Masseria Torre Maizza

Puglia, Italy

• Style Spacious and gracious
• Setting Coast-hugging Pugliese countryside

Surrounded by a grove of ancient olive trees, the 16th-century Masseria Torre Maizza – sister hotel of nearby Smith favourite Masseria Torre Coccaro – has been brought bang up to date with a cool, contemporary décor.

The Gray

Milan, Italy

• Style Playful den for modern lovers
• Setting Centralissimo

The Gray hotel is super-stylish and utterly central, with the Duomo at the end of the street, La Scala and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele round the corner.

Borgo Santo Pietro

Tuscany, Italy

• Style Classic-luxe Tuscan villa
• Setting Enchanting formal gardens

This refined boutique hotel near Siena in Tuscany is set in an antique-bedecked 13th-century villa – a stay at Borgo Santo Pietro will have you feeling like Italian aristocrats enjoying a lazy weekend away at their luxury country house.

• Smith Vintage

Continentale

Florence, Italy

• Style Bright and witty
• Setting Pole position by Ponte Vecchio

With its sleek minimalist design, the Continentale hotel in Florence is the very antithesis of Room With a View-style hotels, and it’s a hit with lovers of a contemporary vibe.

Casa Angelina

Amalfi Coast, Italy

• Style Modern Med minimalism
• Setting Rugged Amalfi cliff side

High on the cliffs at the edge of Priano, Casa Angelina emerges gleaming from the rocks; a bright, white, clean-lined hotel that wisely lets the views do the talking.

Il Salviatino

Florence, Italy

• Style Hip historic villa
• Setting Lush, leafy hillside

Il Salviatino – a ravishingly updated 15th-century villa high in the hills over Florence – has a museum’s stash of 19th-century frescoes, sarcophagus bath tubs and antique artworks.