UNA Hotel Vittoria

Hotel description

Florence’s UNA Hotel Vittoria is a masterpiece of ultra-modern hotel design, the handiwork of the improbably named Italian architect Fabio Novembre, and it’s a highly individual expression. If you turn up expecting yet another international-modern minimalist design hotel, you risk having your Zen sensibilities upset by Novembre’s rich Baroque vision. Forget about white on white: these bedrooms are a dark fantasy, with walls covered in tiles of black leather or red felt, with tiny fiber-optic lights glowing like stars at the corners. Large flat-screen internet-enabled televisions hover over black Corian countertops, complete with bar-style stools, a departure from the traditional office desk, and the closets are adorned with murals depicting hanging clothes and rows of shoes. Of particular note are the colorful bathrooms, outfitted with Arne Jacobsen fixtures and set off from the guest room’s foyer by a translucent glass wall. Novembre’s is the sort of postmodern aesthetic that readily admits historical influences — the hotel corridors, an often overlooked space, are an homage to Florence’s rich artistic tradition: each guest room’s door, with its gilded frame, is a full-length portrait of a different 16th-century Tuscan aristocrat. Public spaces are no less adventurous, from the looping ring-shaped chairs in the lobby to the long S-shaped communal dining table in the restaurant, meant as a reference to the long tables shared by the residents of ancient Tuscan monasteries. From the reception desk to the hotel’s entrance a floral-printed composite mosaic loops over itself, acclimating guests with a gravity-defying shock from the cobbled courtyards of the historic San Frediano district into the Vittoria’s futuristic fantasy world. The hotel’s location is unusual and a little further away from Ponte Vecchio than our other Florence selections. However, the quiet residential area will give you a sense of the real Florence which few visitors experience, and a walk towards the Ponte Vecchio - along the Arno - is a must.