The Best Hotels in Italy: 2020 Readers' Choice Awards

Unlike the grande dames of the Amalfi Coast, Angelina is sleek, modern, and a startling, almost Greek-style interloper to the cliffside above pretty Praiano. All 42 rooms are white-on-white, accented by views of the bright blue sea below from their private terraces; if you want to be more at one with nature, go for the Eaudesea Experience rooms—whitewashed old fishermen’s cottages, etched into the cliffside above La Gavitella beach, below the hotel (be warned, though—there are 200 steps plus an elevator up to the main building). Down on said beach is a club for all hotel guests; if you can’t face the climb, there are indoor and outdoor pools on the main property. The house boat, meanwhile, will swivel you around the coast, and even over to Capri. Back on site, Un Piano nel Cielo (A Floor in the Sky) takes just-netted fish to new heights (literally—it’s the rooftop restaurant), while Seascape Cocktail Bar, cantilevered over the bay, does a fine line in limoncello-infused mojitos. Note that children under 12 are not permitted.

A grand villa dating back to the 12th century, Palazzo Avino, in Ravello’s former aristocratic quarter, has long been considered the top spot in town. The rooms are outfitted in handcrafted Vietri tiles, 18th-century Italian antiques, brass accessories, and Frette linens. At Rossellinis Restaurant, you can enjoy dinner—either a la carte or as a tasting menu—on the terrace as you look down on fishing boats one thousand feet below. Caffé dell’Arte, with its white marble floor, serves casual regional cuisine. If you’re in the mood for something decadent, the Lobster & Martini Bar is exactly what it promises, with fresh local lobster paired with Champagne or prosecco, and a 70-strong menu of martinis, all of it with a view of the sunset over the sea.

Of all the swish hotels in Italy’s fashion capital, this is one of the fanciest: sober, stylish rooms with plum furnishings and wood floors; east-meets-west treatments at the spa; and two-Michelin-starred restaurants. There's Seta, where chef Antonio Guida peps up sometimes stodgy northern Italian cuisine with scents of the south, but the beating heart is the Mandarin Bar & Bistrot. Inside, it’s a glam '70s feel, with monochrome-checked walls, marble-streaked floor and dogtooth chairs; outside is an altogether cooler cloistered courtyard. Aperitivo hour sees cocktails accompanied by gourmet finger food, while later in the evening there’s an after-dinner menu of grappa and amari—the perfect digestivo before you turn in.

An Italian coastal classic that manages to always remain fresh, Il Pellicano continues to convince with a well-judged mix of retro glamour, glorious seafront location, and choreographed service. The southern Tuscan hotel started life in 1965, when chic Anglo-American couple Patricia and Michael Graham (he an ex-fighter pilot, she a socialite) built a sprawling cliff-side villa on the Monte Argentario peninsula. They started out with house parties for friends and friends of friends, and the hotel has maintained this feel ever since, even though it is now a classic long-lunch stop for yachties. Each of the rooms has a sea or garden view, as well as a terrace or balcony. The eponymous restaurant holds a Michelin star for chef Michelino Gioia’s creative takes on Tuscan dishes.

It’s hard to argue with a classic, time-tested grand hotel. Case in point: Grand Hotel Quisisana, which opened in 1845. Almost from the get-go, the hotel, just steps from Capri town’s central Piazzetta, was a favorite of politicians, poets, royalty, and rock stars. The terrace is a destination on its own, a place where people gather to watch life unfold on the streets below. But inside, it’s even better, with sumptuous guest rooms and public spaces filled with shimmering chandeliers, gleaming marble floors, and gilt mirrors, against a soothing palette of various shades of white.

Once Positano took a star turn in John Steinbeck’s 1953 short story of the same name, the seaside town lodged itself in the public imagination. So did Il San Pietro di Positano, one of the island’s hottest harbor hops since its opening in 1970. It’s no mystery why the international glitterati flock here—the village’s steep, narrow stone streets and breathtaking blue waters are the stuff of dreams. The 56-room hotel, atop a cliff above the Bay of Positano, is a bucolic Eden doused in fragrant flora and citrus trees. The exquisitely tiled rooms, with bright linen accents and wide windows, have perfect sea views, as well as quirky features like lamps with fanciful centaur designs and gilded coffee tables. Outside the cocoons, there’s a private beach, complimentary boat rides around the bay, and the Michelin-starred restaurant Zass.

Despite the prestigious name and desirable location near the center of Positano, Hotel Eden Roc is intimate, charming, and warm. It is the project of the Casola family, who take care of guests as if they were friends. Or as they put it, they create an atmosphere that will make you feel like the main actor of your Italian movie. There are 25 rooms and suites in the main building, three “annex suites” out front, plus three apartments and two lavish villas beyond the grounds. Everything has been recently renovated in a way that combines the traditional with the contemporary style, and all the rooms are full of light with views of the sea.

This hotel is beyond handsome, a straight-backed mansion as shiny and fresh as a ship at sea, with views of Capri’s famous cliffs and Mount Vesuvius beyond. It’s the offspring of the original J.K. Place, in Florence, which redefined the Italian townhouse hotel when it opened its doors in 2003. The name derives from the initials of Jonathan Kafri, father of the boutique brand’s Italo-Israeli owner, Ori Kafri. The hotel restaurant, JKitchen, serves traditional Mediterranean cuisine, including local fish, on its panoramic terrace. The service manages to be respectful and efficient but also friendly and relaxed. In general, this is a hotel for well-traveled Italo-philes, reading their Elena Ferrante novels along the way. Much about Capri can be dated and disappointing, but J.K. Place makes it stylish and glamorous again.

Not your average Tuscan estate, this 12th-century castle wedged deep into the Chianti countryside 40 minutes south of Florence, is COMO’s first property in mainland Europe. And what a place: what used to be a flouncy Italianate hotel has been transformed into a thoroughly modern, city-sleek pad with brooding gray and putty-colored walls paired with eau-de-nil armchairs and the odd jade patio door. COMO’s highlights are its spas, of course, and this one doesn’t disappoint, with signature COMO Shambhala treatments, Guinot facials, and an outdoor pool in the summer season (when there’s also outdoor yoga, overlooking the rolling hills). At Michelin-starred restaurant La Torre, executive chef Giovanni Luca Di Pirro works his magic on local ingredients; pre-game with an oil or wine tasting in the medieval wine cellars.

The first hotel in Taormina, Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo still dazzles guests with views and history that have been here for more than a century. The hotel overlooks the terra-cotta rooftops of the medieval village and, beyond that, the coast toward Mount Etna. In the foreground, there are manicured gardens, unapologetically opulent guest rooms, and a wellness center with a focus on natural, organic products with healing local herbs and neroli oil. The Literary Terrace was frequented by the likes of D.H. Lawrence, Truman Capote, and Tennessee Williams, and inside, the 16-seat Otto Geleng restaurant holds a Michelin star.

A noble hospitality heritage meets guests’ contemporary needs and desires (and the occasional fantasy) at Grand Hotel Miramare, a luxury hotel in Santa Margherita Ligure a short way from Portofino and Cinque Terre. The Art Nouveau building gleams white in the sun amid century-old gardens. But for all of the grandeur, what most seduces are the intimate and almost down-home touches. Owner Andrea Fustinoni affectionately calls the hotel the Mira, which speaks to the feeling of being welcomed into a private residence. Each of the 36 deluxe rooms has a sea view, while the 26 superior rooms all have balconies or patios overlooking the hotel’s gardens as they rise toward the foothills of Mount Portofino.

Laze back on a bougainvillea-wreathed balcony, cantilevered over the sparkling blue sea; or soak up the rays at the beach club, carved into the rock, with the Med swirling at your feet. Things don’t get more quintessentially Amalfi than Santa Caterina, a florid Art Nouveau villa clinging to the cliffside just southwest of the village. The 66 rooms are as colorful as the coastline, pairing gauzy drapes with color-popping majolica floor tiles, brightly upholstered furniture, and even strong-hued bathrooms. Two stories below is the beach level, complete with sunlounger-strewn decks, a heated saltwater pool, and an outdoor restaurant. Main restaurant Glicine enjoys panoramic views and Michelin-starred food, while Al Mare, at the beach level, has a wood-fired oven for pizzas and fresh fish. Then there’s Il Grottino bar, hewn from the cliff and strung with fairy lights, to ramp up the romance.

One of the oldest and most elegant hotels on Lake Como, the neo-classical Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni has pampered guests since 1873. It welcomed aristocracy from around the world almost since the beginning. Then came the political titans (Churchill, Roosevelt, Kennedy) and celebrities (Mary Pickford, Clark Gable, and, later, Al Pacino). Everything is opulent. There are frescoes and paintings of mythological scenes, gilded frames, festoons, temples, putti, flamingos, and Pompeian reds. Then there are period wall coverings in French style, antique Persian carpets, crystal chandeliers from Murano, marble staircases, and trompe l'oeil. If it all starts to feel like too much, head out to the Italian-style gardens, where the uncluttered views of the blue water and soaring green mountains can’t be beat.

On the eastern shore, squaring off against Cernobbio, is the village of Blevio; and just outside is the wildly romantic Villa Roccabruna, a 19th-century palace soaking up some of the lake’s finest sunsets. In the past, this was where the opera world’s great and good came to play: mezzo-soprano Giuditta Pasta lived here, and guests included Donizetti, Rossini, and Bellini. Today, the Mandarin Oriental has dialed up the glam factor in an interesting way: choosing simple rooms (think plain floorboards and neutral drapes) and putting all the focus on the view through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Intimate seating areas dot the grounds, while the outdoor pool, cantilevered over the water, seems to float on the lake itself. From fine dining restaurant L’Aria, with its curved terrace, you could be on the prow of a ship.

Puglia is famous for its masserie: ancient fortified farmhouses set a smidgeon back from the Adriatic coast, many now transformed into lush hotels. This one, in masseria-filled Fasano, between Bari and Brindisi, and on the waterfront below the pretty Valle d’Itria, has long been one of the best. But Rocco Forte’s 2019 revamp of the 16th- century property has taken things up a notch. The 28 rooms and 12 suites, designed by Olga Polizzi, take their lead from the olive grove out back—all pale green doorframes and more acid-toned furnishings for an upmarket take on rustic luxe. Outside is a vine-fronded pool, verdant, palm-studded grounds, and the hotel’s nine-hole golf course, melting into the flat coastal landscape. Set a little back from the sea, there are flashes of blue on property; better views (and stunning sunsets) from the rooftop Bougainvillea Bar; plus a private club on the public beach, a few minutes away and reached by hotel shuttle.

So, what's the first thing we should know about this place? It's a legend even along this coast full of legends, a classic that is even more than the sum of its parts. The owners bring elegance and class and pedigree smarts, and have done to legions of insiders for decades.

A legend! What’s the story behind it? The central part of the hotel was the aristocratic Sersale family’s summer villa, which has expanded over the years into several adjoining houses. Four Sersale siblings opened the house to guests in 1951 with just eight rooms and a large terrace facing the sea. Franco Sersale was responsible for a major refurbishment of the hotel in the 1990s; he was not only a passionate collector, filling the house with beautiful furniture and paintings, but also an inveterate world traveler and photographer. Present owners Antonio and Carla Sersale collect contemporary art, and each year invite an artist to make a site-specific piece, including Martin Creed, Stanley Whitney, and Matt Connors.

Fascinating. What can we expect from the bedrooms? Most are not huge, but very lovely. A balcony with table and chairs overlooking the tumble of village house and down to the beach. White, vaulted rooms with a traditional tiled floor, sofa and chairs, canopied bed made up with a feather duvet. Antique chests of drawers, prints on walls. Bathrooms in grey-white Carrara marble, stocked with Eau d’Italie made by Sersale’s sister Marina. Beautiful little cloth-bound books (Steinbeck’s article, a coloring book and mignon pencils, a book dedicated to Franco’s Bar); a cute beach basket for your stay.

There's so much to love—especially the custom scent. Speaking of: How's the F&B? La Sponda, with its 400 candles and bougainvillea-clad dining room, is one of the coast’s top dinner spots, as much for the atmosphere as the food—sea bass with candied lemon, chestnut ravioli with white truffles, and amberjack with grape jam. The light-as-air hot lemon soufflé is a spectacular way to finish. Eggplant parmigiana and grilled octopus in the bar. Breakfast on colorful ceramics dishes from Vietri—creamy buffalo milk yogurt, homemade granola, sfogliatelle pastries.

We do appreciate a nice set of dishes (and the food sounds great). Anything to say about the service? Sersale is Swiss-trained, so runs a tight ship, all done with huge charm. Names are remembered and most staff members are mostly local.

Excellent. Can you tell us what type of person stays here? Some blend in perfectly with the understated casual-chic vibe, others make much too much of an effort.

Got it. What’s the neighborhood scene like? Is there one? Depending on your point of view, Positano is either an impossibly picturesque tumble of pastel-hued housed closing around its beach, or an over-priced nightmare of day-trippers. With a haven such as the Sirenuse to retreat to, though, it is a lot more bearable. From the hotel, a 10-minute walk down Via dei Mulini brings you to the beach, with its bars, cafés, and restaurants strung out along the dark sand. You can use Positano as a base for exploring the other towns on the Amalfi Coast by road or sea.

Excellent. Anything we missed? There are lots of extras included: Pilates and workout classes, guided walks up the nearby hill villages, trips to the fish market with the chef, olive oil and limoncello tastings, Champagne voyages in the hotel’s boat.

Champagne voyages—that's one well have to try. So, is it worth it—and why? The Amalfi Coast is in danger of selling itself out, but Le Sirenuse remains a well-tailored pocket of extraordinary atmosphere and service—hotel time-travel at its best.

Vacationing on Italy's most cinematic lake will never be the same, thanks to the 2016 opening of Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola’s Il Sereno, a sister hotel of the design-driven St. Barth original. This one stands out among the Lake Como grande dames with its 30 sleek, oversize suites, all with their own furnished terraces and unobstructed water views. Set along the lake in Torno, a one-church, one-restaurant village on Como’s south shore, Il Sereno honors its setting with regional stone, local walnut, and a living wall on the lake-facing façade. Inside, pieces from Urquiola’s collections for Italian companies share space with fabrics from Lombardy’s famed textile houses, all in the understated grays and blues of the lake. Though you'd be hard-pressed to find a bad angle in the hotel, one of its best can be found in the middle of the lobby, where a staircase made of walnut appears to float.

We all dream of a romantic, seaside Italian getaway and this one just might be it. The hotel occupies a restored 17th-century monastery just three miles from Amalfi. With 20 rooms, terraced gardens, clifftop Mediterranean views, and a pool that seems to float over the sea, you'll find yourself right at that point of enjoying the seclusion without feeling isolated. Stroll the four levels of terraced gardens, and don't miss the spa, which includes sauna and steam rooms, a hydro pool, and tepidarium. You can enjoy a martini with a side of chess at the library and bar before dining on local Campanian specialties at Il Refettorio, the Michelin-starred restaurant, where the charming servers are straight out of central casting. They still make sfogliatelle (sweet, shell-shaped, filled pastries) according to the nuns’ original recipe—a treat to savor with the sweet life on offer here.

Two are indisputably better than one with Belmond’s dual offerings in pretty Portofino, the Belmond Hotel Splendido set high above the cove, and the Belmond Splendido Mare taking pride of place on the harborfront. The 70-room Splendido, on a steep, craggy hill overlooking the area’s fabled turquoise waters, was a 16th century monastery known for withstanding attacks from Saracen pirates. Meanwhile, the 16-room Mare sits on the Piazzetta, a respite from the lively Ligurian harbor. At the Splendido, fragrant wisteria and straight-backed juniper bushes flank the winding cobblestone walkways, and a narrow, gleaming pool hangs perilously over the waves below. Many rooms come with terra-cotta-tiled terraces where you can take your morning cappuccino, and some have stunning panoramic views of the cove. The wellness center offers “Muscle Melt” massages and treatments with Sicilian sea salt and turmeric-laced poultices; while at the restaurant, La Terrazza, local seafood rightly dominates the menu. The Splendido Mare, meanwhile, offers stylish modern rooms, intimate restaurant Chuflay, and even a gelateria right on the Piazzetta.

Why did this hotel catch your attention? What's the vibe? There are many grand hotels in Europe, but none quite so grand as the one and only Grand Hotel Tremezzo. A monolith of Italian hospitality, it stands proudly on the shores of Lake Como where the Grigne mountains tumble into azure waters.

What's the backstory? Opened in 1910 for Belle Epoque society elites, the hotel has—since its beginning—set new standards for luxury hospitality. Today, it is still a family-run business. It's hard to make a list of Europe's most famous hotels without mentioning this one.

Tell us all about the accommodations. Any tips on what to book? First of all, each and every one of the 90 rooms has ravishing views. Second, it's worth mentioning that the hotel closes each winter for renovations—so despite being more than 110 years old, it still feels impeccably fresh. The hotel has a signature "Dream Sleep" combination for its beds, consisting of luxurious birch fiber weave silk linens, a pillowy mattress, and a feather mattress topper. So the bedrooms here are more than just good views and expensive linens—you can really count on some fantastic sleep while you're here, too.

Is there a charge for Wi-Fi? Free Wi-fi, even down by the outdoor WOW (Water-on-Water) Pool so you can post a bomb Instagram.

Drinking and dining—what are we looking at? This is Italian cuisine at its finest. There are a number of food and beverage spots on property but the most quintessential is La Terrazza, a fine dining restaurant established by renowned chef Gualtiero Marchesi. Handmade pastas, shaved truffles by the pound, salmon with rhubarb, and duck with candied lemon... everything on the menu is unforgettable. And at the end of the night, it's all roads lead to TBar for an enchanting digestivo under the stars on the hotel's iconic terrace.

What type of travelers will you find here? As an international destination for Italian luxury, you're as likely to brush elbows here with New York socialites as you are with Donatella Versace.

What about the neighborhood? Does the hotel fit in, make itself part of the scene? Part of the scene? Grand Hotel Tremezzo is the scene. You don't come here to explore town (although you can do that, too). You come here to soak in the views, the decadent rooms, the indulgent cuisine, and the world-famous service.

Is there anything you'd change? If only the hotel could somehow stay open year-round so it could also welcome the snowbunny set...

Any other hotel features worth noting? New for 2020 is the newly expanded T Beach, a stretch of real sand overlooking the gorgeousness of Bellagio and the Grigne Mountains. So while most people identify the hotel with its iconic WOW (Water-on-Water) floating pool over the lake, it now offers a beachfront throwback to the 1950's and 1960's Italian riviera, complete with orange and white umbrellas, custom-designed loungers, and, of course, unparalleled views of the mountains and the lake. Also new for 2020, the hotel is only operating 30 of its guest rooms as a safety precaution. On the bright side: it will feel like you have the place to yourself. And while it's perfectly acceptable to be entranced by the lakefront views throughout your stay, make sure to turn your attention at least for a few minutes to the neighboring Villa Carlotta, where you can take a stroll through a divine 20-acre garden.

Bottom line: Worth it? Why? More is more at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo. If you can swing it—even if just for a night or two—you absolutely should.