Soprarno Suites Florence

SoprArno Suites is a boutique bed and breakfast with 13 individually-designed rooms tucked away in the centre of Florence’s coolest Oltrarno area, just minutes from the Ponte Vecchio and Pitti Palace.

The team of architect Francesco Maestrelli, city natives Matteo Perduca and Betty Soldi have filled each space with their unique style of eclectic antique and salvaged furniture and bespoke works of art all especially sourced and crafted.

Original ceiling frescoes and in-room bathtubs are a few of the subtle nods to Italianate style in a charming haven filled with personality and personal touches.

Spread over three floors, the rooms overlook a peaceful internal courtyard or look out onto the majestic Via Maggio and the oversize sketches of the decorated buildings across the way. When SoprArno interiors combine original Florentine features—frescoed ceilings and wooden rafters—with modern pieces like Arco lamps, artistic touches are sure to abound.

The team of an architect, a lawyer with a passion for vintage furniture, a carpenter and a designer/calligrapher have together created a “residenza d’epoca” where each room has been completely restored and furnished with unique objects, original pieces of furniture and works of art individually selected for each single space. An atmosphere of comfort and warmth, and a distinct sense of belonging permeates the air at SoprArno.

ROOMS & SUITES
Every room at SoprArno has a different look and feel, each one is personalised in its own way for a quirky and individual experience. The 13 rooms vary in décor, size and views from the windows – seven open up onto an internal courtyard, six look onto the majestic Via Maggio.

All rooms are stocked with a kettle and espresso machine, HD TV, free wi–fi, slippers and C.O. Bigelow bath products. Some suites have a freestanding bathtub in the bedroom as well as a shower in the bathroom.

KING ROOM WITH BALCONY 
Our King double room suite has a separate living area, desk space and unique exterior balcony overlooking the Florentine rooftops. It is furnished in an eclectic way with antique pieces of Italian design, bespoke works of art and unexpected contemporary touches.

Super king size 2x2m bed, air conditioning, mini-fridge, safe, hair dryer, C.O. Bigelow amenities, slippers and bathrobes, espresso machine, kettle, television with satellite connection and wi-fi. There is a free-standing bathtub as well as a shower in the bathroom.

DELUXE ROOM
Our Deluxe double rooms are furnished in different styles ranging from iconic pieces of Italian design, eclectic works of art and unexpected contemporary touches.

Super king size 2x2m bed, air conditioning, mini-fridge, safe, hair dryer, C.O. Bigelow amenities, slippers and bathrobes, espresso machine, kettle, television with satellite and wi-fi. Some rooms have frescoed ceilings, wooden or terracotta floors and a free-standing bathtub as well as a shower in the bathroom.

SUPERIOR ROOM
Our Superior double rooms are eclectic alcoves furnished in different styles – from the ‘Paper Room’ collaboration with Edition Poshette and an ACM Design haven; to a playfully quirky ‘Games’ room.

Super king size 2x2m bed, air conditioning, mini-fridge, safe, hair dryer, C.O. Bigelow amenities, slippers, espresso machine, kettle, television with satellite and wi-fi. Some rooms have frescoed ceilings, wooden or terracotta floors and a free-standing bathtub as well as a shower in the bathroom.

DISCOVER FLORENCE
Florence is best known for its incredible history, art and architecture you can breathe in at every street corner, and also for endless summertime aperitivi gazing at the sun slowly sinking into the silver Arno river after a long day of queuing to see magnificent museums or searching for some shade along the walls of a church, aching for some respite from the multitude of tourists.

There is beauty in those months of endless light and fun, but Florence in winter can be just as wondrous and perhaps even more unexpectedly magical.

FLORENCE ARTISAN SHOPPING WALK 
Today we want to take you to discover the more authentic soul of Florence: the one linked to its artisan shops and to the discovery of the Oltrarno district. A Florence that is not only Giotto and Michelangelo, which does not stop at the Uffizi or Palazzo Vecchio, but which offers a new, genuine, contemporary face.

Strolling between art and crafts in a real, pulsating city, a union between the artists who shaped the city in the past and the artisans who continue to create beauty today. Florence, the great inspiring muse of the geniuses of yesterday, is today the breeding-ground of artisans who are custodians of Italian know-how, of our country’s mastery in creating excellence.

The art of tannery and leather binding certainly stands out at the heart of great Florentine craftsmanship: artifacts characterized by meticulous hand production, the quality of the materials and the refinement of the design. The goldsmith’s art is another of the pearls of local craftsmanship and plays a very important role together with artistic prints.

The walk through the streets of Florence Oltrarno thus offers a pathway through the artistic, architectural and cultural heritage of the city combined with today’s art, alive and imbued with the beauty of craftsmanship.

Between Ponte Santa Trinità and Ponte Vecchio, the great stars are the goldsmiths shops holding the secrets and techniques of the art of jewelry.

The craft shops of the Florentine Oltrarno represent the soul of popular Florence. Peering through the shop windows, we can find the craftsmen at work and hear the noises of the tools that shape glass, metal, paper and wood to create unique objects. From Borgo San Jacopo, we can visit numerous shops, between the districts of Santo Spirito and San Frediano.

Our Boutique B&B Soprarno Suites is located in the heart of the Santo Spirito district not far from Ponte Vecchio. If you are looking for an elegant B&B in the center of Florence, Soprarno Suite is the ideal solution. An intimate residence, a reference point for travelers looking for an elegant retreat in Florence.

The world of art prints catapults us into a genuine center for investigating the ancient art of engraving. Using the etching technique, i.e. the print obtained from a metal matrix engraved using an acid solution, original graphic works with a certificate of authenticity are created.

Florentine artistic binding is still held in great esteem today, where everything is worked by hand, with shears, cutter, press and clamp, for art bindings, ornaments for furniture, books and prints and restoration of old prints and books.

The manual inlay of wood follows the same approach of “wise and valued production” as the glass art that is inspired by the practices of the past, integrating innovation and refinement.

In the heart of the Florentine Oltrarno, you can also witness age-old glass blowing in some shops that have been in business since the end of the nineteenth century. Here, tableware and items for interior decoration are produced and glass and crystal objects are restored.

A Florence which is new to many but equally precious, a vibrant city, a city that is still offering works of art today and continues to be the home and hotbed of artists and lovers of beauty.

Between the Duomo and Giotto’s Bell Tower, between the Loggia dei Lanzi and Piazza della Signoria, we will find ourselves marveling at what the city offers today: contemporary manual expertise that originates in the traditions of the past but continues to reinvent itself every day.

PALAZZO PITTI
Florence is certainly one of the best known cities in the world. Every year, millions of people visit the “cradle of the Renaissance”, admiring the leading museums in the city, strolling through its streets and getting lost among monuments, churches, palaces and places of interest.

Florence has so much to offer in all seasons of the year, and even in autumn or winter, it is a perfect destination. To fully enjoy its beauty, you need to organize your itinerary well and choose the places to visit.

Crossing the Ponte Vecchio, in the Oltrarno area, we reach Palazzo Pitti: one of the major Florentine attractions. Inside, there are several museums, including the Palatine Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Boboli Gardens.

Like many places in Florence, Palazzo Pitti is a treasure trove of beauty and awe, which will offer new impressions and wonders on every visit. Palazzo pitti is located in the Oltrarno area where the artisan shops of Florence are located, which we recommend you visit.

This huge palace is one of the greatest architectural examples in Florence: it was originally built by the Pitti family in 1457 based on a design by Filippo Brunelleschi.

In 1549, it was sold to the Medici, thus becoming the family residence and a symbol of the consolidated power of the Medici over Tuscany. In 1565, Vasari built the famous Vasari Corridor to connect Palazzo Pitti with Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi.

It then became the Palace of two other dynasties, that of the Habsburg-Lorraine (successors of the Medici from 1737) and the Savoy, who lived there as royals of Italy from 1865.

Today, Palazzo Pitti hosts some of the most important museums in Florence: on the first floor, there is the Palatine Gallery with a large collection of 16th and 17th century paintings and the Royal Apartments with period furnishings dating back to the 19th century.

On the ground floor, and on the mezzanine floor, there is the Treasury of the Grand Dukes (known as the Silver Museum), which houses the large collection of precious objects that belonged to the Medici.

The Gallery of Modern Art is located on the top floor and houses a wonderful collection of paintings, including Tuscan painters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the Palazzina del Cavaliere, detached from the palace and nestled in the Boboli Gardens, lies the Porcelain Museum.

The Palazzina della Meridiana houses the Museum of Fashion and Costume (known as the Costume Gallery), which contains clothes and fashion artifacts retracing the history of the last 300 years.

Definitely worth seeing is Raphael’s La Velata, an oil painting on canvas by Raphael (Raffello Sanzio), datable to 1516. The veil was placed on the hair of a woman who was therefore married, a woman whose identity remains uncertain.

According to Giorgio Vasari, however, it was probably the portrait of the woman loved by Raphael until his death, Margherita Luti known as la Fornarina. Painted by Raphael after he moved from Florence to Rome, the painting is one of the peaks of the Urbino master’s portraiture.

Palazzo Pitti is located in the Oltrarno area, a short distance from Ponte Vecchio. The Oltrarno district is one of the most authentic in Florence where you can find the genuine shops and craft workshops in the city, stroll among the restaurants and trendy clubs.

Choosing a hotel or an elegant bed and breakfast near Palazzo Pitti, such as Soprarno Suites Boutique B&B, means combining the convenience of very central accommodation with timeless class and elegance, to give you the ultimate comfortable experience.

THE BOBOLI GARDEN
We also advise you to take some time to visit the Boboli Gardens: created as the Grand Ducal garden of Palazzo Pitti, it welcomes over 800,000 visitors every year, and is one of the most important examples of an Italian garden in the world, a real open-air museum, on account of its architectural-scenic setting and the collection of sculptures ranging from Roman antiquities to the twentieth century.

In the gardens, there are gravel paths leading to ponds, fountains, nymphaeums, temples and caves: the importance of the statues and buildings in the garden, such as the eighteenth-century Kafeehaus (a rare example of Rococo style in Tuscany), is noteworthy and allows you to enjoy the view over the city, or the Limonaia, still in its original color.

The gardens as a whole have a somewhat elongated triangular configuration, with steep slopes and two almost perpendicular axes that cross near the Fountain of Neptune that stands out against the panorama.

Part of the garden is dedicated to the collection of Camellias, begun in the seventeenth century and which today, thanks to the work of the gardeners, has been partially salvaged after a period of decline.

Rooms: 13

Price: from 143 EUR per night

Source: www.soprarnosuites.com