Il Salviatino, a stunning property just outside Florence, offers a masterclass in eclectic storytelling: and, as of late 2026, a perfect winter bolthole for those wanting to visit off-season.
“Five-star gem, nestling in rural surrounds, overlooking the city skyline…” It’s a phrase that perhaps only a handful of hotels the world over can boast: and here, five kilometres north-west of Florence’s dead centre, this hospitality idyll can – and has – been nailed, with a flourish.
From Il Salviatino’s ground-floor terrace, the Birth of the Renaissance, with the Brunelleschi cupola atop the Duomo roughly at eye level, seems to unfurl, carpet-like, from the middle distance. Set within 12 hectares of private parkland, about five kilometres north-west of Florence’s centre, the hotel – a 15th Cenutry villa built by the family after whom it is named – is a testimony to the tastes, passion and diligence of its owner, Milanese entrepreneur Alessandra Rovati Vitali.
It’s a place where classic, mid-century and modern furnishing – Gio Ponti chairs, Mario Bellini sofas, pieces acquired at a Ritz Paris auction – are set amongst a profusion of plants, perennials and flowers, and every hideaway, every nook, cranny and stretched alcove has its own aesthetic identity: some harmonious, some offering a masterclass in discordant harmony.
Getting from your room to the public spaces, a faintly ecclesiastical scent follows you down the medieval staircases and corridors, the church-like ambience supplemented by the echo of far-off staff exchanges bouncing off marble. It’s an atmosphere in which slowing your pace, hands behind your back, as you take in the artworks, 19th-century frescoes and Neo-Gothic vaulted ceilings, is pretty much involuntary.
There are 39 individually styled rooms and suites, all with their own whimsical flourishes (ours has an entire wall which appears to be shimmering drapes but is actually a cunningly applied modern fresco: vastly more tasteful than it sounds in prose). Named after the Spanish surrealist master, who once stayed here, The Dalì Suite (around SGD$1,200) nods at the surrealist master’s aesthetic, but not too overtly.
Also tempting to make a special request for is The Grand Greenhouse Suite (around SGD$1,200): a two-bedroom retreat, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls, in which guests are immersed in Il Salviatino’s gardens. But – for something to literally write home about – consider the Presidential Suite (around SGD$1,200), a grand statement space whose wow factor is bolstered by an impressive marble fireplace and original oil canvases by Dutch Golden Age landscape painter Gabriel van der Leeuw.
Once you’re done marvelling at the premises, head to the bar and start immersing yourself in Tuscany’s prodigious approach to Bacchanalia. Maybe start with a glass of the Bibi Graetz Bollamatta Rosato – an Italian sparkling red – before moving onto a local spirit repertoire, the highlights of which include Florentis (Tuscan malt whisky, aged in ex-red wine casks, with a mix of wheat, rye, and barley) and Tuscan vodka by Chianti-based brand Winestillery.
If wine is more your thing, check out the house expressions Brunello di Montalcino and Bolgheri – a young but prestigious appellation located in the Maremma on the Tuscan coast. As one staffer put it to me: “About 80-85 percent of the wine we serve is from the Tuscan region – in my opinion, 70 of the best wineries in the world are within a 50km radius of where we are talking.”
When it comes to cuisine, Da Giacomo al Salviatino – the Florence outpost of a much-lauded Milan eatery – is served in areas of the hotel including the expansive terrace, with its soul-stirring vista, and the hotel’s cosy library. Until this year it was open only between April and October – but from 2026 onwards, bolstering Il Salviatino’s creds as a winter retreat, it will open all year round.
Expect a generous, folksy take on Italy’s fresh seafood, enhanced by seasonal ingredients sourced from “Il Terzo Paradiso”: the property’s botanical permaculture garden. Turbot fillet with celeriac and onions in a zesty sauce is especially recommended. The breakfast experience (think breezeblock-sized helpings of buttery scrambled egg with delectably cured bacon, and patisserie and bakery items all fresh-baked in-house that morning) is another huge draw.
Outside, an enchanting tiered garden has been planted and tended by Alessandro and her team with unfussy diligence: stay elsewhere if soulless, sharp-angled topiary is your preference. A saunter down said garden, meanwhile, leads first to a split-level, cabana-flanked outdoor infinity pool, then, further down, a development that put this property in the news recently: the new €3m Aquae Vitali Spa. A Greco-Roman-styled gem, set within the original villa’s greenhouse, it can be booked out for an hour of couple/family time, and contains a traditional sauna plus hammam, steam room, heated plunge pool ice bath and Vichy shower.
Aromatherapeutic relaxation and signature massages entail products by local perfumiers and cosmetologists, whilst restorative facials feature award-winning skincare by Professor Augustinus Bader, a German biomedical scientist and physician known for his work in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.
What makes this place irresistible, though – rather than simply enchanting – is the attention to detail. Take the marble used for the interiors: Alessandra and her team did some serious homework before selecting, from local provider Henraux, two different marbles. ‘Versilys’ – a rare Tuscan stone, light grey in tone, with ochre, gold and white veining – was chosen for its aesthetical suitability to the spaces. ‘Altissimo’, a classic of Italian architecture ever since Michelangelo discovered it in Monte Altissimo in 1517, was chosen for its thematic relevance to the area.
It’s a hotel that doesn’t just have bed linen – it has cotton satin, made by Italian brand Rivolta Carmignani, in an ultra-light pink hue created specially to “harmonise perfectly with the natural light filtering through our windows”, as the hotel puts it.
If the Renaissance was all about belief in human potential, then Il Salviatino is its living embodiment, just outside where it all happened.
