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Up in the winding streets that rise above the Le Cure neighborhood in northern Florence, there’s an air of calm you’ll struggle to find in most corners of the city—certainly not within the tourist-clogged streets that surround the Duomo or the Palazzo Vecchio, where teeming crowds trudged through the baking heat when I visited on an unseasonably warm week in May. Among the ritzy villas that dot these hilltops, the only sound you’re likely to hear is that of birds chirping in the trees and the rustling of leaves from an olive grove hidden behind a tall stone wall; it’s the kind of paradise that makes you understand why, 600 or so years ago, the surrounding landscapes inspired artists to help spark for one of the most significant cultural revolutions in human history. And it’s here, tucked away behind a discreet set of gates, that you’ll find Collegio alla Querce, Auberge Resorts Collection: one of the year’s most hotly anticipated new hotel openings.
Upon my arrival, it didn’t take long to realize why there’s been so much chatter about this hotel, which joins a crowded marketplace for luxury stays in Florence—as far as hotel entrances go, Collegio alla Querce is an all-timer. A sweeping driveway lined with the prerequisite Tuscan cypress trees takes you down to an imposing 16th-century noble residence, the entryway framed by beds of blazing red bougainvillea and fledgling oak trees. (The “querce” of the hotel’s name refers to the soaring oak trees dotted around its terraced garden, and both oak wood itself and the motif of an oak leaf thoughtfully recur throughout the property’s decor.) The colossal scale of the property, meanwhile, is the result of its conversion in the 19th century to become a boys’ boarding school for the Florentine elite; both Salvatore Ferragamo and Stefano Ricci having studied in these hallowed halls. (One of the most charming details I would later discover? A display of memorabilia and class photographs from its former life, alongside a merch offering inspired by collegiate sporting kit: think baseball caps and sweaters embroidered with the slogan ‘Querce Sport Firenze.’ It’s nice to see a hotel put a little more effort than simply slapping a logo onto a tote bag.)
Cross the threshold into the airy, marble-floored reception hall, however, and it quickly becomes apparent the cobwebs have been decisively blown away. Following the breezy check-in process, aided by a small army of impeccably dressed staff (and impressively well-trained, given the hotel had opened just weeks before), I was whisked up to my suite on the third floor, where the primary reason Auberge have spent four years meticulously restoring the property was unveiled: the genuinely jaw-dropping views. Through the open window of the living area, Brunelleschi’s dome and Giotto’s campanile poked up above the terracotta rooftops of the city, surrounded by wisps of cloud, with the hills of southern Florence fading behind them in a sfumato haze straight out of a Leonardo painting. There’s no other hotel in Florence with an outlook quite like this—and more importantly, that also remains just a 30-minute walk (or 15-minute taxi ride) away from the center. Let’s just say that when Lucy Honeychurch lamented the lack of a Duomo view at her Florence hotel in E.M. Forster’s beloved novel, one imagines this is the kind of view she was dreaming about.
Clearly, however, great care—and great expense—has been poured into ensuring the interiors are just as dazzling as the glimpses of the city you’ll catch from every window throughout the 83-key property. Overseen by the local design firm ArchFlorence, there’s a notable emphasis on Tuscan craftsmanship, but without the dark, heavy clichés you might find at some of the older grande dame hotels in the city center. Thanks to the generous proportions of the rooms, the antique pieces are able to breathe, with rooms outfitted in earthy palettes with splashes of burnt orange or pastel blue, the original architectural details—and, in some cases, original Neoclassical frescoes—artfully preserved to honor the building’s history without it feeling oppressive. One thing, in particular, I noticed after touring a number of different categories is the fact that nearly every room or suite has its own, unique configuration, meaning that a quick chat with the booking team will allow you to find a space that feels tailored to your wants and needs. (That sense of privacy and flexibility extends to the small but perfectly formed Aelia spa, too, which somewhat unusually features a plunge pool and steam shower that can be booked for hour-long sessions—naturally, this is best booked in tandem with a massage using local olive oil or organic herbs and flowers from the property’s gardens.)
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But of course, people don’t just come to Florence to wallow in the spa—they come here to eat. And on that front, Collegio alla Querce also has its guests very well covered. The flagship restaurant, La Gamella, is overseen by executive chef Nicola Zamperetti, whose approach blends Tuscan traditions with flourishes picked up from his many years studying Sicilian cuisine, meaning a greater emphasis on seafood than you might typically expect in this part of the world: a delicate, silky spaghetti with market-fresh prawns and lobster, say, or a perfect sea bass in acqua pazza. (That’s not to say you won’t find Tuscan classics like pici and panzanella on the menu, too—and make sure not to miss the showstopper “Biancomangiare” dessert that features tiny spheres of melon mixed with tiny spheres almond ice cream, topped with some toasted almonds for some final crunch. Buonissimo.)
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You’d also be remiss not to have an aperitivo—or, for that matter, a digestivo—in Bar Bertelli, the wood-paneled former headmaster’s office that features a handful of charming nods to the building’s former life, whether in the portraits of former head boys that line the gaps between the bookshelves and the ceiling, or the cocktails inspired by history textbooks they discovered in the renovation process. The Timoteo, for example, is inspired by the Greek classics, and blends tequila blanco with a cold-pressed cucumber cordial and a dash of yogurt to create a refreshing, tzatziki-like tonic—yes, it’s a little odd, but it’s also oddly delicious.
And of course, making the most of all that outdoor space is the expansive, cabana-lined pool area—at 35 meters, it’s the longest spot to take a splash in the city—which sits adjacent to Cafe Focolare, where the specialities are grilled fish and wood-fired pizzas with perfectly blistered crusts.
Given the resort-like feel of the property, it’s easy to forget just how close you are to the city center, even if the ever-obliging concierge team will be happy to arrange tickets to any of the city’s major sights. But for the more intrepid traveler—or those on a return visit to Florence, with the urge to do something a little more off-the-beaten-path than traipse through the Uffizi or queue outside the Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David—there’s a genuinely unique range of experiences the team here have curated to truly get under the skin of the city. On a balmy afternoon, we headed to Profumoir Firenze, tucked away on a cobblestoned street in the city’s residential San Niccolò neighborhood: on an enormous antique table surrounded by bottles on apothecary-style shelves painted a deep, velvety blue, we set to work creating our own unique fragrances, which we decorated with our own labels and sealed up in plush boxes to unpack a month later, after our blends had settled.
On another day, we trundled down to the busy streets just north of the Duomo to step through a discreet doorway and into the serene courtyard of Palazzo Pucci, the striking palace that has been owned by the Pucci family for centuries, and which served as the headquarters for the late Emilio Pucci’s kaleidoscopic fashion empire; today, it’s overseen by his daughter Laudomia, who will cheerily take you on a tour of her family’s archives and art collections over prosecco and biscotti. And while the culinary offering within the four walls of the hotel is varied enough to keep you happily fed and watered for the entire stay, team Collegio took a special delight in recommending local’s-favorite restaurants throughout the city for heaving platters of bistecca alla Fiorentina or freshly made pasta with wild boar ragú. The standout experience, however? A morning meditation session in the school’s former chapel, where an opera singer performed a “live sound bath” as dappled light fell through the postage stamp windows up in the rafters—if there’s an activity as strangely transcendent as this on offer at any other hotel in Florence, I’d be surprised.
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Despite my post-opera meditation state of zen, my visit to the hotel just so happened to coincide with a particularly busy week in Florence, when the hotel had a glittering array of guests in residence. The first wave was there to attend a candlelit garden dinner hosted by the cult interiors Cabana; then, the following day, a phalanx of fashion editors arrived to take in the Gucci cruise show that was happening that week in the Italian fashion house’s archives near Piazza Santo Spirito. (There might have been an official afterparty in the cloisters of the Santa Maria Novella church, but the after-afterparty was very much taking place in the corridors and suites of Collegio alla Querce.) I overheard a gaggle of American editors heading home in their sprinter vans chattering about the hotel’s beauty and unlikely sense of tranquility, and their plans to spread the word among their friends in New York—so don’t be surprised if you start seeing the hotel crop up on the Instagram feed of the most stylish people you follow.
But the real reason for the fervent speculation around Collegio alla Querce is its pedigree: despite mostly operating in the Americas, Auberge Resorts Collection—a group known for its impeccable service and efforts to make each of their properties feel entirely individual—are slowly but steadily increasing their presence in Europe, and this hotel marks their first foray into the Italian market. (Their next European outpost, Cambridge House in London, is set to open next year.) If you didn’t know all that, though, you’d probably never guess: Collegio alla Querce has the warm but efficient feel of a hotel that’s been operating for many years already, and its deeply rooted sense of place—whether in the cultural depth of the activities on offer, or the seamless integration of its design into its surroundings—lends it the spirit of an independent hotel, rather than one that’s part of a continent-spanning group. As the saying goes, from little acorns, mighty oaks grow—and with the opening of Collegio alla Querce, the team behind Auberge have unveiled one of Italy’s mightiest new hotels.
