This Fashionable Italian Hotel Is Favored By The World’s Top Menswear Experts
Florence’s Sina Villa Medici has become a hotel hot spot during Pitti Uomo fashion week.
Twice a year Florence, Italy plays host to Pitti Immagine Uomo, aka Pitti Uomo, the world’s top menswear trade fair, which has captured the public’s fascination in recent years thanks to the at-times over-the-top, frequently provocative, and often eye-catching custom-tailored clothing worn by its attendees. Once solely an industry insider event, it now attracts scores of menswear influencers and other personalities who come to see and be seen, and, hopefully, have their photos taken.
“Pitti” has come to be a byword for dandyism, and its favored locale has become the Sina Villa Medici hotel, home to the famed Harry’s Bar Garden, the site of various wine-fueled dinners and soirées during the event. Its place amongst the menswear cognoscenti was cemented in 2021 when Fernando Pane, himself a noted dandy, joined the property, now part of the Autograph Collection, as General Manager.
Of course the hotel’s history dates back well before Pitti Uomo was established in the 1970s. Its namesake is the legendary Medici family, native to Florence, who influenced the art and architecture of all of Europe in the 16th century. The early 19th century former private palazzo, with its original buildings dating to 1760, is designed in the Mannerist style, falling between the Renaissance and Baroque.
It was a style that was neither too ornate nor too classical, based upon “elusive complexity, shadows and light and unabashed sophistication and elegance,” with a luscious garden for ladies and gentlemen to take their leisure either strolling or sipping libations. A short walk from the center of Florence and the famed Ponte Vecchio, Sina Villa Medici occupies a privileged position in the city known as “The Cradle of the Renaissance.” Some hotels that are right in the city center can feel cramped or crowded, but Sina Villa Medici offers easy access to everything with a spacious layout and private garden.
Sina Villa Medici more than lives up to the pedigree of a city built upon its old world heritage, architecture, cuisine, and masterpieces of fine art. Of Rome, Milan, Palermo, and Naples, Florence stands alone. Just minutes from the hotel is the fabled Duomo cathedral with its terracotta dome defining the skyline. In Florence art lovers can see both Michelangelo’s “David” and Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” among other masterpieces.
The Sina Villa Medici makes guests feel as if they have stepped back into a more refined and romantic time the moment they enter its grand lobby. Located between the lobby and the pool and garden is Harry’s Bar Garden, which extends into a solarium as well as snaking around the pool. The remaining outpost of the Florentine original Harry’s Bar which opened in the 1950s, it is popular with locals as well as fashion week swells.
All of the hotel’s 100 rooms and suites are sunlit by oversized windows, with elaborately ornate motifs mixing with an almost Mid-Century minimalism, all distinct in design, with marble baths. The most coveted rooms overlook the garden and have private balconies. The 1,000-square-foot-and-up top-class suites take opulence to another level of saturated glamour; one even has it’s own hot tub on the terrace.
Harry’s Bar is a stylish enclave for a Negroni, Aperol Spritz, or a classic Bellini. Try the Garibaldi with Campari and orange juice, a suitable concoction during the earlier hours, we feel. Its signature coral-colored tablecloths are like the silk pocket square peeking out of the breast pocket of its dandified clientele’s bespoke jackets.
The finest tables have a view of the pool, and the food in both its restaurant and bistro is some of the best in Florence. The antipasti include smoked salmon, beef carpaccio, and prosciutto and melon, as fresh as can be. Favorite starters in summer include the vichyssoise, basilico tomato cream soup, tagliarini pasta gratinati alla Harry’s, and green fettuccine with ragout, among others.
Entrees lean toward traditional Italian cuisine with meat and seafood selections, such as curried prawns with mango chutney, a veal done two ways, either Milanese style, or in a tuna-caper sauce. Harry’s steak tartare is a given, not to mention their signature club sandwich and the hamburger made of Robespierre grilled beef with a green pepper sauce. Try the Gran Marnier-infused flambéed crepes to finish.
By the pool there is also a stellar wellness spa and Turkish bath, notable for its intricate floor-to-ceiling mosaic tiles. It includes a full fitness gym too. The hotel also offers cookery classes and vineyard tours in the countryside and a shuttle if needed to the center of the city and its retail and restaurants. The hotel’s concierges can advise guests on how to “skip the line” to see David or the Duomo’s most intimate chambers. You can also take a day trip to nearby Pisa, Siena or Chianti.
Sina Villa Medici is part of the prestigious Sina Hotels group, and is aligned with the Autograph Collection of hotels under the Marriott Bonvoy umbrella. The Sina brand was founded 63 years ago by Count Ernesto Bocca and now includes unforgettable five-star properties such as the Baroque-style Bernini Bristol in Rome, the Sina Brufani in Perugia, the Maria Luigia in Parma, the Sina Flora in Capri, the Sina Astor in Viareggio, and two spellbinding hotels in Milan, The Gray and Sina de la Ville.
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