When most people hear Tour of Italy...they think Olive Garden. Not us.
There’s a particular madness that arrives before a summer trip to Italy. Now layer in my wedding and around 10 hotel check-ins across the country… it quickly became extreme madness. Or call it absolute chaos. Both are true. But also color it the best damn hotel tour of our lives.
(And yes, I’m thrilled to have married my bride...but come on now. You know what this is. The hotel talk reigns supreme.)
Over the course of 30 days, we made our way through some of Italy’s most prestigious hotels. Places we’d dreamed about for years. So today we’re breaking down where we went, in the order we experienced them, with a few observations along the way.
A month in Italy will teach you many things…
Like breakfast is still the most important meal in a hotel—Italy might do it best.
Or that aperitivo is a religion. And that we’re committed disciples.
Even that the best hotels usually aren’t in the city...they’re just outside it. (Some of you might go to battle with us on that one).
One thing is for certain: I’ve never appreciated a great hotel pool, or a perfect club sandwich, more than I did this summer. 90 degrees and sunny nearly every day. The year of our Lord, and my wedding, 2026.
Keep reading for the lowdown on everywhere we stayed.
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But first…a quick word on weddings:
Stand in enough of them and you learn someone’s eventually going to ask you to wear a tuxedo. For my own, I bought one (thanks to Sean Burke and the Ralph Lauren team). The rest of the guys went through The Black Tux. Some had their own stashed in the closet, some very much did not. So we made it easy on the boys, and it all worked out quite well.
So if you’re getting married soon, someday, or just standing up, use code FCJ15 for 15% off your entire order
here (active until Aug 31).
There may not be another brand operating city hotels quite like Bulgari. Our first stay here…though we’d visited before…and we both agreed, it’s one of the best city hotels we’ve ever set foot in. The brand flagship, right where Bulgari the jeweller started…and they captured the moment. Location, design, room to breathe, a killer rooftop, and a lunch cafe that might beat any in the city (at a fair price!). You can’t really compete with what Bulgari’s doing in Rome. Polished without feeling cold. Branded without going theatrical.
La Posta Vecchia belongs in its own category. A Marie-Louise Sciò property under Pellicano Hotels…sitting just outside Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea [only 40-minutes by car from Rome]. Curated to the last inch, now with a new pool (there’s an indoor one too…). A unique stay, and one we’d recommend heartily for anyone who’s been to Rome enough times to say “we’re not staying in the city this time.” More here.
We’re lucky to call the Wirth family friends. It was the first luxury hotel in Rome…and just unveiled a renovation to the garden and lobby…with a spa coming soon. Right on top of the Spanish Steps, the location here seriously sings. Two things always stand out here, with every stay. The best rooftop view in Rome. And among the greatest lobby bars we’ve ever set foot in.
After the wedding…we didn’t go straight into the honeymoon…we took the unconventional route and did a HOMIEMOON. 12 friends in a Vrbo across the street from Belmond Splendido. The villa was once the home of the revered EIC of Italian Vogue. One look at the place and that connection becomes clear.
It’s now managed by Garamonds…an agency with villa rentals across Italy. We’re already eyeing their Lake Como property for our next visit. And Lake Como…well, that’s where we go next.
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