Villa Cora Florence

Villa Cora is located in a centuries-old park that overlooks the Boboli Gardens, on the hills just outside the historical center of Florence. The villa is an aristocratic residence built at the end of the XIX century upon commission by Baron Oppenheim reflecting the architectural styles of that period.

It is dominated by a strong eclectic decor that provides the villa with different, sometimes even bizarre, artistic styles. Villa Cora, inaugurated when Florence was the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, has become throughout the years one of the major cultural and cosmopolitan symbols of Florence.

Villa Cora earned its reputation by hosting international guests of great importance, such as Princess Eugenia, wife of Napoleon III, and the Russian composer Tchaikovsky. In addition, it has always been considered the most beautiful residence of the Tuscan capital.

Villa Cora became an exclusive grand hotel at the end of 1960 and reopened in late 2010 after a detailed three-year restoration. In 2016, Villa Cora becomes part of The Leading Hotels of the World, an international collection of luxury independent hotels.

The hotel has 44 accommodation in total, between rooms and suites, divided into the villa and two adjacent buildings, which were restored to the minutest of details with the aim of conserving the original architectural style as much as possible.

In the villa, there are 29 suites and rooms divided into 4 floors, each with its own style. The first, known as the “noble floor” is strongly characterized by its marvelous frescoes; the second is dedicated to the ex-empress Eugenia widow of Napoleon III and to the roses that were her favorite flower, while the third one is the floor dedicated to the Orient, in pure Moorish spirit.

Lastly, a pearl, the junior suite 401 inspired by the American fabulous ’50’s. Villino Eugenia is a small guesthouse overlooking the Boboli Gardens.

Each of the 14 different accommodations has been decorated and furnished according to the bourgeois styles of the late 19th century with ceilings representing rare and exotic subjects. The SPA is located inside the Villino Eugenia.

Lastly, La Follie, a small guesthouse located at the edge of the park that surrounds Villa Cora , has a particular charm and discretion with only 2 rooms, providing complete and total privacy.

ROOMS & SUITES
The Hotel offers every type of room: classic and deluxe, family, duplex junior suite and nine exclusive suites. Every detail was designed to create unique surroundings where luxury and elegance can combine harmoniously and the aesthetic taste is accompanied by high quality comfort.

Every room is equipped with king size or twin beds, air conditioning, flat or plasma satellite TV, electronic safe, cable and wireless internet connection, telephone with integrated answering machine, private bathroom and a mini bar with a fine selection of local products.

The bathrooms are made entirely in Carrara marble. They offer all the European comforts with either a bath or shower and have an exclusive assortment of courtesy beauty products by Maison Francis Kurkdjian.

IMPERIAL SUITE
This prestigious room is dedicated to the Japanese Emperor Akihito that sojourned in Villa Cora in 1982. The suite is located on the “Nobel Floor” and occupies the whole facade of the villa with a view of the city and of the internal garden.

The room also has a small balcony. The Imperial Suite boasts beautiful original frescoes made by Pietrasanta and Samoggia, on top of the inlaid wooden floor rests a majestic red velvet four-poster bed. The room is an openspace with a living room area with antique furniture.

The Imperial Suite also has a second bedroom that is frescoed as well, and has brilliant blue four-poster bed. In addition, it has two elegant bathrooms made with Carrara marble and furnished with exclusive beauty products.

SUITE
These rooms are inspired by the famous people who have stayed at Villa Cora, namely Tchaikovsky, Princess Eugenia, Grace Kelly and Madame Debussy.

The suites are located on the first floor, the “Noble Floor” and on the second floor known as “The Rose Floor”. All the rooms are elegantly furnished with four-poster beds, wooden floors and antique furniture.

The suites are composed by an ample bedroom, a separated living room with a sofa and a working zone. Each detail has been meticulously thought out to create a perfect harmony between elegance and comfort.

JUNIOR SUITE
The Junior Suites on the first floor, the Noble Floor, have original antique parquet floors and original frescoed ceilings with four-poster beds.

On the second floor Junior Suites are rose-themed boudoirs and the Junior Suite on the fourth floor is unique in style with violet velvet schemes, white and gold hand painted decors, three big windows overlooking the garden.

The one in Villino Eugenia has view over the pool and painted ceiling in pastel colors. All of them have view on our private garden and are composed by a bedroom with working area and en suite marble bathroom.

CLASSIC
The Classic rooms are located in the 3 buildings that composed the property: the Villa, the Villino Eugenia and Le Follie. Most of our Classic rooms offer view over our internal park and our pool.

Each room is original in its style, with rich decoration and unique antique furniture, to offer to its guests a warm and accommodating feel within a very prestigious location.

DINING & BAR
The kitchen from our restaurant offers a typical Tuscan cuisine reinterpreted in a more modern way by the Executice Chef Alessandro Liberatore, which uses only seasonal products, mainly locally selected.

The breakfast buffet includes a variety of bakery products, like cakes, croissants and breads, fresh fruit and juices, eggs prepared in different ways, assorted cheeses, smoked fish and meats. During the week, from Monday to Friday, there is also available a special menu for business lunches.

The restaurant is opened every day, to external guest too, with a cuisine which is very careful to possible intolerances and ready to recommends various options depending on different tastes and needs. The true luxury of our cuisine can be identified in the manic selection of excellence raw materials to bring to light the authentic flavors of Italian tradition.

RESTAURANT LE BISTROT
The Le Bistrot Restaurant offers a proposal based on ongoing research that consists of seasonal products only, sourced prevalently in this area and personally selected by Executive Chef Alessandro Liberatore.

In winter the Restaurant is located in the splendid Moresca Room, one of the most evocative and fascinating environments of this charming Villa with its oriental style and domed ceiling with original frescoes by Antonio Caremmi.

In summer it is set up outdoors in the winter garden by the side of the swimming pool, open from April to October, where guests can relax in an elegant yet informal environment, while admiring the beauty of the park.

BELLEVUE ROOF TERRACE
Located on hotel’s roof top, in the summer months, it hosts a sky bar with lounge area with leather couches and large pillows. The terrace, with a mesmerizing view of the city, offers a wide selection of cocktails and a fine selection of champagne.

LE BAR LONG
The Ceramics Room, once the dining room of the Baron Oppenheim, is now the location of the Hotel Bar, dominated by a long glass table with LED lighting that offers striking play of light on the original sideboards of the mid-1800s where we keep the best whiskey labels.

THE CIGAR ROOM
The well-supplied smoking room is in the basement of the Villa. Here you can taste carefully selected spirits and smoke valuable cigars from all over the world.

Wine tasting Guided by the expert maitre of the restaurant guests can experience different tasting: comparisons of various wineries from different parts of Tuscany as small virtual tours of the various territories; matching with tastings of local foods and multisensory listening to music or video projections to tickle all the senses.

THE BRUNCH
Waiting for the green light for our Brunch, we are glad to invite you for our Sunday at Le Bistrot. Autumn has arrived but the opportunities to enjoy a sunny day continue.

Every Sunday during the month of October we are waiting for you by the pool for a special lunch: a rich buffet of our most iconic appetizers and to follow our Executive Chef Alessandro Liberatore will serve a selection of first and second courses and delicious desserts at the table.

THE SPA & WELLNESS
The spa “Bené” is located on the lower floor of Villino Eugenia and is equipped with a small gym, tepidarium, sauna, hammam and three rooms.

The wellness center offers Asian and European massages as well as beauty treatments in collaboration with the beauty guru Sarah Chapman, the most appreciated and affirmed facialist in London, for skincare and with Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, founded in Florence in 1612, for body rituals.

Additionally , the center offers healthy restaurant menus in accordance with the programs.

OFFICINA PROFUMO FARMACEUTICA DI SANTA MARIA NOVELLA
Villa Cora announces an exclusive partnership with Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, Florence. As from next fall, Villa Cora, the exclusive city resort in Florence, will be using the products of the historical Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, founded in Florence in 1612, for its exclusive spa treatments.

The charm of the elegant Florentine residence perfectly matches the age-old tradition of one of the oldest pharmacies in the world and the knowledge of 13th century monks, creating an exclusive partnership in the name of luxury and mental-physical well-being.

The beauty treatments offered in partnership with Officina use exclusively natural, high-quality products and are inspired to a “Florentine quality”, which is the distinctive feature that is common to the history of both partners.

The Spa Manager Patrizia Gallo and the Spa’s highly-skilled professional staff are at the entire service of the Hotel guests, to deliver customized well-being experiences.The Santa Maria Novella treatments include four “signature treatments” with aromatic herbs, moisturising oils and pure essential oils:

IRIS RITUAL
A combination of body treatments that uses the exclusive “Dust of Iris” extracted from the iris that grows spontaneous on the Tuscan hills. The extract has a marvellous regenerating effect on skin. The treatment gives new life to skin and makes it younger and fresher with a long-lasting effect.

ROSE RITUAL
The treatment pays homage to Princess Eugenia, who used to live at the villa and was very fond of roses, which are still present in more than one hundred varieties in the garden that surrounds the villa.

This body moisturising ritual includes a delicate exfoliation followed by the application of regenerating creams and oils enriched with cabbage rose extract, with its renowned revitalizing properties.

GRAPE SEED RITUAL
Red wine has always been considered the nectar of eternal youth thanks to its high content of antioxidants and vitamins that contrast the ageing effects of external factors. This 2-step treatment includes an exfoliant that stimulates blood circulation and eliminates impurities, followed by a revitalizing massage.

OIL RITUAL
The biological extra virgin olive oil treatment is especially suited for dry or dehydrated skin and uses a selected “liquid gold” that comes from the Tuscan hills, applied and massaged by expert hands to improve the elasticity of skin, which will immediately look more tonic, compact and bright.

POOL & GARDEN
Villa Cora hosts a large outdoor pool, located in the Italian park in the shadow of majestic oak trees.

The pool water is heated all year round Peculiarity of the garden is the presence of more than 100 types of roses in soft pastel colors like white, pink and salmon, among the most precious varieties: British, French and ancient roses decorating the park between evergreen hedges.

With an area of over 900 square meters, the beautiful park is perfectly suited for outdoor events and ceremonies in a romantic atmosphere.

PLAN YOUR EVENT
Florence has many picturesque event spaces to choose from, however, none is more sought after than Villa Cora to host an exclusive party, special event or one-of-a-kind wedding celebration.

THE HALLS
The common areas, located in the attractive rooms on the ground floor of the main Villa, have been restored with full respect for the original items and offer different options for meeting and business lunches, events and presentations.

The Moresque Room is perfectly adapted to meetings and formal dinners, and can host up to 20 seated guests. The Mirror Room is the biggest and most majestic of our rooms, suitable for every type of event, thanks to the charm of the original Baroque decorations.

Musical evenings with live piano music enrich the offer of this beautiful place. The Mirror Room has a wide and elegant terrace that dominates the park and the hills leading toward the city.

Rooftop: On the top of the Villa there is a large and elegant terrace overlooking the park and the hills of Florence. Thanks to the breathtaking view of the city, the large panoramic terrace, extending over 150 square meters, is the ideal location for scenographic events at sunset.

THE MUSEUMS

• Galleria Dell’Accademia hosts Michelangelo’s masterpieces like the famous David and his legendary Four Prisoners.
• Uffizi Gallery host one of the most important collection of works by Botticelli, Caravaggio, da Vinci and Piero della Francesca.
• Pitti Palace the former residence of the Medici, contains a remarkable number of exhibitions.
• Bargello Museum that contains masterpieces of painting and sculpture.
• Palazzo Vecchio, is the town hall of Florence. Built between the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth.
• Bardini Museum: Oltrarno neighborhood, with more than 3,600 works, including paintings, sculptures, armor, musical instruments, pottery, coins, medals and antiques, of great artists, such as Donatello and Della Robbia
• Il Museo dell’Opera del Duomo di Firenze: The novelties are numerous and will make it one of the city’s most interesting museum experience for the scope of medieval sculpture and Early Renaissance and the uniqueness of the great “factory ” of the Cathedral in general. The Museum was founded in 1891 to house the works created for the interior and the exterior of the complex : the Cathedral, Bell Tower, the Baptistery .

THE CHURCHES

• Santa Maria del Fiore is the main church of Florence, or Il Duomo di Firenze, as it is ordinarily called Italy, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink.
• Chiesa di Santa Croce, holding the tombs of Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo.
• The Basilica of San Miniato al Monte, built in the 11th century, offering the most splendid views of Florence.
• The Basilica di Santo Spirito, one of the main churches in Florence, situated in the district of Oltrarno.
• Santa Maria Novella, one of the most important cathedrals of Florence, with its marble facade of the Florentine Renaissance.
• Orsanmichele, a loggia was originally built for the market of the “grain” and later transformed into a church of Arts.

THE SHOPPING

• Via de’ Tornabuoni and Via Strozzi are the shopping district area with all the Italian designers, like Armani, Bulgari, Cavalli, Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo with his museum, Stefano Ricci, Cavalli, Prada, Emilio Pucci, Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Damiani, Rifle and more.
• Among the handicrafts , we recommend the famous Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella a luxury perfume brand, the Scuola del Cuoio leather school at the back of the great Santa Croce Church. Mannina it is today one of the oldest shoemakers in Florence still in existence. Il Papiro is a company which produces items in hand decorated paper with techniques inspired by the tradition of Tuscany.
• Only 30 minutes by car from Florence the Mall, is a luxury outlet center created to offer customers products of excellence at extremely advantageous prices.
• Other Outlet in half an hour from the hotel is to Barberino Design Outlet chain MCArthurGlen Group.

GOLF DELL’UGOLINO
A 30-minute drive from the Hotel, the private ​​Circolo privato del Golf dell’Ugolino 18 holes Considered one of the most suggestive natural golf course, it has been named among the 50 most beautiful golf course of the world.

COOKING CLASS
How to cook a perfect gourmet menu, highlight a particular product and discover the secrets of a great chef. Thanks to the cooking lesson with our executive chef Alessandro Liberatore you will learn to create in a few steps “haute cuisine” plates.

Following the class, you will taste the dishes prepared by yourself served in our beautiful restaurant. All participants, after class, will receive a certificate of participation from our chef and a cookbook of the dishes prepared during the lesson.

VESPA DRIVING TUSCANY TOUR
With the wind in your hair and miles of countryside at your disposal, the Italian dolce vita will come to life aboard a beautiful traditional Vespa scooter.

PHOTO TOUR
Accompanied by a professional photographer will be guided through the streets of Florence in search of hidden shots, and the most beautiful sights to photograph. (Half Day 4 hours). The tour includes an aperitif served on the terrace overlooking the city.

CHIANTI TUK TUK
Do not miss the opportunity to explore the Chianti region and its green hills! Give yourself a break away from the noisy and crowded city spending a relaxing afternoon surrounded by nature, sitting comfortably in the original Tuk Tuk ( Ape Calessino )!

The tour includes transfer from the hotel to the Chianti region. Visit the Chianti with the tuk tuk with stop in a wine cellar where a lunch with wine tasting will be served.

Rooms: 44

Price: from 313 EUR per night

Source: www.villacora.it