Why e book? For the buzzy, youthful power, impressed design, and must-try eating that characterize the W model. Lately, waves of contemporary-minded lodges have been washing up within the residence of Dante and Donatello and the W Florence feels just like the apex of that development. It goals to be a social hub the place cosmopolitan vacationers can meet and mingle with locals who come to the eating places and bars.
Set the scene A five-minute stroll from the Santa Maria Novella practice station, the W Florence sits on Piazza dell’Unità going through the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella. If you’re coming from the practice station, as I used to be, you would possibly mistake the doorway to the restaurant, Tratto, for the resort’s entrance, which tells you numerous in regards to the W’s emphasis on eating and ingesting.
The reception space, simply across the nook on Via del Melarancio, welcomes you in with handpainted wallpaper that includes tigers, peacocks, and different unique animals that may appear misplaced in Florence however are literally a nod to the Medici household’s menagerie. It’s removed from the one instance of daring, eye-catching paintings within the resort, whose Seventies-inspired interiors have been designed by AvroKO. I particularly liked the summary mural within the plant-filled courtyard, which jogged my memory of Matisse’s cutouts.
The backstory Abandoned for greater than 15 years, the constructing that homes the resort is likely one of the few examples of twentieth century structure on this Renaissance metropolis. It was designed in 1968-1972 by Lando Bartoli and housed the Grand Hotel Majestic in addition to the Banca Poplare di Novara. When designing the interiors, AvroKO drew inspiration from Bartoli’s period, creating sinuous banquettes within the lounge and restaurant, layering pastel colours and daring Mediterranean hues, and including lighting that remembers the resort’s authentic disco heyday.
This is the W model’s second resort in Italy, following the 2023 debut of the W Rome. That resort signaled a little bit of a reinvention of the model, which doubled down on designing lodges rooted of their vacation spot for millennial and Gen Z friends with a world worldview. The W Florence feels very a lot in step with that strategy to hospitality.
The rooms It wouldn’t be a W with out some attention-grabbing design particulars and also you positively can’t miss the headboards with an optical phantasm impact made by lights and mirrors. All of the 119 rooms and suites have them, along with minibars stuffed with native wine, premium spirits and juices, Lavazza espresso machines, Smart TVs, and marble and terrazzo-style loos stocked with tub merchandise by Davines.
My suite had a spacious residing space with a mustard yellow couch and cobalt blue cushions, a hearth function dividing it from the bed room, and a separate dressing room with a soaking tub. I liked the customized Monopoly board that includes the names of Tuscan cities like Porto Ercole and Capalbio. For the crème de la crème, e book the Penthouse Suite, which has an enormous non-public terrace overlooking the Medici Chapel and may be mixed with two different rooms to create a three-bedroom suite.
Food and drink At Tratto, the ground-floor restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the proficient younger crew of cooks from the Michelin-starred Trattoria Contemporanea close to Lake Como has created a up to date Italian menu closely influenced by their southern roots. A spotlight is the parmigiana pie baked (maybe blasphemously, relying on who you ask) in a crispy pastry shell. Close your eyes as you are taking a chunk of the risotto pizzaiola model and reminiscences of margherita pizza will come flooding again to you. Be positive to depart room for dessert, which comes wheeled out on a cart. Trattoria Contemporanea’s younger pastry chef was named considered one of Italy’s greatest pastry cooks in 2024 and at Tratto she provides up a elegant tiramisu along with scrumptious desserts and gelato.
At the adjoining W Lounge, the bartenders play with basic cocktails, including surprising twists. Vespucci’s Voyage is a gimlet riff impressed by the ocean, with gin, Italicus, and celery that offers it a barely salty style and an ethereal foam that remembers the Mediterranean sea. The Unordinary Spicy Margarita—a clarified mix of tequila, mezcal, lime, mango, yerbito liqueur, and inexperienced peppers—is dangerously clean.
Coming quickly are the signature restaurant by Korean-American chef Akira Back, which can convey a welcome style of up to date Japanese and Korean delicacies to Florence, and Zefiro Rooftop, which can host DJs, reside music, and different occasions on the spacious rooftop terrace, which boasts views of the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, and the Medici Chapel.
The spa There’s no spa per se, however the signature FIT health club geared up with Technogym gear is open 24/7 and the wellness space has a sauna, steam tub, and rest room. In-room massages can be found upon request.
The neighborhood/space The W places you proper within the coronary heart of Florence, a five-minute stroll to the Duomo, Santa Maria Novella Station, and the Medici Chapel. In this walkable metropolis, you may go nearly in all places on foot.
The service The younger workers are stuffed with inventive power, particularly within the Lounge and Tratto, the place they appear proud to be part of such a cool new resort. The W’s signature Whatever/Whenever service ensures excessive requirements across the clock.
For households Kids and pets are welcomed with their very own set of facilities, together with tub merchandise and canine bowls.
Eco effort The resort has obtained LEED Gold and WELL Silver sustainability awards. In the rooms, you’ll discover glass or carton containers as a substitute of single-use plastic. The eating places and bars supply as a lot as doable domestically.
Accessibility The public areas are utterly accessible and there are 5 handicap-accessible rooms out there.