Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1542301
Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel, Florence, reopening April 2026 H igh in the hills of Fiesole, Villa San Michele has long been one of Tuscany's most storied hideaways — a former 15th-century monastery with a façade attributed to the school of Michelangelo and sweeping views over Florence. The Renaissance structure retains its original cloisters, arcades, and terraced gardens, set against the woodlands where Leonardo da Vinci is said to have attempted his early flying experiments. The hotel is currently closed for an 18-month restoration and reopens in April with 39 refreshed rooms and suites designed by Luigi Fragola Architects. Accommodations will span both the historic monastery and the surrounding gardens, inspired by Florence's artistic heritage and the dramatic Tuscan landscape. A Guerlain spa occupies part of the historic complex — the villa's first-ever spa — and, on the highest plateau, a heated pool overlooks 2.5 hectares of woodland and the property's celebrated wisteria. belmond.com. Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch, London, opening summer 2026 L ondon's historic Admiralty Arch, completed in 1912 by Sir Aston Webb, was built as a monumental gateway between Trafalgar Square and The Mall, framing the ceremonial route to Buckingham Palace. Now a Grade I-listed landmark, the building long served as a government nerve center, housing Admiralty offices including the residence of the First Sea Lords. In 2012, the government sold the property on a 125-year lease for £60 million, setting in motion its transformation into the Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch, slated to open summer 2026. Its position alone does much of the storytelling. Look one way, and you're in the civic bustle of Trafalgar Square; look the other, and you're drawn toward Buckingham Palace. That tension between public life and royal ritual gives the hotel its identity. Behind the restored Portland-stone façade, original staircases, arches, and ceremonial corridors meet contemporary residential layers, including roughly 100 rooms and suites, private residences, and restaurants by Michelin- starred chefs Clare Smyth and Daniel Boulud. Café Boulud's rooftop terrace will offer one of London's most extraordinary views — a direct sight line down The Mall to Buckingham Palace. One quirky historic detail will hopefully return when the hotel fully opens: the tiny plaster-cast nose of artist Rick Buckley, part of his 1997 satirical The Seven Noses of Soho installation, where seven noses were secretly installed "under the noses" of cameras around London, including at Admiralty Arch. Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris O ne of Paris' most luxurious landmarks, Four Seasons Hotel George V, emerged last year from a three-year renovation, the property's first major update since 1999. Steps from Avenue Montaigne in the regal Golden Triangle, the 1928 grande dame stands among couture houses and galleries and still commands one of the city's most decorated dining programs, with multiple Michelin-starred restaurants. Villa San Michele, here and below Admiralty Arch, London (Continued) 54