This New Hotel in Italy Feels Like a Tuscan Countryside Resort—in the Heart of Florence

Auberge Resorts Collection opened its first hotel in Italy yesterday, on March 2: Collegio alla Querce in Florence.

The 83-room hotel, which was a private school in the 1800s, is about a mile and a half from Florence's famed Duomo. It has four restaurants and bars, stunning gardens, an outdoor pool, and over-the-top Grand Suites as large as 2,292 square feet. A room that was once the headmaster's office is now Bar Bertelli, an evening cocktail-and-cigars spot. The 19th-century chapel has been restored and is a perfect wedding venue.

“You have rooms that literally look out on the Duomo, and then you turn around and your window on the other side of the room looks out on vineyards and olive trees,” says Christian Clerc, the CEO of Auberge Resorts Collection, in an exclusive interview with Travel + Leisure.

“Coming to Collegio will feel like retiring to your little bubble where you still feel connected with the city, but you can sit by the pool or get a spa treatment,” Clerc adds.

Collegio’s La Gamella restaurant, with veranda and garden seating, will serve comforting Italian fare. “At the restaurant’s heart is Cicchetti, an open kitchen, where guests can enjoy an aperitivo or take a cooking class—it feels a bit like stepping into a nonna’s kitchen,” says Lorenzo Maraviglia, the hotel’s general manager. There’s also all-day dining at Conservatorio restaurant and poolside Café Focolare, which serves pizza and Florentine panini.

The bars and restaurants aim to cater to locals as much as hotel guests and international travelers.
“We want to make sure our hotels are also relevant for the locals—and what better way to bring the local culture into the hotel than to bring locals in for lunch and for dinner?” Clerc says.

The property's spa, Aelia, is also rooted in Tuscan healing practices, with treatments incorporating olive oil, lemon, and herbs. The brand partnered with Furtuna Skin, which sources the ingredients for its skincare products from a farm in Sicily.

Auberge Resorts Collection, owned by The Friedkin Group, is known for immersing guests in the art and culture surrounding each of its 30 hotels and resorts—so opening in one of Europe’s art capitals feels like a natural next step. “One of Collegio's most extraordinary offerings is an exclusive after-hours tour of the Accademia Gallery, allowing guests a rare private viewing of Michelangelo’s David," Maraviglia says. “Our expert guides lead a private tour through the gallery’s collection of Renaissance sculptures and paintings.”
Collegio alla Querce is the latest in a slew of exciting European hotel openings for Auberge Resorts Collection. In the past five years, the brand has bet big on American resorts—recently opening The Dunlin in South Carolina and The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern in central California.

"Americans have such a long love story with Europe, that for us, it was the logical next step,” Clerc says about the European expansion.

Springboarding off the longstanding success of Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection, in Santorini—a T+L reader favorite—and recently opened Domaine Des Etangs in Massignac, France, the luxury brand has its sights set not only on Florence this year but also on London, where it will open Cambridge House by the end of 2025.

You can book a stay at the newly opened Collegio alla Querce, Auberge Resorts Collection, at aubergeresorts.com. Doubles from $1,678.

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