Hotel review: IL Tornabuoni
Italy is probably my favourite country in Europe, I’ve visited every summer for the last four years!! However, I haven’t been to Florence for about 10 years so I was excited to explore the city for a second time! I was ALSO super excited because I would be staying at IL Tornabuoni, which is a part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt.
IL Tornabuoni is a beautiful boutique hotel located in the heart of Florence and WOW! I was honestly blown away by how STUNNING this hotel was! The building actually used to be a prestigious palace back in the 13th century. It’s also the first of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand in Italy.
This trip was part of my new collaboration with World of Hyatt. This collaboration is really exciting to me because I love to offer you guys value and I believe World of Hyatt membership is one of the best ways to be rewarded for travel. By signing up forWorld of Hyatt you earn points for your stays, dining or spa experiences and more, which you can later claim back for a variety of benefits.
GETTING THERE
As I was flying from the UK, I flew in from London City airport, which is my favourite airport to fly from as it's much smaller making my journey quicker and more pleasant.
However, if you are flying in from the US I’d recommend booking with American Airlines, as a World of Hyatt elite member you can link your accounts and earn World of Hyatt points for your flight.
Click here to discover AA benefits.
Once I landed, my driver was waiting for me, making it really easy and relaxed. It was really simple to organize the hotel reception before I arrived. The hotel is roughly a 20 minute drive from the closest airport, I arrived around 11:30 AM and due to my Globalist membership I was able to check in and access my room early! I had pre requested this on the app!
GETTING AROUND
The best way to get around Florence is by foot. In fact, you can walk from one end of the city to the other in about 30 minutes, passing many recognizable sites along the way. Hopping aboard an ATAF bus is another option.
ROOMS
The hotel has 62 beautiful rooms and suites, each designed with a nod towards the building's heritage. I was lucky enough to stay in a beautiful junior suite, with a king size bed, beautiful double bathroom and insane views of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
During my hotel tour, the manager gave me a quick tour of some of the other rooms within the hotel. One of which was the Lorenzo IL Magnifico Suite, which quite frankly was breathtaking, and still contains some of the hotel's original architecture and artwork. One of the benefits of being a World of Hyatt Globalist is you are able to get free room upgrades when available; which is how I was upgraded to a junior suite. This really elevated my overall experience!
Hotel Amenities
The hotel has a range of amenities including the following:
Free wifi
Three on-site restaurants
Room service (Does have delivery fee attached)
Gym
All rooms are offered free water, coffee maker and kettle. And much much more.
They also have a quite special personal shopping experience. The hotel is Located on Via de Tornabuoni which is Florence's Luxury designer street, including the home of the original Gucci stores. They have a very special relationship with the luxury boutique and set up amazing shopping experiences for you.
RESTAURANTS
The hotel has four food & drink offerings available, all quite unique spaces!
IL Magnifico Cafè
Offering breakfast through to dinner, the cafe is a notable spot to enjoy an evening aperitivo with small bites complemented by expertly prepared cocktails and a complete champagne and wine list.
I visited them for lunch on my second day and the chef suggested I try the lobster ravioli, which I of course obliged! And it was good. I paired it with a glass of champagne and people watched for the rest of my afternoon.
IL Magnifico Restaurant
Is the hotel's main restaurant offering, where I ate the majority of my meals. They have a great food offering from breakfast to dinner, which is open to both hotel guests and locals.
As a Globalist member, I was lucky enough to receive complimentary breakfast each day which I ate at the restaurant.
Butterfly terrace
The Butterfly Terrace was by far my favourite space in the hotel, the views were incredible. And it has to be the best place to watch the sunset. Open Thursday - Sunday for a range of signature cocktails.
Lucie
The Lucie Restaurant located on the 5th floor also has a beautiful city view, and is stunningly designed. Currently they are only open for private parties.
Final Thoughts
Overall I really loved my experience at IL Tornabuoni, the hotel itself is stunning, but what really made it for me was the service. Great service can really magnify your overall experience and is what keeps me loyal to book with particular brands. From the moment I arrived I was given an upgrade to a suite, early check-in and late check-out, making my experiences effortless, and this was all due to the benefits of being a Globalist with World of Hyatt .
The hotel arranged a beautiful sunrise hot air balloon experience for us which really took our marrakech visit to the next level. We left the hotel at around 6am to drive 30 minutes to the take off spot. Taking off as the sunrise to views of the atlas mountains and marrakech was a once in a lifetime experience.
