These Are the 12 Best Hotels in Florence, Italy

The Presidential Suite, with frescoed high ceiling and French doors opening to private terrace — The Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons Hotel Firenze

As a Florence resident for more than four years, I’ve seen the pressures of overtourism here firsthand. The good news? You can still have an incredible experience in this city so steeped in its Renaissance past—it just takes a little intention. From avoiding the peak summer months and supporting local artisans to going beyond the standard sites (try the contemporary art shows at Palazzo Strozzi or the newly refurbished Museum of Natural History), there are ways to connect with the city that go beyond the typical checklist.

That approach starts with choosing the right place to stay—and there are standout options in Florence’s ever-evolving hotel scene for every kind of traveler. Whether you’re looking for a stylish boutique retreat in the centro storico or a resort-like hotel on the quieter edges of town, this Hotels We Love list spotlights the best places to call home for a few days.

Casa G

Neighborhood: Via Tornabuoni/historic center
Why we love it: Charming and out-of-the-ordinary boutique hotel with a blend of craft and design
From $290
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Just off Florence’s chicest shopping street, the 15-room Casa G occupies the former headquarters of Richard Ginori — the famed porcelain manufacturer’s flagship store still anchors Via Tornabuoni steps away. While frescoes and other architectural details have been carefully restored preserved, the hotel, run by a young team, has a bright, contemporary feel. Vintage design pieces are mixed with custom creations by local artisans, including Duomo-inspired lamps and jewel-tone upholstered bed frames. Suites are housed in the former ballroom and dining rooms of the 18th-century residence. Thoughtful touches include a well-stocked honesty bar, serene breakfast rooms, and an inner patio for unwinding. Each year, a collaboration among artists and artisans results in new works on view at the property—the emblem of Casa G’s commitment to creativity and Florentine craft.

Casa Profumoir

Neighborhood: San Niccolò/historic center
Why we love it: An apartment-style hotel room connected to a noted perfume workshop
Rooms from $460, entire house from $1,030
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Undoubtedly one of the most unusual stays in Florence, Casa Profumoir is a richly appointed apartment for two to four guests connected to a respected perfumer’s workshop. The experience has been conceived as a multi-sensorial immersion into Florentine high craftsmanship, with personal fragrances paired with antique hand-wrought furnishings (imagine sleeping in a bronze bed frame from the 1700s) and details made in partnership with local artisan workshops.

The fountain courtyard is worthy of a Moroccan riad, and roses and 40 kinds of Mediterranean herbs fill the garden. Guests can take part in fragrance-making workshops, crafting custom scents with help from a master perfumer, or simply burn some resin in the dedicated incense lounge.

Collegio Alla Querce, Auberge Resorts Collection

Lobby with upholstered white chairs and sofa facing each other and tree in large container at right — Collegio All Querce Auberge Resorts Collection

Neighborhood: Le Cure
Why we love it: A new, detail-rich sanctuary away from the crowds
From $1,700
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A cluster of buildings dating to the 16th century that once housed a high school for Florence’s elite now holds Collegio Alla Querce, Auberge Resorts Collection—the city’s newest luxury hotel. Inside, there are 83 spacious rooms (including 34 suites), a principal’s office converted to a moodily lit cocktail bar, a garden-facing restaurant in the former cafeteria, a treatment spa, and a 114-foot lap pool. The resort offers panoramic views of countryside hills in one direction, and in the other, Florence’s old town— Duomo and all.

The historic building has undergone a careful restoration to retain much of its original architecture—note the soaring archways and the school’s crest in its marble mosaic entrance floor. Artworks throughout are from owner Analjit Singh’s personal collection, giving spaces with a sense of warmth and character that’s often lacking in such upscale accommodations.

Four Seasons Hotel Firenze

Ornate red and gold guest room with sofa and chandelier — Four Seasons Florence

Neighborhood: Piazzale Donatello/historic center
Why we love it: A Florence grand dame that delivers on gilded fantasy
From $1,150
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There’s no better place in Florence to feel like Renaissance nobility than the Four Seasons Hotel Firenze. The hotel’s 15th-century Palazzo della Gherardesca and the 16th-century convent of Palazzo del Nero both once served as grand aristocratic residences, and the centuries-old frescoes, painted coffered ceilings, and rich tapestries speak to their extravagant legacy. The 116 guest rooms, many illuminated by chandeliers, are housed in both the palazzo and the former convent, and include a collection of historic suites with original frescoes. A vast, manicured garden links the two palazzos, with a long Medici-era fountain reimagined as a swimming pool and heated Jacuzzi. The red cupola of the Duomo is visible in the distance from the cloistered garden, yet the location remains blissfully removed from the city’s bustle.

Helvetia & Bristol

Dimly lit modern spa, with indoor pool and chairs, formerly part of bank vault — The Spa at Hotel Helvetia & Bristol in Florence

Neighborhood: Piazza della Repubblica/historic center
Why we love it: A storied hotel with both traditional and modern-style accommodations, with a locally adored restaurant
Loyalty program: Leaders Club (Leading Hotels of the World)
From $440
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Florence’s original Grand Tour luxury hotel, the Helvetia & Bristol opened in 1885 and maintains rooms fit for romantics in its Helvetia building, where a refurbishment in partnership with the artisan silk weaver Antico Setificio Fiorentino restored walls covered in brocades, along with heavy satin curtains and fringed lampshades that accent canopy beds, beveled mirrors, and Murano blown-glass chandeliers. The Bristol building, a former bank that became part of the hotel in 2019, has newer rooms in still swish yet coolly contemporary gray interiors, including two new panoramic suites. In the bank’s former vault, the archeological remains of first-century AD Roman baths, have been transformed into a sleek, modern spa, and on the ground floor is a branch of Florence’s beloved farm-to-table restaurant, Cibrèo.

The Hoxton

Terra-cotta-colored bar with modern chandelier (L); pistachio and peach colors in high-ceilinged guest room, with seating in foreground (R) — The Hoxton

Neighborhood: Piazza della Libertà
Why we love it: The stylish, buzzy hotel Florence needed — at a fair price
Loyalty program: Dis-loyalty (Ennismore)
From $230
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A boon to Florence’s social scene, the Hoxton Florence has imported its signature formula of contemporary design and buzzing social spaces to the Piazza Libertà area north of the city’s center—a fast-growing neighborhood as yet untrammeled by tourists. Its seafood restaurant, Alassio, fills up with residents and visitors, as do its sprawling bar and its courtyard terrace, splayed between the hotel’s double palazzos: one Renaissance era, and the other by Andrea Branzi, the Florentine architect and postmodern master. The 161 guest rooms draw on Branzi’s influence, with peppy pastel interiors making for cheerful stays that feel far more plush and design-forward than their price tag would suggest.

Il Salviatino

Guest room, with tall windows behind the bed open to view of trees — Il Salviatino

Neighborhood: Fiesole
Why we love it: An extravagant, personality-filled getaway where greenery abounds
Loyalty program: SLH Club (Small Luxury Hotels of the World)
From $680
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Surrounded by flowering gardens, Il Salviatino’s villa feels like an opulent private estate. The 39 guest rooms are whimsical and spacious, pairing antiques with custom-made artisan pieces. Plants of all kinds appear throughout the hotel; owner Alessandra Rovati also heads Milan’s specialty florist and boutique, Tea Rose. At the garden level, rambling rooms include converted greenhouse spaces and a small but smartly designed spa; just beyond, Fiesole’s woods surround the pool. An outpost of Milan’s renowned Giacomo Milano restaurant has tables in the former library and outdoors among the abundant flowers in summer. There, the restaurant serves excellent lunches and dinners centered on seafood and Tuscan culinary traditions, and on Sundays, it serves the most indulgent brunch in Florence.

La Gemma

A green and white guest room, with upholstered bench at foot of bed — A local family runs La Gemma.

Neighborhood: Piazza della Repubblica/historic center
Why we love it: An intimate, family-run hotel with a standout restaurant
From $450
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In the heart of the teeming center, but located on a little-traveled alley behind Piazza della Repubblica, family-owned La Gemma is a cozy 39-room boutique bolthole. Here, the service feels intimate and personal; the contemporary tropical-inspired interiors include apartment-style suites, and a stellar restaurant. A destination worth seeking out even if you’re not a guest, Luca’s Ristorante serves ambitious Italian cuisine from its open kitchen; a snug dining room is lined with green velvet banquettes.

Numeroventi

Neighborhood: Santa Croce/historic center
Why we love it: Loft-like rooms in a sought-after hub for artists, designers, and creatives
From $230
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Much more than a hotel, Numeroventi is also Florence’s nexus for a creative milieu, drawing local and international talents to its art and design residency program. It also offers a calendar of events throughout the year with concerts, exhibitions, and even communal dinners as part of the city’s only chef residency. Guests can stay in one of the six airy lofts and rooms within the 16th-century Palazzo Galli Tassi, where contemporary works by past residents sit alongside vintage design furnishings. The interiors look straight out of the pages of an interior design magazine, but what really sets Numeroventi apart is a sense of community: a stay here places guests within Florence’s artistic sphere and helps support the residency program.

The Place

A compact, mostly white bathroom with tub, windows, and door to patio — The Place is in Piazza Santa Maria Novella.

Neighborhood: Santa Maria Novella
Why we love it: A luxurious yet intimate boutique hotel that shares a piazza with one of Florence’s most beautiful churches
Loyalty program: Leaders Club (Leading Hotels of the World)
From $575
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“We like to overdo it,” a staff member said at the Place, referring to touches like the hand-embroidered linen sheets, mattresses so comfy you’ll be checking the label, and the ubiquitous green Serpentino marble from the same quarry as Santa Maria Novella, the marble-fronted 15th-century church that commands this historical piazza. In other words, attention to detail makes this 20-room boutique hotel so inviting. The dining room of overstuffed armchairs leads to an outdoor terrace for aperitivos with church views. Tables are set with ceramics from Richard Ginori, handmade glasses from Moleria Locchi, and Pampaloni silver chalices—some of the local artisans that are part of hotel’s innovative “The Place of Wonders” program, which opens up workshops to guests and supports artisans through sales and scholarships.

Portrait Firenze

Brown and white guest room with sleek, modern furnishings and slanted ceiling — Portrait Firenze has an unmatched location next to the Ponte Vecchio.

Neighborhood: Lungarno degli Acciaiuoli/historic center
Why we love it: As central as it gets, with unbeatable views of the Arno and Ponte Vecchio
Loyalty program: Leaders Club (Leading Hotels of the World)
From $980
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With a coveted location just steps from the Uffizi in the heart of Florence, the Portrait Firenze faces the Arno river and the Ponte Vecchio with floor-to-ceiling walls of windows—ideal for observing the rowers gliding along the river and the city’s antique ochre buildings catching the sunlight. (The new 701 rooftop bar offers more views.)

Created by the Ferragamo family, the hotel feels understated and modern, with midcentury-style furnishings and muted tones that have become synonymous with the fashion dynasty’s Lungarno hotel group. Every room has a small kitchenette for homeyness and comfort, while the notoriously well-dressed staff are often wearing Ferragamo scarves.

Stella d’Italia

Guest room decorated in bright pink and yellow, with pop art on walls — Stella d’Italia is centrally located on stylish Via Tornabuoni.

Neighborhood: Via Tornabuoni/historic center
Why we love it: An homage to Florence in vivid colors
From $260
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The newest in a series of beloved boutique hotels in Florence, Stella d’Italia occupies the 16th-century Palazzo del Circolo dell’Unione, designed by the Renaissance master Giorgio Vasari, and it sits right on Via Tornabuoni among the city’s swankiest shops. The hotel is a lively homage to Florence, with centuries of heritage assembled in antique pieces and vintage design, alongside abundant collections of art and objets decorating the walls.

Each of the 24 rooms is individually designed in painterly colors, some with seating areas of vintage chairs, others have claw-foot tubs. A frescoed dining room starts the day for guests, with breakfast served on colorful marble tables, while a top-floor loggia offers evening aperitivos on a terrace with expansive views.

Laura Rysman

Laura Rysman is an American writer and longtime resident of Italy, where she reports on travel, fashion, and culture in the country.