For the first time, the former convent in Fiesole will not close with the autumn: Belmond will welcome guests there until 3 January 2027. An hour south of Florence, the Castello di Casole extends its season to 29 November. Two hotels, two closing dates, and two ways of holding a season.
The Villa San Michele, recently restored, overlooks Florence from the hills of Fiesole. Until now, its season ended before the holidays. This year it will run through them, and it is the date of 3 January 2027 that makes the news.
Belmond is pairing this extension with a programme titled Masters of Savoir Faire: private visits to historic Florentine workshops and meetings with the city’s master artisans. The hotel also plans Epicurean Circles, meetings with Tuscan producers and artisans. Fiesole’s calendar therefore leans on the city and its workshops.
The table follows the same logic. Antesi, the hotel’s fine-dining restaurant, is led by executive chef Alessandro Cozzolino. Its name comes from the Greek anthesis, flowering, and expresses the idea that every ingredient has a moment when it gives the best of itself. A restaurant of flowering stays open until January; the seasonality it claims will therefore be put to the test.
Wellness is the other side of the programme. The Spa by Guerlain offers treatments inspired by the Renaissance heritage of the place and its gardens. An Energy Raising Programme, designed with the Milanese brand La DoubleJ and its founder JJ Martin, adds movement sessions and guided walks in the woods of Fiesole. At Bar Doccia, mixology masterclasses and bartenders in residence enliven the aperitivo hour.
At Casole, the calendar follows the land. The estate, dating from the 10th century, extends over 3,200 acres, or about 1,300 hectares. It extends its season by a month and a half less than Fiesole, but over the period of the grape harvest, the olives and the kitchen garden. The Essere Spa combines personalised treatments, meditation and sound therapy. The activities are those of the season: forest bathing, truffle hunting, roasted chestnuts in the library, Tuscan cooking classes, a visit to the Etruscan Museum of Casole d’Elsa.
Executive chef Daniele Sera sets his menus by the week’s harvests. Three venues serve them: Tosca for contemporary Tuscan haute cuisine, Emporio del Castello for more relaxed regional cooking, Bar Visconti for Hortus Vitae cocktails, made with aromatic plants grown on the estate.
Belmond ties it all to a philosophy it calls Slow Luxury. In practice, this means two distinct calendars: Fiesole’s follows the city and its workshops, Casole’s follows the land and its harvests. What remains to be seen is which of the two rhythms guests will choose to extend.
3. “Detail” box
The autumn offers. They apply to both hotels, from two nights: private round-trip transfers from the airport or station, guaranteed room upgrade on arrival, early arrival and late departure, a spa credit of €200 per stay.
Read also on Luxsure: Villa San Michele: 18 months to restore the silence of Fiesole · Italy, spring. The art of slow travel according to Belmond. · From Paris to Venice aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express: the art of slowing down · Stone and time: Castel Badia, or the permanence of Alto Adige
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