Gallery Hotel Art

Don't be put off by the concrete exterior, which unlike most Florentine buildings is contemporary, and of no architectural distinction. It's the stuff inside this Salvatore Ferragamo hotel that's the key. High couture meets maximum efficiency. Art meets the commercial world of the hospitality industry. Occidental and Oriental schools of minimalism collide. And if this sounds a little familiar, remember this isn't London, it's Florence, where boutique hotels are virtually nonexistent.

Situated as it is in a tiny alleyway off the Lungarno Acciaioli, the Gallery Hotel Art, despite its unbelievably central location, is strangely quiet. Colors are quiet, too — white, beige, buttermilk, brown and light gray, with the occasional touch of turquoise glass. But it's not just peaceful. It's practical and conceptual too. In architect Michele Bonan's spaces, art, culture, and public function coexist. The lobby, which doubles as a exhibition space for contemporary art, is for both check-in and contemplation. It is not, however, a lobby for lounging. The benches here are the museum variety -- for scrutinizing artworks, buddy, not for resting your tired tourist feet. Resting is achieved more efficiently in the lounge/library, with its parquet floor and taupe velvet sofas. But though it's cozy here, there are 400 books—everything from cinema histories to Victorian novels—with which to engage your mind. The only real place to let loose is at the Fusion bar, where you can help yourself to sushi with the pretty Florentine clientele.

Bedrooms are cheerful, spare, efficient, and on the small side — apparently public spaces at this hotel have prerogative over the private. The best spot in the house, however, is the penthouse suite terrace, with its fabulous view of the Palazzo Vecchio. In the end, ironically, the most beautiful thing about this designer space is what lies outside of it. And though the hotel advertises itself for people in search of the atypical Florence experience (“Michelangelo can wait,” says its brochure), the city is too enthralling to make you want to linger long within unconventional hotel walls. Fortunately, since you're a minute away from the Ponte Vecchio, the best of this medieval city is just on your doorstep.