Florence, Italy

Collegio alla Querce

Price per night from$1,956.74

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR1,721.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Collegio alla Querce Photos

Style

School of Baroque

Setting

Florence’s verdant fringes

Explore

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Once a school for the Florentine elite, grandly restored Collegio alla Querce is loyal to its roots. For starters, ‘querce’ means oak, and you can admire this majestic motif in the headmaster’s-office-turned-bar, or the real deal in its idyllic Baroque gardens. It’s a set-up you’ll easily learn by heart: Duomo-eyeing suites, a tree-lined pool, and botanical spa treatments. And with its clutch of regional eateries and aperitivo-calling terraces, this Tuscan-to-a-tee retreat scores top marks all round.

 

 

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Facilities

Photos Collegio alla Querce facilities

Need to know

Rooms

83, including 34 suites.

Check–Out

Noon; check-in, 3pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

More details

Some rates at Collegio alla Querce include breakfast for two; it's €55 each for additional guests.

Also

The hotel's communal areas are accessible with ramps and elevators throughout, plus there are six adapted Firenze View King rooms with roll-in, rainfall showers.

Please note

The hotel’s national identification code (CIN) is IT048017A1VHOVVSKL

At the hotel

Gym and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, air-conditioning, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making kit, minibar, free bottled water, bathrobes and slippers.

Our favourite rooms

Collegio alla Querce’s Renaissance-inspired interiors are a class act, with their handpainted walls, hardwood floors, and curated antiques. Spy Florence from a light-bathed Balcone Premium King, or get glimpses of the dazzling Duomo from the fresco-framed Affreschi Suite. Residenza La Quercia scores big for us: its city-peeping rooftop terrace totes a plunge pool, plus indoors, you’ll find a Tuscan wine-stocked bar.

Poolside

You’ll see where the hotel gets its name from by the lengthy pool. ‘Querce’ is Italian for oak, and these shade-bestowing shrubs — along with siesta-inviting cabanas and an aperitivo-serving bar — flank this calming spot’s alfresco waters.

Spa

The Aelia spa is set to soothe with Tuscan-rooted treatments that showcase all-natural products — we’re earmarking the botanical facial or grapeseed reflexology session. Solace-seekers can exclusively book the indoor pool or steam room for a private hour.

Packing tips

You can leave your textbooks and revision cards behind — this former school now teaches all about Tuscan heritage, fine wines and refined food.

Also

If you’re looking for ways to work up an appetite between meals, you could wander through the resort’s vast Baroque-style gardens, or hit the gym, which is decked out with Technogym kit.

Pet‐friendly

Pampered pooches are welcome to stay in any room for €250 a stay. See more pet-friendly hotels in Florence.

Children

Welcome. Baby cots and extra beds are free for under-12s; for older kids, they're €120 a night (excluding tax and breakfast). There are also connecting options and two-bedroom suites.

Food and Drink

Photos Collegio alla Querce food and drink

Top Table

By La Gamella’s arched windows.

Dress Code

School uniforms no longer apply, but you might still like to look sharp, especially for dinners at La Gamella.

Hotel restaurant

La Gamella honours its heritage in more ways than one: it resides in the former school’s dining room, and now serves up locally sourced produce, comforting Tuscan classics and regional wines. All-day Conservatorio is a bright, atrium-style space, where you’ll find fresh coffee and pastries. By the pool, at olive tree-framed Cafe Focolare, refreshment comes in the form of homemade juices, seasonal cocktails and crispy pizzas.

Hotel bar

You’ll find heat-beating cocktails and chilled wines at poolside Cafe Focolare. Come evening, head for a night cap at Bar Gamella; or, the real teacher’s pet is old-world Bar Bertelli, set in what once was the headmaster’s office. Its tipples take inspiration from the history and science classes once taught at the collegio. Unlike the rebellious schooldays, you won’t be reprimanded for a sneaky smoke: you’ll find a (love it or hate it) secret cigar room next door, embellished with ornate interiors.

Last orders

At La Gamella, breakfast is 7am–11am, lunch is noon–3pm, and dinner is 7pm–10.30pm (drinks until 11pm). Conservatorio serves breakfast from 7am–11am, and an all-day menu from noon–9pm. Cafe Focolare opens from noon–7pm; Bar Bertelli pours from 6pm–2am.

Room service

You can order dishes to your door from a dedicated menu at any hour.

Location

Photos Collegio alla Querce location
Address
Collegio alla Querce
Via delle Forbici 21B
Florence
50133
Italy

Collegio alla Querce sits in the leafy residential outskirts of Florence’s north, poised between Tuscan countryside and the city’s historic hotspots.

Planes

Florence’s Amerigo Vespucci Airport is a 25-minute drive from the resort; staff can arrange transfers on request and for an additional charge.

Trains

Rail routes from Rome, Pisa and Venice arrive at Santa Maria Novella station, which is 15 minutes away by transfer or taxi from the hotel.

Automobiles

There’s no need for a set of wheels: the Centro Storico is a 40-minute stroll (or 20-minute drive) away, and staff can arrange tours and transfers. Should you choose to drive, there’s parking with electric-vehicle charging points at the hotel for €60 a stay.

Worth getting out of bed for

From Collegio alla Querce’s hillside perch, you can spy Florence’s most notable sight: its awe-inspiring Duomo, and if you’re itching for a closer look, staff can arrange private tours of the city, which conclude on the cathedral’s terrace. Your in-the-know hosts can also pull strings for after-hours visits to Accademia Gallery to take in Michelangelo’s David, or to the Uffizi Galleries to marvel at Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.

Your city-outskirts setting means a taste of local pastoral life is just as close as the Centro Storico’s culture-drawn crowds. Head into the region’s woodlands for seasonal, epicurean activities: try your hand at truffle hunting or saffron harvesting, before transforming your bounty into a feast alongside Tuscan vintages. The hotel’s La Gamella restaurant also has its own chef’s table that hosts cooking classes.

Local restaurants

Mural-clad Perseus is a traditional trattoria, celebrated for its grilled-to-perfection Florentine steak. If the walls at Antica Trattoria da Tito could speak (they sort of do, given they’re scribbled with former patrons’ signatures), they’d share stories of local specials, fresh pasta and rich tiramisù. Exposed-brick vaulted ceilings aren’t the only thing that will catch your eye at Satori; equally head-turning are the vibrant sushi and crunchy tempura platters.

Local cafés

For a mid-morning cappuccino or afternoon espresso, bright Caffè Lietta serves pick-me-ups alongside decadent pastries and cakes.

Reviews

Photos Collegio alla Querce reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this heritage-rich hotel in Tuscany and unpacked their bottles of Chianti and jars of saffron, a full account of their city-and-country break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Collegio alla Querce in Florence…

School may be out forever at Collegio alla Querce, but this former college is an education in Tuscan luxury. You’ll study lofty vaulted ceilings, restored frescoes and slick Italian marble as you walk the halls from your Florence-facing suite, perhaps to burn the midnight oil in the headmaster’s office — now a book-lined bar — reading cocktail and cigar menus.

The only cramming to do is at the three dining spots: traditional Tuscan, all-day international, and a poolside café, which each pay homage to seasonal, local ingredients. And you can put your head down in the regal Baroque-style gardens, on the view-wrapped terraces or during an olive-oil spa treatment.

Master family-favourite recipes in a cooking class; sniff out truffles on field trips to organic farms, or relish a private viewing at one of Florence’s famed galleries. Just like the city which it calls home, Collegio alla Querce is in a class of its own.

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Price per night from $1,938.55

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