Castello del Nero

Close to both Siena (45 minutes away) and Florence (30 minutes away), this one-stop hamlet with five-star amenities comes with a Michelin-laudedrestaurant and one of the best spas in Tuscany.

• The ESPA
• The warm and caring staff
• The palatial rooms

The 12th-century Castello del Nero greets visitors with austere graciousness. The spacious terracotta foyer recalls those of grand hotels, while the expansive back terrace presents a Tuscan panorama complete with cypress trees and rolling hills clothed in shades of green and yellow stretching to the horizon. Matching its surroundings in splendor, the hotel’s COMO Shambhala Retreat spa offers holistic treatments alongside signature spa essentials. Non-spa guests will appreciate the urban-hotel-style amenities, like the large fitness area, 24-hour room-service and ample executive suites, whose marble bathrooms feature free-standing claw-foot bathtubs and tiled rain showers.

The hotel is 30 minutes from Florence by the complimentary, twice-daily shuttle and equally close to Siena and the Chianti region, accessible by car. During the summer months, guests can dine on the romantic terrace. With the luxury and amenities of a metropolitan hotel, plus faultless service and a supreme Tuscan location, Castello del Nero will turn even the most diehard urbanites into country mice.

Spa goers, travelers who want to be based in Tuscany but close to Florence, and those who like the aesthetic of a private villa with the high-end service of a luxury hotel.