25hours Hotel Piazza San Paolino

The 25hours hotels, known for their cheerful quirkiness, most often turn up in the sort of Northern European cities that are, for all their charms, perhaps a bit less visually rich than Florence. The brand’s signature irreverence is unusual for Italy, to be sure, but variety, in accommodations as in all things, is at least one of life’s essential spices — and while some prefer Tuscany at its most self-serious, many others will find the 25hours Hotel Piazza San Paolino to be just the thing for the city of Dante.

This 25hours hotel is, in fact, a tribute to the Divine Comedy, and not in a particularly subtle way; each of the rooms belongs either to Paradiso or Inferno, the former suitably white-on-white and the latter in rakish red and black. And while the Medium rooms are just as described, so are the Extra Large and Gigantic; and the Casetta del Giardino is luxurious indeed, a cottage in its own garden with a terrace and a private pool.

For all that, the location is quite central, just on the western edge of the compact historical center. You’ll want to make time to explore, naturally, but the hotel makes a compelling case for dining (and drinking) in: from the Companion Bar and the Alimentari bakery and café to San Paolino, the restaurant, set in the hotel’s glass-roofed courtyard.