Brunelleschi Hotel

The tower is round, which is the first odd thing about it. In a city built on straight lines and squared stone corners, Hotel Brunelleschi wraps its oldest rooms inside a circular structure dated to the sixth or seventh century, standing on Piazza Sant'Elisabetta a short walk from the Duomo. Excavations beneath it found Roman foundations, including a curved wall linked to a bathing structure from ancient Florentia. Records later name the tower a women's prison, then a bell tower for the church next door. A 1980s restoration by architect Italo Gamberini uncovered these layers and opened a small archaeological display at the base, visitable on request. Two rooms now sit inside the tower itself: the Deluxe Tower Room and the Pagliazza Tower Suite. Elsewhere, rooms mix contemporary furniture with Florentine leather and velvet, and some suites look straight out over rooftops and stone. The Tower Bar pours cocktails inside the same round stone walls, and Osteria della Pagliazza serves handmade pasta with recipes drawn from the hotel's Michelin-starred kitchen. A fitness room on the first floor runs daily, fitted with Technogym equipment. You can book time with the in-house sommelier for a guided tasting from the private cellar.