Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel
Fiesole, Italy
★ Verified by our editors · June 2026
The verdict
A former 15th-century Franciscan monastery on the hillside of Fiesole, its façade attributed to Michelangelo, looking straight down over Florence. Run by Belmond, with frescoed public rooms, a heated pool among the cypresses and a loggia restaurant where you dine with the whole city at your feet. Polished, historic and romantic — the grand way to do Florence without staying in it.
Couples who want a romantic, historic base above Florence with the city view and five-star polish.
You want to step straight out into Florence's streets — you're up in Fiesole, a short drive above the city.
Book a room with a Florence view, and have dinner on the loggia terrace at sunset as the city lights come on.
The rooms
Around 45 rooms and suites inside the former monastery and its gardens, dressed in classic Tuscan-Belmond style — antiques, frescoes, rich fabrics — with the best rooms and junior suites facing down over Florence. More heritage-grand than minimalist.
The setting
On the wooded hillside of Fiesole, above Florence, with the Duomo and the whole city spread out below. The gardens climb the slope in cypress-lined terraces to a heated pool with the same view; the historic centre is a short drive or shuttle down the hill.
The food
The loggia restaurant — set in the monastery's original arched loggia — serves refined Tuscan cooking with Florence laid out beyond the arches; it's one of the great view-dinners in Tuscany. Lighter meals run by the pool in season.
Getting there
About 30–40 minutes from Florence airport and 20 minutes up from the centre of Florence; the hotel runs a shuttle into town. A car is handy for exploring but not essential thanks to the shuttle.
Good to know
It's up in Fiesole, so factor in the drive to and from central Florence. Grand, romantic and seasonal (roughly spring to autumn); book a view room, as garden-facing rooms miss the city panorama.
