Four Seasons Hotel, Firenze

The hotel is housed in the former Palazzo della Gherardesca, designed by the Renaissance architect Sangallo, and painstakingly restored over seven years under the aegis of the Ministry of Fine Arts and Culture. Even the eggs - sourced from a farmer's estate near Pisa and laid by chickens fed fresh goat's milk - are works of art. The staff is an assortment of charming, sensitive people who know your name, and who are lovely enough that you want to know theirs. Every room in the hotel is different, as in a private house, and every room has character. The Royal Suite, with its majolica floors and gallery of tall arched windows overlooking the Fountain Terrace, is one of many stunning spaces. The 11-acre park of the Gherardesca is by far the largest private on in Florence. The bathrooms are spacious and laden with soaps and scents by the Florentine perfumer Lorenzo Villoresi, and with views that might make you late in the morning. If you are a Modernist, there is one perfect suite near the Conventino in a self-contained barn that once housed lemon trees in winter. I you want privacy you can stay at the Conventino itself, whose public spaces are somewhat more austere. The food at the hotel's restaurant, Il Palagio, celebrates individual ingredients, locally sourced and absolutely fantastic. You can taste a pecorino cheese with a glass of Sassicaia or a canapé of wild salmon with a martini at the bar, which serves small light dishes like the very local pappa al polodoro (bread-and-tomato soup), barley salad, and a lighter version of Florentine tripe.