Top Hotels in Italy

From the Dolomites to Puglia, Italy’s hotels are some of the most elegant and luxurious in the world. Whether they’re boutique properties or entire villages reimagined as resorts, Italian accommodations offer exclusive experiences, charming authenticity, and a sublime slice of couture lifestyle.

While it’s hard to narrow a list down to just 9 villas, farmhouses, and estates, we think these top properties are reason enough to plan your next trip to Italy. We especially love them for their proximity to Italy’s very best cycling routes!

The stunning five-star Castello di Velona is located just 10 minutes from Montalcino in the middle of Tuscany’s Brunello vineyards. Rooms and suites in this rehabilitated 1,000-year-old castle and fortress offer amazing views of the 75-acre estate and the Val d’Orcia beyond. It’s close to Siena, Pienza, and Montepulciano, but with a panoramic pool, mineral-spring spa, and fireside restaurant on the property, so much of Tuscany is already at your fingertips.

Stay at this countryside retreat on your next Tuscany cycling vacation. 

Palazzo Ducale Venturi is situated in the peaceful Apulian town of Minervino di Lecce—just a stone’s throw from the UNESCO city of Matera. Discover the region’s culinary traditions by tasting focaccia baked in the property’s ancient salt ovens, then drizzle it with zero-mile olive oil. Rooms were designed with supervision from the soprintendenza of Cultural Heritage, so you can sleep beneath 16th-century frescoed ceilings, sip aperitivos on your suite’s rooftop terrace, or stroll through citrus trees in the gardens.

Experience this Apulian palazzo for yourself on our Puglia Bike Tour. 

Each room in this castle turned boutique hotel is individually designed with natural materials, resulting in seven distinctly modern and high-design oases. For a taste of wines from the Brda region at the crossroads of Alpine and Mediterranean influences, head to the hotel’s vinothèque or gather in the spectacular champagne temple to taste sparkling wines from all around Europe. If you find downtime before dinner, linger in the lounge or see what’s on display in Gredič’s own art gallery.

Spend a night at Gredič while cycling across the Dolomites. 

One of Travel + Leisure’s Top 10 Resort Hotels in Italy, Castello di Casole is a luxurious five-star hotel at the center of a remarkable and historic 4,200-acre estate—one of Italy’s largest private landholdings. Rooms and suites are outfitted with antiques and original materials found on the estate: think wood-beamed ceilings and stone walls seamlessly integrated with modern amenities. Essere spa (housed in what was once the wine cellar) employs local rosemary, grapes, and olive oil, while Tosca restaurant takes its cues from Tuscany’s old world traditions.

Stay here on our Super Tuscany cycling tour. 

In the heart of Sicily’s Val di Noto, timeless Masseria della Volpe occupies a 19th-century manor farm that once cultivated olives, citrus, and carob. Your day might begin on the terrace lounge with coffee, then move to the heated pool for some morning laps. By afternoon, you’ll be ready for a game of bocce or tennis on the hotel’s court, topped off with an after-sun massage at the spa. Best of all, this relais is focused on ecology, using sustainable energy, local materials, and organic products.

Be a guest of this masseria during DuVine’s cycling tour of Sicily. 

Borgo San Felice is the only Relais & Châteaux hotel in Tuscany’s Chianti Classico region. With its own vineyards, a network of narrow streets, a Romanesque chapel, and accommodations spread across historic buildings and villas, San Felice retains the feel of a medieval village—a hospitality concept called diffusio. Tour the cellars and taste wine with the oenologist of Agricola San Felice, or discover herbs first planed for medicinal use by the farmhands who tended the village gardens.

Discover the borgo on our classic Tuscany bike tour. 

Before it took the number 43 spot on Travel + Leisure’s 2018 list of the World’s Top 100 Hotels, Borgo Egnazia attracted attention in 2012 as the wedding venue of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel. Beloved for its extraordinary natural setting in Puglia, it’s no wonder celebrities and travelers alike steal away to this property in search of peace and privacy. Borgo Egnazia makes ethereal use of Puglia’s indigenous bright-white limestone and olive wood in its lovely villas, restaurants, and lobby.

Let us plan a private bike tour of Puglia to include accomodations at Borgo Egnazia.

This very special hotel is located in Alta Badia, a resort town in the Italian Alps. Quintessentially Alpine yet timelessly stylish, Rosa Alpina boasts a three-Michelin-starred restaurant, an inviting lobby bar, and a terrace where you can take your morning cappuccino. It’s been family-owned for over 70 years, so it takes family-friendliness seriously: cooking classes are offered for kids, while babysitting frees adults to explore the hotel’s impressive wine list. The loft suites and luxury apartments are exceptional, but reserve the penthouse for an entire floor of Dolomiti views all to yourself.

Stay at this property on our hiking- and cycling-filled Dolomites Bike + Adventure Tour.

Near the coast of Italy’s Bolgheri wine region lies an ancient farmhouse, perfumed by a landscape of lavender and rosemary. To stay at Relais Sant’Elena is to be transported back in time: when long summer days lend themselves to strolling through rose beds; when the lettuces in your lunch were harvested from the kitchen garden that morning; where dinner is served by candlelight. At this property, tradition is everything—from the terracotta tiles to the antique embroidered bed linens.

Spend the final night of our Italian Coast-to-Coast bike journey at this hotel.