Warning: the following story may induce cravings for sun, pasta and Tuscan villas, or at the very least daydreams of sun-dappled vineyards, Prosecco and swimming pools.
Boutique travel experts Mr & Mrs Smith are adding Italy to their guidebooks and Stylist has an exclusive first peek. Steering style-seekers to Italy’s most special stays, it will help you locate everything from the best room in the house to tourist-free trattorias. Here, Mr & Mrs Smith’s editor-in-chief Juliet Kinsman picks six of the book’s most fashionable stays…
1. The Northern Riviera
“Italy’s northern Riviera is home to modern-art-filled mansion Villa Rosmarino, on Mount Portofino (from £125 per night), where hosts Mario and Fulvio ensure you feel like guests in their home. Just ask artist Natasha Law (Jude’s sister) who visited it for the Smiths. Smitten with its fabulous look? Go to the 16th-century palazzo-turnedconcept store on Via Garibaldi 12 in Genoa and bring back a piece of their style to the UK.”
2. Capri
“For Erdem to be wowed by a chic retreat, you know it has to be outstanding. JK Place Capri (from £525 per night) is the hippest of hotels on this see-and-be-seen isle off the Amalfi Coast. ‘The beach, that view over the Bay of Naples – it’s all ravishing,’ says the London Fashion Week star designer who reviewed it for our book.”
3. Florence
“Il Salviatino (from £385 per night) benefits from an exclusive, leafy hillside location, allowing guests to dip into Florence’s historic sights but retreat back to a luxurious mansion. It was reviewed by burlesque star Immodesty Blaize, who toasts aperitivo hour and their signature cocktail – a classic dry martini, done perfectly, ‘just like everything they do,’ she says. ‘Every detail, from the fragrant rose jam at breakfast to the fresh white roses in the rooms, screams – or rather delicately murmurs – elegance.’”
Win a luxury three-night stay at Il Salviatino - enter here.
4. The Aeolian Islands
"Family-run farmhouse Hotel Signum in the Aeolian Islands (from £110 per night) is worth the hop from Sicily. An elegantly simple take on life’s greatest pleasures, it had chef Stefano Manfredi intoxicated – and not just from its homemade limoncello. One bite in and we decided to eat in-house for the rest of our stay."
5. Venice
"Venice’s Grand Canal is the romantic setting for Palazzina G (from £305 per night). Philippe Starck’s sultry, saturnine stay hides glamorous enclaves, such as an exclusive champagne bar, and sleek all-white boudoirs, behind a 16th-century façade. Little wonder it had Jack Peñate seduced. The musician took a particular shine to the nightclubby vibe of PG’s, the hotel restaurant, observing, ‘It is easy to see why Johnny Depp took such a liking to this special place.’"
6. Puglia
"In Puglia, in southern Italy’s heel, amid that unique rural landscape of trulli, is an especially stylish take on the traditional beehive-shaped dwellings. Masseria Fumerola in Valle d’Itria (from £65 per night) had Quentin Jones captivated. ‘Italian culture has a holy trinity: food, family and fashion,’ says the former model and filmmaker. ‘Massera Fumarola sings a song of praise to all three.’ The fashion-forward philosophy graduate also doffs her cap to meals out at local family-run ristoranti – where a litre of Pugliese wine can cost only €2. Salute!"
Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel Collection: Italy is out 17 October (£19.95, Spy)
Fancy the Italian escape of a lifetime? Mr & Mrs Smith is inviting one lucky Stylist reader to grab someone special for a three-night stay at 15th-century palazzo Il Salviatino (including breakfast) near Florence. Find out how to win here.
