After 18 months of quiet, considered renewal, Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel, has welcomed guests back to its perch in the Fiesole hills. The reopening brings a sensitive evolution rather than a reinvention, with the legendary Renaissance retreat returning as a sanctuary devoted to slow luxury, wellbeing and the unhurried pleasures of Tuscan living. Set above the terracotta rooftops of Florence, the former 15th-century convent reopens with its historic character intact.
The renovation has been handled with a light touch. Original frescoes have been revived, stone fireplaces echoing the original friars’ cells reintroduced, and the Michelangelo-inspired façade left untouched. Inside the 39 reimagined rooms and suites, the work draws on traditional Tuscan materials and craft rather than reinvention, with restoration favoured over redesign throughout.
Villa San Michele’s poetic tribute to Tuscan craft
Photographer: Adrian GautInside the former convent, the rooms lean heavily on regional craft. Floors are laid in Impruneta terracotta, bathrooms clad in green-veined Cipollino marble from Carrara, and walls dressed in hand-painted frescoes and bespoke carpentry that nod to the building’s monastic past without retreating into pastiche. Suites within the main building lean towards timeless elegance, while those tucked into the gardens borrow their palette from the surrounding landscape, creating a gentle dialogue between architecture and the Fiesolan hillside.
Signature suites tell their own stories. The Limonaia unfolds across two storeys with a private plunge pool and the easy air of a country villa, while the Botanica celebrates the lush vegetation and historical gardens. The Grand Tour suite, once the headquarters of Napoleon Bonaparte, stretches along the first floor of the façade and is furnished with travel-inspired artefacts drawn from the property’s long association with the romance of European travel.
A sanctuary for slow luxury and seasonal cuisine
Photographer: Letizia CigliuttiWellbeing sits at the heart of this new chapter. The Spa by Guerlain occupies the first floor of the historic Franciscan convent, with three treatment rooms, including a double suite, where natural textures and earthy tones echo the landscape beyond. Drawing on centuries of spiritual retreat, the rituals here lean into longevity and emotional balance rather than indulgence alone, in tune with the wider shift towards mindful, restorative travel.
The wellness story extends beyond the spa and into the surrounding woodland, where a former chapel has been reimagined as a meditation space, joined by an open-air yoga deck and a sunset-facing lounge. A year-round programme of classes and seasonal retreats runs across the three. Below, the terraced gardens have been replanted with citrus, lavender and rosemary, and a new 42-metre rose path now traces a slow walk above the city.
A table set within Renaissance walls
Photographer: Adrian GautGastronomy follows a similarly seasonal rhythm. The new restaurant Antesi, set within an intimate sixteenth-century Renaissance loggia, offers three tasting menus shaped by the land and the moment, while San Michele Restaurant continues to serve refined Italian cuisine and San Michele Grill keeps things relaxed by the pool. The newly renovated Bar Doccia, nestled between the cloister and the gardens, provides a quietly atmospheric setting for an aperitivo, in keeping with the Florentine ritual of unhurried evenings.
Quick Summary – Villa San Michele
- 📍 Location: Fiesole hills, just above Florence, Italy
- 🏛 Heritage: 15th-century former convent with a Michelangelo-inspired façade
- 🛏 Rooms: 39 reimagined rooms and suites, including the Limonaia, Botanica and Grand Tour signature suites
- 🍽 Dining: Three restaurants including new gastronomic destination Antesi, plus the renovated Bar Doccia
- 🧘 Wellness: New Spa by Guerlain and an Energy Raising Programme with woodland chapel, sungazing lounge and yoga deck
- 🌿 Gardens: Over 10,000 square metres of revived terraced gardens, plus new herb, iris and rose paths
- 📅 Reopened: 28 April 2026, open from spring through winter
