Florence is a mecca for art lovers, all driven by the wealth of beauty on show, a city filled to the brim with classical pieces housed in some of the world finest palaces. Classic isn’t just what Florence offers with a number of gallery spaces throughout the city including the Gallery Hotel Art. Gallery Hotel Art prides itself on being Italy’s first design hotel featuring 74 rooms and suites with whitewashed walls with a touch of neutral tones, offering a sleek and chic stay over in the centre of Florence. Designed by renowned Florentine architect, Michele Bönan, and owned by the famed fashion family of Ferragamo, it boasts a collection of art and photography dressing its walls, a modern antithesis to the city’s Renaissance styling. Set in a quiet courtyard in the heart of Florence by the Ponte Vecchio, Gallery Hotel Art prides itself on being "a true contemporary art gallery that opens its doors to talented travellers".

The hotel sees itself as an art gallery that is open to all, not just cultured guests, to peruse the art on show and take a drink in their ground floor bar. In the past, works by David Lachapelle and Steven Klein have been on display with a recent exhibition of Andy Warhol featuring sixteen of his most iconic pieces including two portraits of Marilyn Monroe and his infamous Campbell's Soup Cans. The hotel facade also acts as a canvas changing yearly to feature a talking point installation. In charge is Artistic Director, Simone D'Auria, whose piece titled Freedom saw twelve Vespa motorcycles attached and cascading down the hotel's main wall, each Vespa body decorated with themes representing planet sustainability. 

Inside the hotel, Fusion Bar and restaurant is ideal for a pre-dinner cocktail - try a Herbal Martini based in gin with 47 botanicals from India and drops of green Chartreuse, liquor obtained from 130 different herbs prepared by monks. If feeling hungry dive into dinner with Nikkei cuisine, a mix of Japanese via Peru with an Italian twist. Or if chasing a caffeine fix, the hotel’s lounge, Sala Cha & Library, is an ideal escape for a café between city exploring, a cosy space surrounded by books and more artwork and photography.

Gallery Hotel Art is part of the Lungarno Collection, a series of luxury hotels, resorts, and private villas in Tuscany - www.lungarnocollection.com