La Roqqa

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 seaside hotel in Tuscany and unpacked their silk headscarves and Vilebrequin shorts, a full account of their beach break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside La Roqqa in Porto Ercole…

No one does glamour like the Italians. More specifically, no one does summer as glamorously as the Italians. With out of offices set until early September, they flee the city for dreamy destinations (Amalfi, Maremma, Capri, Portofino, Puglia…) and even the owners of super-yachts try to out-fabulous them. One such supremely chic holiday playground is Porto Ercole, a traditional fishing village on the Monte Argentario peninsula, roughly halfway between Florence and Rome. It has a Slim Aarons shot cementing its status, starring stylish Italians disporting themselves on a Riva, naturally. Also helping to put it on the map in the Sixties was the iconic hotel Il Pellicano, down the coast in the Maremma region – although technically speaking, it was the Etruscans who first settled here. In the centre of town, however, is La Roqqa, an appropriately terracotta building (inside and out, though the room colour changes with the floor), overlooking the hill-top fortresses, swooping seagulls and bobbing boats on the Med. Take in the views from the restaurant terrace or your balcony, or enjoy them from the beach club, where guests can secure two sunloungers plus a parasol every day for free. At sundown, you can stroll the Renaissance piazzas and mediaeval alleys, taking care not to let a dribble of gelato ruin the aesthete-pleasing surroundings. ‘Gone fishing’ signs at the ready.