Hotel Monteverdi Tuscany

"4* | 23 rooms | A gem Fun fact: where Wes Anderson wrote Grand Budapest Hotel in 2014 Castiglioncello del Trinoro, a medieval village perched on a hilltop in Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia, was all but abandoned after the Second World War. Decades later, a vacationing American attorney fell in love with the place and started snapping up property, later tapping the Rome-based architect Ilaria Miani to turn a collection of old houses into a luxury boutique hotel. Today, Monteverdi Tuscany is part of the village, with ancient cobblestoned streets leading between guest rooms, a stone-walled swimming pool set, beautiful gardens, a spa and wellness center, a library, a terrace bar, an art gallery with rotating exhibitions from contemporary artists, a culinary academy, and a 14th-century church used as a concert venue. After careful restorations, the rooms are charming and character-filled: rustic wood-beamed ceilings, heated floors, custom four-poster beds draped in hand-dyed Italian linens, hand-crafted furnishings, and modern bathrooms with rainfall showers and locally made bath products. Some suites have travertine soaking tubs and views over the vineyards below, and spacious village houses, with two to six bedrooms, come with generous common areas, well-equipped kitchens, and a private garden furnished for outdoor dining. Breakfast is served at Zita (designed by Foster + Partners), located right in the center of the village, and the surrounding labyrinth of streets is a pleasure to explore on foot before venturing into the UNESCO-protected countryside just down the hill."