appealing by great but not overly sophisticated seasonal cuisine, it is the perfect Amalfi Coast cocoon. The reason the international glitterati has flocked here since the opening of the hotel in 1970 the steep, narrow stone lanes of the hamlet and shockingly stunning blue waters really are the stuff of dreams (ours, anyway). Rising on a slice of outstanding cliff side real estate above the Bay of Positano, the 56-room villa is a rustic Eden drenched in aromatic vegetation and citrus trees. Perfect sea views abound in exquisitely tiled rooms with brilliant linen accents and big windows; unusual elements like lamps with fantastical centaur motifs and gilded coffee tables offer a little bit of elegance. Some include a Jacuzzi room and a private elevator as well. After a plate of luscious strawberries and a thimble of espresso eases your day, ride a free boat around the bay or take an elevator down to a private beach. Dinner at the Michelin-starred Zass is a strawberry crème-colored vision, twice as wonderful Mediterranean classics like lobster tagliatelle and truffle sauce-coated sea bass are presented on pink tables, on a rock ledge high above the breaking waves.
6. Il Falconiere
Originally only a restaurant, the same family owned this Tuscan property since 1860 has now added guest rooms. Comprising a seventeenth-century home surrounded by vineyards and renovated farmhouses, the property is “just outside Cortona,” a town with Etruscan archeological sites. Each room with views of the olive trees and vineyards has antiques mixed with contemporary and classic fabrics. Treatments involve olive oil, grapes, and wine; the “wonderful property” also consists of a winery and spa kept within a walled garden. At the restaurant, which serves Tuscan cuisine and cookery lessons, savor “fine food and service”.
7. Caesar Augustus
Rising high and mighty, 1,000 feet above the Bay of Naples, this magnificent estate owned by a former Russian prince provides breathtaking views from wherever on its well-kept, hand-in-hand gardens calling for a romantic stroll. Using the lemons of the island, stores provide local pottery, made-to-measure sandals, and Capri’s limoncello liquor from Anacapri’s town center, five minutes’ walk away. Though all rooms feature down duvets, linen sheets, marble bathrooms with double basins, and private balconies, for a sense Roman grandeur, choose one of the five specialty suites—the Caesar features arches, columns, and a bust of Augustus himself. The water seems to swallow the bi-level infinity pool. What a breathtaking scene this is.
8. Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni
Since 1873, this Neoclassical grande dame—the sole luxury hotel in the lovely town of Bellagio—has welcomed generations of eminent visitors by combining the easy warmth of a family-run business with the graces of a golden past. Grand marble stairways, massive crystal chandeliers, a combination of Louis XVI and Art Nouveau furnishings, and elaborate frescoed ceilings all fit Serbelloni’s vision of what you might anticipate of a patinated house on Lake Como. The guests, a varied cross-section of foreign visitors, soak it in: They linger in front of the fireplace in its luxurious grand salon; step gently across large, vacant rooms filled with period antiques and tuck themselves into the wooden American Bar for a nightcap or two. There is always the palm-fringed lakefront pool and the garden with its subtropical vegetation and well-maintaining hedges to provide the ideal counterpoint and commanding views for a break from all that history.
9. Il Sereno
The “light” structure of the hotel fits its surroundings since it has many windows ablaze with sunlight reflected by the lake. Comprising about 183 different kinds of plants, the garden produces a stunning floral scene fit for the surroundings. Harmony results from the Brazilian quartzite heated infinity pool and the ashwood deck becoming one with the lake in a straight line. From within the hotel, you can often catch a glimpse of the Lario, another name for Lake Como, a legendary aspect of Italian culture and the backdrop of Alessandro Manzoni’s 19th-century novel The Betrothed, where star-crossed lovers Renzo and Lucia manage to at last reunite and get married. With the greatest of Italian design furniture by Cassina, Moroso, B&B Italia as are the 40 rooms, all with a view, and the wonderful vertical garden by Patrick Blanc Il Sereno’s lobby is elegant, soft, and welcome. Courtesy of Raffaele Lenzi, the mouthwatering and straightforward (although Michelin-starred) cuisine consists of local freshwater fish and vegetables accompanied by amazing cocktails even the alcohol-free ones. There is still the wooden motorboat, a lovely Riva, ready to take you around the lake or to Villa Pliniana, a 16th-century palace with another 17 bedrooms a perfect setting for listening to the music of the grand piano of the villa while staring upon the waters of Lago di as if so much modern beauty were not enough.
10. Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria
After a day of sightseeing, this 1834 family-owned property is wonderful to visit three connected Victorian buildings above the Gulf of Naples; to relax on the clifftop terrace and witness the lights come on over the water. With faux l’oeil walls and parquet flooring not to mention verandas with views of Mount Vesuvius rooms are styled in anything from Pompeian to Victorian. Using products from the hotel garden, Terrazza Bosquet presents gourmet cuisine; guests may always have a great cocktail on the terrace of Bar Vittoria, with view of the water. Alternatively go for a scrub or specialty massage at the Boutique Spa La Serra.
