I Borghi dell'Eremo

If you’ve got some facility with the Italian language you’ll have recognized that I Borghi dell’Eremo is plural. This is not a single farmhouse hotel, but three distinct “villages,” each one serving a different purpose for guests, but all constructed in a similar contemporary-classic style — and all with the same stunning views of the countryside on the border between Tuscany and Umbria.

Some spaces serve primarily as events venues, for a picturesque wedding or an unusually evocative conference — interior halls, exterior gardens, and lawns surrounded by woodlands or distant hillsides. For hotel guests, however, the “village” of San Giovanni is the heart of the estate, home to its 15 rooms and suites as well as Essenza, the restaurant.

The bedrooms are beautiful modern examples of traditional farmhouse rooms, complete with antique features like timbered ceilings and stone walls. The suites begin to add lavish features like jacuzzis, rolltop tubs, and four-poster beds. And the Presidential Suite occupies the first floor of a building that was home to a 12th-century abbey, and now contains its own private spa.

Meanwhile the hotel’s main spa is also a private affair, set on a hilltop all by itself — you’ll book the whole thing for the duration of your treatment. And the restaurant, Essenza, ties it all together with an artfully composed, painstakingly locally sourced gastronomic menu.