Tag: Florence Hotels
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What’s Out, What’s In: Liquid Diets
SMAK Bar's Bloody Mary at Hotel Madeline
We've started a series of what’s trending in hotels these days: What’s Out, What’s In. Do we like what we see? Think it's a dud? You be the judge!
What’s Out: Drinks Then Dinner
What’s In: Dinner in Your Drinks
These days hotel bars are getting all fancy with their cocktails. Prize mixologists are like rock stars in the bevvie world. It’s a given now that the best hotel bars make their own syrups and infuse their own spirits, so what’s next? Well, some bartenders are thinking that it may be time to bring back the liquid lunch, although some of these drinks aren’t only liquid...
Lantern’s Keep (love the name!) at the Iroquois Hotel New York is an intimate cocktail salon located inside the historic Theater District hotel. Here's the kicker--you can only enter the dimly-lit watering hole if the lantern outside the bar is glowing. If you’re there at night and have one-too-many of the Stay Up Late cocktails, you might just want to show up the next day for the Golden Breakfast, made up of gin, lime, cucumber slices, Worcester sauce, hot sauce and the final ingredient--an egg yolk.
Hotel Trends / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Toiletries / Istanbul Hotels / Turkey Hotels / Vermont Hotels / Zurich Hotels / Switzerland Hotels / Italy Hotels / Rome Hotels / Florence Hotels / → All Tags
What’s Out, What’s In: Scent of a Hotel
Today we start a new weekly series of what’s trending in hotels these days: What’s Out, What’s In. Do we like what we see? Think it's a dud? You be the judge!
What’s Out: Generic flower aromas
What’s In: Bespoke signature scents
Hotels are getting personal with their smelly goods. More and more they’re looking to give you a local scent experience as soon as you walk in the door or when you’re executing your nightly ablutions. Capitalizing on the strength of olfactory memories, they’re partnering with local scent companies to choose unique aromas that embody the spirit of the hotel and give it a sense of place.
Here are just a few examples:
For The Sake Of Hotel Art / Florence Hotels / Hotel Art / Italy Hotels / Hotel Photography / Marilyn Monroe / Museum Hotels / → All Tags
Fancy A Night In A Hotel With Marilyn Monroe? Head To Florence
OK, interactive holograms of deceased celebrities haven't quite made it into the repertoire of common hotel amenities. But how does this sound instead: a hotel lobby filled with original black-and-white pictures spanning the entire career of Hollywood's most photographed star?
That's what Florence's Gallery Hotel Art has planned for the rest of the summer, and they're throwing in a few extras to celebrate the exhibit, on display now. Like breakfast, a three-course dinner, room upgrade, and free entry to the Ferragamo museum.
Giving credence to the oft-quoted Marilyn Monroe maxim: "There's so much to smile about."
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Florence Is Having A Renaissance, As Far As Hotel Social Media Goes
Eventually, it's going to get pretty boring writing (and reading!) about every single hotel that launches a partnership with LobbyFriend, the newest hotel social media and city guide app to set the hotel world on fire. But for now (we hope), the excitement is still there...
If for no other reason than that LobbyFriend is so darn secretive about which hotels they've partnered with!
The Lungarno Collection, a boutique family-owned consortium boasting four hotels in Florence, Italy, will be the first European hotel brand (and only the second worldwide, that we know of) to offer the technology. Giving guests that much more of an opportunity to practice their shaky Italian.
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Cookies and a Lullaby: Is This The Perfect Turndown?
Chocolates at turndown are all well and good. Port, even better. But, if we lay aside our greedy tendencies for a moment, we’d say that this sincere wish for us to have a good sleep is probably better than both of them.
We found this on our pillow at bedtime during our stay at the Golden Tower Hotel in Florence: a copy of the Brahms Lullaby, which sounds like this and reads like this:
Lullaby and good night, with roses bedight
With lilies bedecked is baby's wee bed,
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessedLullaby and good night, thy mother's delight
Bright angels beside my darling shall stand;
They will guard thee from harms, thou shalt wake in my arms
They will guard thee from harms, thou shalt wake in my arms
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On Your Next Grand Tour, Check Out the New St. Regis Florence
If you were hopping a plane to Italy today, where would you go? Would you wait patiently outside the still-under-construction Armani Hotel Milan? Or suffer the annoying cash-only hotel taxes in Rome?
Maybe instead you could make a beeline for Florence, and scope out the new St. Regis Florence, which opened last Thursday. Starwood, parent company of the international luxury brand, is currently pumping $100 million into its most prized properties in Europe, Africa and the Middle East—and this historic 1432 Florence landmark building—which was previously known as the Grand Hotel Florence—seems to have been high on the list.
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Grand Hotel Villa Cora Has Reopened in Florence wiith Rooms at $330 a Night
As you start perusing our Master List of Worldwide Hotel Openings in 2011, don't forget about places that have been around awhile but recently come back with a face-lift. Case in point: the Grand Hotel Villa Cora in Florence.
The storybook-like property reopened on December 26, following a three-year restoration and additions that include a new spa, gym, swimming pool and two restaurants.
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The Westin Excelsior in Florence Unveils New Rooftop Terrace With Killer Views
The Westin Excelsior, Florence used to attract a who's-who of the film industry to its Roof Garden, the top-floor terrace, with such VIPs like Franco Zeffirelli, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Orson Welles, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. But it's been a while since some of those folks have stopped by. (Yes, we know a few of them are no longer alive.)
But the hotel is now looking to reclaim its glamorous glory by reopening the rooftop terrace with the (awkward) new moniker SE.STO on Arno in late September.
After a $4 million renovation, the rooftop is reopening as a bar, restaurant and lounge. A curved, upholstered wall marks the entrance to the bar and the restaurant, and a glass-enclosed wine cellar separates the two areas. Outside there are two large terraces; the one adjacent to the restaurant is bordered by a shallow infinity pool that gives the illusion that the water is emptying into the Arno River. The rooftop is supposedly the only in Florence with 360-degree views of the city.
Indeed, the killer view is the major selling point, as the oversized windows overlook the city, the Arno and the surrounding hills.
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Hunt Your Own Truffles At Monsignor Della Casa
You don't even really need a good reason to take a vacation in Tuscany but for those with a taste for the luxury and gourmet side of life, the Monsignor Della Casa Country Resort near Florence has got a Gourmet Truffle Break deal to tempt you. The Monsignor Della Casa looks like just the right kind of quaint countryside resort for a Tuscan break and it is part of a 16th century estate that belonged to an Italian "good manners expert" of the day, so this place has some pedigree.
The truffle package includes two nights' accommodation and a buffet breakfast, plus a truffle hunting expedition into the park of Villa La Casa, followed by a truffle dinner. We're not sure what you get for dinner if you fail in your truffle hunt, but hopefully they've got some in reserve.
Deals start at around $300 per night for a double room and go up to around $400 for a suite – with a minimum stay of two nights. If truffles aren't quite your thing they also offer a three-night deal with wine tasting in the Chianti Rufina area, with prices a little higher than the truffle deal.
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The Palazzo Vecchietti Hotel Now Open in Florence
The Town House brand is a totally swanky range of apartment-style accommodations that is spreading across Italy. They started out in Milan and Turin and are now just opening the Town House Palazzo Vecchietti in central Florence, and this latest one certainly sounds like it's living up to the quality of the others.
The Palazzo Vecchietti is actually twelve separate apartments built into a fifteenth-century palace in a no-expense-spared kind of way. Each apartment is named after an Italian "great", with the largest one being the Leonardo da Vinci. They've got their own kitchenettes and there are mod cons including WiFi, and every room is kitted out to fit the part of belonging to a palce.
This Florence version of the Town House is actually a franchise of the original Milan brand, with three families joining forces to get the palace up to standard, and that suggests we might start to see more of this luxury-style accommodation across Italy.
Well, we might see it, but can we afford to see inside it? The funny this is that the prices at the Milan Town Houses are not too bad (promotion rates range from €120 - €200, or $160 - $270) so even though we can't book the Florence version yet, we're optimistic that it might be vaguely affordable. We'll wait and see.
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The Four Seasons Florence is Not as Good as the Uffizi But Might Be Close
Just six weeks or so into its life as a luxury hotel, the Four Seasons Florence is getting very impressive feedback: almost everyone gives it a 5-star rating on TripAdvisor and a recent write-up in the UK Times made it sound the best hotel the reviewer had ever stayed at.
It certainly has some historical and artistic advantages over regular hotels, being created out of two Renaissance palaces joined by the largest private garden in Florence. There are frescoes on walls, cherubs on the ceilings and artworks galore throughout the hotel. It's kind of like going sightseeing around Florence but without actually having to go anywhere.
We were a bit scared when we clicked over to look at the room rates, but they're nowhere near as shocking as you'd expect. Coming up to the winter season the Four Seasons Florence is offering special rates from €350 (US$515) a night although the usual standard rates go from €500 (US$740).
[Photo: Salthillhalli]
Italy Hotels / Florence Hotels / Monica Guy / Boutique Hotes / → All Tags
Flash your Cash at JK Place in Florence
What did we say about staying away from the centre of Florence?
Only if you're on a budget. If you're not and you want to flash your cash in the shops and slap-bang city centre, take a room in the JK Place boutique hotel in Santa Maria Novella square.
There are only 20 rooms and the staff like to call it a 'house' rather than a hotel. That's going a bit far - décor is stylish and understated but undeniably Italian-design (Michele Bonan, if you're interested). Clean lines, simple colours and cute details everywhere. Breakfast is in an old internal courtyard which has been covered over by a huge glass structure.
Yet we're a bit worried about the pretentious factor.
