Best Luxury Hotels in Italy

While Poetto beach is just minutes away, Palazzo Doglio is very much a city hotel, found in the historic centre of Cagliari. 72 bedrooms are bathed in natural light and feature precious Carrara marble. Created for both business and leisure, there are meetings rooms, a conference theatre and the Doglio Club provides Natura Bissé treatments. Osteria del Forte, a classic trattoria, has the esteemed Executive Chef Alessandro Cocco at the helm. Saudade is the Japanese-Brazilian eatery, Maiori is a contemporary pizzeria, the American Bar serves cocktails and Colonial is the new restaurant concept coming soon.

This 5-star resort has taken pride of place on Marinella Beach in Porto Rotondo, since its inception in 1963. 59 bedrooms and suites are decorated with Sardinian and Mediterranean furnishings, marble from Orosei, Samugheo rugs and picture windows showcasing the stunning outlook. There are three dining options, two of which are in-house; Mediterraneo (serving family-friendly breakfasts and evening meals), Tzia Maria (for lunch and dinner) and the Marinella Beach Restaurant (for which guests receive a credit). The Lobby Bar accompanies drinks with live piano music, the Pool Bar for beverages, snacks and ice cream and the elegant Marinella Lounge Bar. Hotel Abi D’Oru also has an excellent spa and the Bee Happy Kids’ Club.

Adjacent to the Conca Verde Beach on the north coast, La Coluccia offers views across to Spargi island. This was one of Sardinia’s first boutique resorts, in a secluded spot, providing chic accommodation. Accommodation categories range from design rooms overlooking the garden or inner courtyard, through to suites with spacious living areas — many are accessible and cots can be provided. In the restaurant, a team of specialist chefs handcraft items such as bread and pasta and desserts, with food served overlooking the sea, on a terrace over the pool. The spa encompasses a relaxation area with herbal teas, massage cabins and a gym.

Take the helicopter flight from Olbia to arrive at Li Finistreddi’s private heliport in suitably exclusive style. The country retreat overlooks Costa Smeralda and the archipelago of La Maddalena from its hilltop perch. Every room here has main door access, sea views and Frette bed linens, with local materials and handiworks incorporated into the decor. A four-minute shuttle transfer takes guests staying here to the retreat’s private area of Barca Bruciata Beach, or guests can lounge by the pool and visit the spa. Dining takes place at Osteria Gourmet with its glass-fronted veranda overlooking the sea, and dishes crafted using produce from the resort’s own organic kitchen garden.

Hotel Cala di Volpe is found in one of the most popular areas for tourists, known as the Emerald Coast. It takes the form of a village, with its jetty stretching out into the water and was originally designed by Jacques Couelle’s in the 1960s. Boasting a barbecue area, an Olympic-size saltwater pool, direct access to the sea and 121 bedrooms with private terraces, it provides ample opportunity to enjoy the alfresco life. Hotel Cala di Volpe’s Shiseido Spa is uber-modern – fewer than three years old – and the restaurant, Le Grand, provides unrestricted water views.

With the glittering coastline on one side and fragrant gardens on the other, this is a beautifully calming and quintessentially Sardinian setting for the 7Pines Resort. It comprises 76 individual suites accommodated either in the gardens, close to the Laguna pool or beside the beach. The Pure Seven spa offers mindfulness sessions, treatments using organic and vegan products, a Relax Tour and a Kneipp bath coming in 2023. Additionally, there are three restaurants and three bars, the seafront Cone Club and the 7Pines Yachting Services, for sea-based adventures taking you to the far reaches of this picture-perfect region.

Arrive via Aman Venice’s private jetty into the gardens that lead down to the water. Built in the 16th century, this was once the Palazzo Papadopoli, a grand Baroque masterpiece which retains its original frescoes to this day. The decor is Neo-Renaissance and very opulent, its 24 bedrooms balancing this period grandeur with the modern niceties like Bang & Olufsen flatscreen TVs and Nespresso coffee makers (as this was the first building in the city to get electricity, it’s fitting that it should include some cutting-edge gadgets). Aman Venice has a small spa, Arva restaurant, a bar and a library stacked with books, board games and puzzles.

What was once a reef side fortress has been lovingly restored, to create a whitewashed ten-bedroomed boutique hotel right in Monopoli. Original features such as vaulted stone ceilings, fireplaces and limestone floors have been maintained, complimented by handicrafts, carved wood headboards and mod cons including hydro showers. The rooftop terrace is a romantic spot in which to savour some seasonal Puglian cuisine or take a dip in the little sea-view pool that’s sheltered by a rustic stone wall. Massages can be booked in-room or taken in a dedicated outdoor treatment area and breakfast is served in the 16th-century cellar.

This Grande Dame hotel opened in 1907, under the original name of the Hungaria Palace Hotel. Nicolo Piamonte was the architect of the building’s neo-Rennaisance exterior, whose interiors followed an Art Noveau and Liberty style. Now the five-star venue close to Lungomare d’Annunzio Beach includes a full-service spa with 12 treatments rooms, an outdoor pool, a restaurant, a winter garden and two bars (one of which is on the rooftop). A lavish refurbishment has retained original details and stunning frescoes but added many modern amenities like espresso makers and air-con. There are 60 bedrooms in total, including suites, all filled with lashings of character.

Right on the Lido, this luxurious resort has a subtly Moorish interior design. Reminiscent of a former era, the turn of the 20th-century building’s furnishings encapsulate a sense of North African mid-century style. The Excelsior boasts bedrooms with terraces overlooking the sea, tent-like private cabanas on the beach, a swimming pool, complimentary water shuttles, in-room Salvatore Ferragamo bath products, and a renowned intimate candlelit restaurant and some incredible seafood. It may be a glamorous venue – an optimum place to star spot during the film festival – but the resort is very welcoming of families, offering a kids’ club among its amenities.

Converted and extended from a 19th-century villa, Villa Flori is a luxury 4-star hotel standing between Como and Cernobbio. As well as a selection of rooms and suites, it offers the spectacular Gran Lago Suite right on the waterfront complete with wraparound terrace and lush gardens that offer almost complete privacy. Hotel guests can dine in the sophisticated elegance of the Raimondo restaurant complete with terrace or relax in the lounge bar or wind down in the mini spa which also offer Technogym machines for a bit of a workout.

Located in the coastline town of Lezzeno, Filario Hotel has a modern aesthetic but a traditional sense of hospitality. Each room and suite has cosy balcony overlooking the lake and has an earthy, natural décor to connect with the surroundings while still being fitted with the best mod cons expected of a top-class hotel. The Filo restaurant takes you on a journey of traditional Italian food in a romantic setting and you can work off the excesses in the fitness room, a bicycle tour around the lake and mountains, or order en-suite massages and spa treatments.