Hotel Savoy
A contemporary Rocco Forte hotel on Piazza della Repubblica: modern art over Renaissance pastiche, with Tuscan cooking at the buzzy Irene.
Florence hotels can lean hard on the Renaissance, and there is nothing wrong with that, but the Hotel Savoy offers something fresher. On Piazza della Repubblica, at the very centre of the city, it makes the case that a Florence stay need not arrive draped in period drama.
The hotel is historic, and its antiques are not hidden. But Rocco Forte’s in-house design team has pulled it firmly into the present: modern art and playful lamps share rooms with Italian sculpture, while floor-to-ceiling windows frame the bustle of the piazza below. The effect is a fusion of old and new, refined rather than reverent.
The location is close to faultless. The city’s great museums, churches and historic gardens are all within an easy stroll, which makes the Savoy a natural base for the kind of unhurried wandering Florence rewards.
Dining happens at Irene, the hotel’s Tuscan restaurant and one of the liveliest tables in the centre, its terrace spilling onto the square. The Irene bar pours regional wines worth lingering over before bed, or before a night out.
For travellers who want their Florence polished and contemporary rather than gilded, the Hotel Savoy is a stylish, superbly placed choice: proof the city can be experienced in the present tense.
