The 20 Best Hotels in Italy: 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards
Now in its 35th year, our annual Readers’ Choice Awards continues to capture the travel experiences our readers love best, from hotels and airlines to cruises and islands. Plus: Odes to the properties that keep you coming back, meditations on beloved cities, and more.
The numbers prove what we already knew: Enthusiasm for travel has never been higher, as demonstrated by the nearly quarter of a million of you who filled out this year’s survey. From the top large U.S. city to the top international airline, this year’s list is a testament to the staying power of perennial favorites, through thick and thin. Consider it a primer on where to go next—and how to get there. Here are the best hotels in Italy outside three major cities (Rome, Florence, and Venice, which have their own winners), as voted by Traveler readers.
View our editors' picks for the top hotels in Rome here.
All listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you book something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Grand Hotel Fasanohotel20. Grand Hotel Fasano
Readers' Choice Awards 2022If this grand hotel on the shores of Lake Garda feels regal, that’s no coincidence: Before it started welcoming guests like Federico Fellini, Shirley Temple, and Gustav Klimt, this place was a hunting lodge, built for the Austrian royal family in 1888. And while you’re not too far from the snow-capped Dolomites, the umbrella-lined swimming pool and lush gardens, planted with palms and banana trees, could have you thinking you’re somewhere much farther south. During World War II, the property became a military hospital, before being requisitioned by the Germans and then the Americans and then the British, and while it sustained extensive damage, its neoclassical roots still shine through, in the form of original beechwood stairs and spruce ceilings; otherwise, the decor now skews decidedly more contemporary, with clean lines, sumptuous textiles, and a soothing palette of creams. Among the various dining options, the standout is Il Fagiano, helmed by Puglia-born chef Maurizio Bufi, who remixes Italian flavors in dishes like his signature squid with sweetbreads and cashews.
Courtesy Le Sirenusehotel19. Le Sirenuse
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Gold List 2018, 2019 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022A legend even along a coast full of legends, this classic hotel is more than the sum of its parts. The center was the aristocratic Sersale family’s summer villa in Positano. Four siblings opened the house to guests in 1951 with eight rooms and a large terrace facing the sea. Franco Sersale was responsible for a major expansion and refurbishment in the 1990s; he was not only a passionate art collector but also an inveterate world traveler and photographer. Present owners Antonio and Carla Sersale are also collectors, and each year invite an artist to make a site-specific piece, including Martin Creed, Stanley Whitney, and Matt Connors. Most bedrooms are not huge, but are lovely, with traditional tiled floors, antique chests, and balconies with tables and chairs overlooking the steep climb through the village down to the beach. La Sponda, the hotel's main restaurant, with its 400 candles and bougainvillea-strewn dining room, is one of the coast’s top dinner spots, as much for the atmosphere as for food.
Courtesy Masseria Torre Maizzahotel18. Masseria Torre Maizza, A Rocco Forte Hotel
Readers' Choice Awards 2020, 2021, 2022Puglia is famous for its masserie: ancient fortified farmhouses set a smidgeon back from the Adriatic coast, many now transformed into lush hotels. This one, in masseria-filled Fasano, between Bari and Brindisi, and on the waterfront below the pretty Valle d’Itria, has long been one of the best. But Rocco Forte’s 2019 revamp of the 16th- century property has taken things up a notch. The 28 rooms and 12 suites, designed by Olga Polizzi, take their lead from the olive grove out back—all pale green doorframes and more acid-toned furnishings for an upmarket take on rustic luxe. Outside is a vine-fronded pool, verdant, palm-studded grounds, and the hotel’s nine-hole golf course, melting into the flat coastal landscape. Set a little back from the sea, there are flashes of blue on property; better views (and stunning sunsets) from the rooftop Bougainvillea Bar; plus a private club on the public beach, a few minutes away and reached by hotel shuttle.
Courtesy Belmondhotel17. Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel
$$$ | Gold List 2018 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022The first hotel in Taormina, Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo still dazzles guests with views and history that have been here for more than a century. The hotel overlooks the terra-cotta rooftops of the medieval village and, beyond that, the coast toward Mount Etna. In the foreground, there are manicured gardens, unapologetically opulent guest rooms, and a wellness center with a focus on natural, organic products with healing local herbs and neroli oil. The Literary Terrace was frequented by the likes of D.H. Lawrence, Truman Capote, and Tennessee Williams, and inside, the 16-seat Otto Geleng restaurant holds a Michelin star.
Courtesy Il San Pietro di Positanohotel16. Il San Pietro di Positano
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022A tribute to the vision and folly of its creator, Il San Pietro di Positano burrows into a cliff, with an elevator plunging down to the beach via a shaft hacked out of rock. It’s the ultimate Amalfi Coast cocoon, made all the more attractive by delicious but not overly fancy seasonal food. It’s no mystery why the international glitterati have flocked here since the hotel's opening, in 1970—the village’s steep, narrow stone streets and breathtakingly beautiful blue waters really are the stuff of dreams (ours, anyway). The 56-room property, which sits on a sliver of prime cliff side real estate above the Bay of Positano, is a primitive Eden doused in fragrant flora and citrus trees. Exquisitely tiled rooms with bright linen accents and wide windows have perfect sea views, and quirky features like lamps with fanciful centaur designs and gilded coffee tables add a little bit of luxe. Some even have a private elevator and a Jacuzzi room. Ease into your day with a plate of succulent strawberries and a thimble of espresso, then take an elevator down to a private beach—or enlist a complimentary boat ride around the bay. Dinner at the Michelin-starred Zass is a strawberry crème-colored vision, and twice as delicious—Mediterranean specialties like lobster tagliatelle and truffle sauce-coated sea bass are served on pink tables, on a rock ledge high above the breaking waves.
Courtesy Belmond Hotel Splendidohotel15. Splendido Mare, A Belmond Hotel
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2020, 2022 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022The Splendido Mare, once a fishermen’s guesthouse, is the 14-room harborside sister of Belmond’s Splendido, a hillside hideout that started life as a Benedictine monastery before becoming a hotel in 1901, then a magnet for movie stars (Elizabeth Taylor had four honeymoons there). Its makeover, by in-demand Parisians Charlotte de Tonnac and Hugo Sauzay, is exquisite—local terra-cotta tiles and nautical nods, such as the knots woven into headboards in quietly lavish rooms, with Gio Ponti armchairs and rich Loro Piana fabrics. Everything is done subtly, almost unnoticeably, and there’s a deceptive simplicity to the cooking of brothers Enrico and Roberto Cerea. Their restaurant in Bergamo has three Michelin stars, but here they stick mostly to seafood and Ligurian classics, including a sublime pesto trofie. This is Portofino, after all, which is above all discreet—a place where the actors and the aperitivo-sipping locals don’t much bother one another.
Courtesy Grand Hotel Tremezzohotel14. Grand Hotel Tremezzo
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2020, 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022This glam Art Nouveau retreat on Lake Como epitomizes Italian excess in all the right ways: exquisite parquet floors in the breezy open foyer, oil paintings of Botticelli-esque beauties in the intimate T Bar, and tufted, gem-colored sofas in the sitting room. The rooms are no less ornate—baroque buffs will appreciate the gilded bed frames and mirrors, along with the high ceilings, floor-sweeping curtains, and wall sconces. There’s a pool plunked directly in the lake, embedded neatly like a sapphire, that’s worth dipping into once you’ve had a treatment at the T Spa. At the main restaurant, La Terrazza Gualtiero Marchesi, the view is the main draw. The on-site trattoria, L’Escale, is another fine choice for dinner. During the day, take Ruy or Batt, the hotel's slender mahogany water limousines, for a spin around Lake Como, or a jaunt up the coast to the historic, azalea-shrouded Villa Carlotta for a day of exploring.
Courtesy Mandarin Orientalhotel13. Mandarin Oriental, Milan
$$$ | Gold List 2018 
Hot List 2016 Readers' Choice Awards 2020, 2021, 2022This 70-room, 34-suite property opened in Milan down the street from the famed La Scala opera house in the summer of 2015 and is within walking distance of Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga for exclusive shopping binges. Highlights include a holistic spa with six private treatment rooms and indoor pool, the Seta restaurant focusing on Chef Antonio Guida’s native southern Italian cuisine which earned its first Michelin star only four months after opening (guests can watch him at work in a glassed-in kitchen or dine alfresco in a peaceful courtyard), and a hair salon helmed by celebrity stylist Massimo Serini. The Mandarin Bar has quickly become one of the hottest spots in town to see and be seen. Rooms are spread out among four beautiful restored 18th-century houses—the best being those that have access to oversized private terraces and a distinctive nod to 1940s interior design elegance created by designer Antonio Citterio.
hotel12. Galleria Vik Milano
Readers' Choice Awards 2022Milan’s glass-domed Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II might be Europe’s most stylish shopping arcade, connecting the Duomo with the Teatro alla Scala. As of 2019, this prime piece of real estate is also home to the first European outpost of South America’s Vik Retreats brand. Much as in their properties in Uruguay and Chile, art takes center stage here. Guests are greeted in the lobby by a recreation of Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker, who sits underneath a gold-leaf mural by artists Alex Folla and Elena Trailina that depicts Atlas holding up the sky. Each of the 89 rooms and suites is dedicated to a different artist, and their contemporary works add pops of color and texture to the spaces, which feature stucco Veneziano, exposed beams, marble, and parquet floors. The hotel is also home to the I Dodici Gatti Pizzeria, named for the dozen cats who live on the galleria’s roof, and Vik Pellico Otto, a recently opened restaurant that overlooks its famous bull mosaic. It’s not an exaggeration to say that you can see many of the city’s most iconic landmarks without ever stepping foot outside—or, if you book one of the room’s directly overlooking the arcade, without ever leaving your bed.
Luigi Rotahotel11. Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022One of the oldest and most elegant hotels on Lake Como, the neo-classical Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni has pampered guests since 1873. It welcomed aristocracy from around the world almost since the beginning. Then came the political titans (Churchill, Roosevelt, Kennedy) and celebrities (Mary Pickford, Clark Gable, and, later, Al Pacino). Everything is opulent. There are frescoes and paintings of mythological scenes, gilded frames, festoons, temples, putti, flamingos, and Pompeian reds. Then there are period wall coverings in French style, antique Persian carpets, crystal chandeliers from Murano, marble staircases, and trompe l'oeil. If it all starts to feel like too much, head out to the Italian-style gardens, where the uncluttered views of the blue water and soaring green mountains can’t be beat.
Courtesy Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & Spa/Maurice Naragonhotel10. Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & Spa
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022We all dream of a romantic, seaside Italian getaway and this one just might be it. The hotel occupies a restored 17th-century monastery just three miles from Amalfi. With 20 rooms, terraced gardens, clifftop Mediterranean views, and a pool that seems to float over the sea, you'll find yourself right at that point of enjoying the seclusion without feeling isolated. Stroll the four levels of terraced gardens, and don't miss the spa, which includes sauna and steam rooms, a hydro pool, and tepidarium. You can enjoy a martini with a side of chess at the library and bar before dining on local Campanian specialties at Il Refettorio, the Michelin-starred restaurant, where the charming servers are straight out of central casting. They still make sfogliatelle (sweet, shell-shaped, filled pastries) according to the nuns’ original recipe—a treat to savor with the sweet life on offer here.
Courtesy Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoriahotel9. Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022Three connected Victorian buildings above the Gulf of Naples, this 1834 family-owned property is lovely to return to after a day of sightseeing—to sit on the clifftop terrace and watch the lights come on over the bay. Rooms are designed in styles ranging from Pompeian to Victorian, with trompe l’oeil walls and parquet floors—not to mention verandas with views of Mount Vesuvius. Terrazza Bosquet serves gourmet dishes using ingredients from the hotel garden, but guests can always sip an elevated cocktail on Bar Vittoria’s terrace, overlooking the water. Or head to the Boutique Spa La Serra for a scrub or signature massage.
Courtesy Villa d’Estehotel8. Villa d’Este
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022Beautiful Lake Como is surrounded by the Alps, and the villas along the shoreline are amazing feats of architecture. You can take a boat trip around the lake to learn about the history of the estates, which belong to the likes of the Heinz family, Versace, and, of course, George and Amal Clooney. If you don’t have your own megamansion, Villa d’Este is the place to stay: It’s a classic hotel with 25 acres of gardens that are absolutely immaculate, and it’s so treasured in Italy that it was declared a World Heritage Site. A favorite feature is the hotel's pool, which sits on a platform in the lake and is a major place for Italians (and Hollywood heavyweights) to see and be seen.
Courtesy Hotel Il Pellicanohotel7. Hotel Il Pellicano
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2019 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022The story of this legendary escape began in 1965 when a British pilot and his American socialite wife built a large house above the sea near Porto Ercole and opened it up to guests. After it was bought by present owner Roberto Sciò in the 1970s, it became a magnet for international A-listers, and 50-plus years on, Il Pellicano is as alluring as ever. The 50 airy bedrooms, divided between the main villa and six cottages hidden among olives and cypresses, have polished terracotta floors and a color palette reflecting the surrounding land and seascapes. The retro yellow-and-white-striped beach towels are still laid out around the heated saltwater pool and along the famous bathing platform over the sea, but there’s a fresh feel to the place, too, with Fornasetti-inspired wallpaper, jazzy fabrics, a great spa, and a boutique selling super-chic Eres swimwear. Lazy lunches of octopus salad and chilled local Ansonica roll on into pre-dinner Pelican Martinis and suppers of risotto with pears and summer truffles on the candlelit terrace of the Michelin-starred restaurant. This is Tuscany’s most exceptional seaside retreat by miles.
Courtesy Dorchester Collectionhotel6. Hotel Principe di Savoia, Dorchester Collection
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022Opened in 1927 overlooking Milan’s Piazza della Repubblica, this imposing neoclassical landmark has always been a magnet for luminaries from the world of politics (the Prince of Monaco and King Edward VIII), industry (Henry Ford), and entertainment (Charlie Chaplin and Madonna). Guest rooms are stately, with lush textures like velvet, satin, and silk and signature Acqua di Parma toiletries, while heavy drapery blocks out the hustle and bustle of the thrumming fashion capital outside. Led by the young chef Alessandro Buffolino, the onsite Acanto Restaurant offers an elegant menu of updated Italian classics, served under Murano chandeliers; for a particularly glamorous meal, book the Tavolo Cristallo, a private dining room surrounded by a veil of Swarovski crystals.
Courtesy Starhotels Collezionehotel5. Grand Hotel Continental Siena - Starhotels Collezione
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2021, 2022Right in the heart of the city, next to Piazza del Campo, this may be Siena's best hotel. It's certainly one of its most luxe, occupying the 16th century Palazzo Gori Pannilini, a study in marble, vaulted ceilings, and opulent accents (note the frescoes throughout, and ornate gilded bed frames). Siena already attracts a fairly earnest traveler, but this is where a certain group goes to set itself apart from anyone who might be labeled a mere tourist. You'd be hard-pressed to go amiss with any of the 51 individually decorated rooms: All sport sumptuous fabrics, from the ornately patterned bedding to the draping window treatments—which reach decadently to the floor. The views of Siena are great throughout the hotel. The hotel sits amid the city’s medieval sandstone-paved streets, is located along the so-called Corso Senese, on via Banchi di Sopra—it's the main drag, lined with local shops and boutiques.
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Villa Igiea, a Rocco Forte Hotelhotel4. Villa Igiea, a Rocco Forte Hotel
$$$ | Gold List 2023 Hot List 2022 Readers' Choice Awards 2022This reborn former palatial resort likely feels every bit as glamorous now as it must have back when the wealthy Florio family owned it. Raw woods, loads of marble, Art Nouveau touches, plus sharp and comfortable rooms. The sweeping cocktail terrace may be one of the most special spaces in all of greater Palermo—at night, it comes alive with all the characters that this resort attracts. As a piano man tinkers in the corner, tables of Europeans switching effortlessly between languages and wearing outfits that seem intentionally packed for cocktail hour sip martinis and nibble olives. The scene is so bewitching, you feel as if you have truly stepped into a new world.
hotel3. NH Collection Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2022A stay at this five-star hotel perched on a cliff’s edge on the Amalfi Coast may feel like a religious experience—and with very good reason. The property occupies a monastery with parts that date back to 1212, and it was home to the Capuchin monks from 1583 to 1826, before the complex was converted into a hotel. During those early days, it was a favorite stop for globetrotting travelers on their Grand Tour of Europe, and over the years, it has housed the likes of Victor Hugo, Elizabeth Taylor, and Greta Garbo. Don’t expect monastic simplicity, though guest rooms do intentionally skew toward the comfortable and unfussy, with white linens and terracotta tiles. Chef Claudio Lanuto’s Dei Cappuccini Restaurant serves playfully reimagined Mediterranean dishes with equally sumptuous views out over the coastline, while the poolside La Locanda is the place to be for lunch in the sun. For an even more special event, the hotel is still home to a 13th-century cloister and a Catholic consecrated church—the perfect spot for a destination wedding with up to 70 of your closest friends and family members.
hotel2. Grand Hotel Miramare
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022A noble hospitality heritage meets guests’ contemporary needs and desires (and the occasional fantasy) at Grand Hotel Miramare, a luxury hotel in Santa Margherita Ligure a short way from Portofino and Cinque Terre. The Art Nouveau building gleams white in the sun amid century-old gardens. But for all of the grandeur, what most seduces are the intimate and almost down-home touches. Owner Andrea Fustinoni affectionately calls the hotel the Mira, which speaks to the feeling of being welcomed into a private residence. Each of the 36 deluxe rooms has a sea view, while the 26 superior rooms all have balconies or patios overlooking the hotel’s gardens as they rise toward the foothills of Mount Portofino.
Courtesy Sereno Hotelshotel1. Il Sereno
$$$ | Gold List 2018 Hot List 2017 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022Vacationing on Italy's most cinematic lake will never be the same, thanks to the 2016 opening of Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola’s Il Sereno, a sister hotel of the design-driven St. Barth original. This one stands out among the Lake Como grande dames with its 30 sleek, oversize suites, all with their own furnished terraces and unobstructed water views. Set along the lake in Torno, a one-church, one-restaurant village on Como’s south shore, Il Sereno honors its setting with regional stone, local walnut, and a living wall on the lake-facing façade. Inside, pieces from Urquiola’s collections for Italian companies share space with fabrics from Lombardy’s famed textile houses, all in the understated grays and blues of the lake. Though you'd be hard-pressed to find a bad angle in the hotel, one of its best can be found in the middle of the lobby, where a staircase made of walnut appears to float.
