The 20 Best Hotels in Italy: 2023 Readers’ Choice Awards
Now in its 36th iteration, our annual Readers’ Choice Awards continues to capture the travel experiences our readers love best, from the best hotels in the world to the top airlines, cruises, islands, and luggage. This year, you traveled farther and deeper; seeking out remote properties; sailing on smaller, more intimate ships; and prioritizing destinations you’ve been waiting years to visit. At least that’s what a staggering 526,518 of you told us in our annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey. Now, you can use the results to decide where you’re going next. 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.
Courtesy Belmond Hotel Splendidohotel20. Splendido Mare , A Belmond Hotel, Portofino
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Gold List 2018, 2020, 2022 
Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023The 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 Le Sirenusehotel19. Le Sirenuse
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2019 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023A 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.
Mandarin Orientalhotel18. Mandarin Oriental, Lago di Como
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Hot List 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2020, 2021, 2023A stay here is all about cultured ease and the kind of sublime Italian landscapes associated with grand tour oil paintings, rather than the selfie-mad scene of Puglia or the Amalfi Coast. Mandarin Oriental Lago di Como, the Asia-based group’s first European country retreat, is a renovation of an 18th-century opera singer’s lakeside estate, with immaculately tended gardens and a pool that seems to float on the surface of the lake. But it puts a spin on the old-school formula with classy mod-Med restaurant L’Aria under the guidance of Southern Italian chef Vincenzo Guarino and interiors by American designer Eric Egan that preserve as much as possible of the theatrical neoclassical atmosphere, while giving it a subtle Far Eastern twist. The main building, Villa Roccabruna—which contains reception, CO.MO Bar & Bistrot, Sala Mandarin lounge, and a lovely little basement spa—is the hotel’s opulent core. It also houses 10 suites; the other 63 rooms are spread around eight additional buildings on the shore-hugging property. Much is brand new, yet the greatest compliment one can pay this hotel is to say that it feels like it’s always been here, down to barman Luca De Filippis’s French 75 variation, made with local gin and linden honey.
hotel17. Grand Hotel Miramare
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023A 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.
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Courtesy Belmondhotel16. Villa Sant'Andrea, A Belmond Hotel, Taormina Mare
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023Currently closed for the season through March of 2024—springtime in Taormina being well worth the wait, our readers agree—this Belmond entry is lauded in large part for its sublime location and the views afforded as a result. The villa was originally built in 1919 by a family of aristocrats to serve as their private retreat, and the intimacy of such a setting fabulously survived the property's transformation into a hotel come the 1950s. There are, of course, modern splashes: a complimentary shuttle brings guests into Taormina proper in around 15 minutes, with a similarly free-with-admission, White Lotus-style boat excursion during the summer months. Onsite dining restaurant Brizza, which can accommodate just 12 guests at a time, gets special mentions from our readers, with one writing wistfully, “A dinner at Brizza, barefoot...”
Courtesy Borgo Egnazia/Nicola Ciprianihotel15. Borgo Egnazia
$$ | Gold List 2018, 2019, 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023Celebrities (Madonna, the Beckhams) keep delightful Puglian resort Borgo Egnazia in the news. The heart of this hotel, however, lies not in the private villas where they hide away, but in the pretty piazzas of Il Borgo and La Corte. It's all dreamily beautiful, the way the harsh Mediterranean sun hits the mellow tufu limestone from which the buildings have been honed, the shock of bougainvillea that has crept up every wall, the softness, the shadows, the dusky lanes between the hotel rooms. Rooms are soaring and elegant, cool stone underfoot, mini posies of dried lavender on shelves, huge linen cushions, and sun-trap terraces. They are retreats in themselves, some with their own little kitchens, others with swimming pools, or sea views from the rooftops. The restaurants are smart, with traditional Italian splatterware plates and bowls, and food made straight from the fields you see around you: broccoli, tomatoes, eggplants, pasta made with the local semolina flour, very good olive oil. There is the sweetest children’s club you’ll ever stumble across, and a supremely cool beach hangout, and a spa that is mesmerizing and magical. At night the entire place is lit by citronella lanterns, smoking into the warm air. Sometimes a bonfire crackles in the central square. A deeply special place.
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Courtesy Grand Hotel Tremezzohotel14. Grand Hotel Tremezzo
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2020, 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023This glam Art Nouveau retreat on Lake Como epitomizes Italian excess in all the right ways: exquisite parquet floors in the breezy open foyer, oil paintings of Botticelli-esque beauties in the intimate T Bar, and tufted, gem-colored sofas in the sitting room. The rooms are no less ornate—baroque buffs will appreciate the gilded bed frames and mirrors, along with the high ceilings, floor-sweeping curtains, and wall sconces. There’s a pool plunked directly in the lake, embedded neatly like a sapphire, that’s worth dipping into once you’ve had a treatment at the T Spa. At the main restaurant, La Terrazza Gualtiero Marchesi, the view is the main draw. The on-site trattoria, L’Escale, is another fine choice for dinner. During the day, take Ruy or Batt, the hotel’s slender mahogany water limousines, for a spin around Lake Como, or a jaunt up the coast to the historic, azalea-shrouded Villa Carlotta for a day of exploring.
Courtesy Belmondhotel13. Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel
$$$ | Gold List 2018 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023The 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.
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Courtesy Villa d’Estehotel12. Villa d’Este
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023Beautiful Lake Como is surrounded by the Alps, and the villas along the shoreline are amazing feats of architecture. You can take a boat trip around the lake to learn about the history of the estates, which belong to the likes of the Heinz family, Versace, and, of course, George and Amal Clooney. If you don’t have your own megamansion, Villa d’Este is the place to stay: It’s a classic hotel with 25 acres of gardens that are absolutely immaculate, and it’s so treasured in Italy that it was declared a World Heritage Site. A favorite feature is the hotel's pool, which sits on a platform in the lake and is a major place for Italians (and Hollywood heavyweights) to see and be seen.
Courtesy Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoriahotel11. Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023Three 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.
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SARAMAGNI/Il Serenohotel10. Il Sereno
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2024 Hot List 2017 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023When it launched a few years ago in Torno, Il Sereno, Lago di Como caused a sensation. It was the first hotel in the area of Lake Como to be designed by a world-renowned architect—and Patricia Urquiola, the Spanish starchitect and a longtime resident of Milan, did a fabulous job. The hotel blends into its surroundings thanks to the “light” building, with its many windows awash with sunlight reflected by the lake. The garden, with around 183 varieties of plants, creates a gorgeous floral landscape that syncs up with the environment. Even the Brazilian quartzite heated infinity pool and the ashwood deck become one with the lake in a continuous line: harmony. From inside the hotel you can often glimpse the waters of the Lario, the other name by which Lake Como is known, an iconic part of Italian culture and the backdrop of Alessandro Manzoni’s 19th-century novel The Betrothed, where star-crossed lovers Renzo and Lucia manage to finally reunite and get married. Il Sereno’s lobby is elegant, soft, and welcoming, filled with the best of Italian design—furniture by Cassina, Moroso, B&B Italia—as are the 40 rooms, all with a view, and the exquisite vertical garden by Patrick Blanc. The delicious and simple (albeit Michelin-starred) food is courtesy of Raffaele Lenzi and features local freshwater fish and vegetables, served alongside sensational cocktails (even the alcohol-free ones). As if so much contemporary beauty were not enough, there’s still the wooden motorboat, a beautiful Riva, ready to take you around the lake or to Villa Pliniana, a 16th-century palace with another 17 bedrooms—a perfect setting for listening to the music of the villa’s beautiful grand piano while gazing upon the waters of Lago di Como. From $815. —Maddalena Fossati
Luigi Rotahotel9. Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023The only luxury hotel in the picturesque town of Bellagio, this Neoclassical grande dame combines the graces of a gilded past and the easy warmth of a family-run business—and has welcomed generations of distinguished guests since 1873. Serbelloni ticks all the boxes for what you might expect of a patinated palazzo on Lake Como: grand marble staircases, giant crystal chandeliers, a mix of Louis XVI and Art Nouveau furniture, and ornate frescoed ceilings. And the guests, a broad cross-section of international travelers, soak it in: They linger in front of the fireplace in its opulent grand salon; tread softly through vast, unoccupied rooms filled with period pieces, and tuck themselves into the wooded American Bar for a nightcap or two. For a reprieve from all that antiquity, there's always the palm-fringed lakeside pool and the garden with its subtropical plants and manicured hedges, which offer the perfect counterpoint—and imposing views.
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Alessandra Farinellihotel8. Caesar Augustus
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023High and mighty, 1,000 feet above the Bay of Naples, a stunning location, this former Russian prince’s mansion has amazing views from anywhere on its well-maintained, and hand-in-hand grounds begging for a romantic stroll. It’s also a five-minute walk from Anacapri’s town center, where shops sell local pottery, made-to-measure sandals, and Capri’s limoncello liqueur, using the island’s lemons. All rooms have down duvets, linen sheets, marble bathrooms with double sinks, and private balconies, but for a sense of grandeur, get one of the five specialty suites—the Caesar has arches, columns, and a bust of Augustus himself. The bi-level infinity pool seems to drop into the sea. What a stunning sight.
hotel7. Il Falconiere
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2023Originally just a restaurant, this Tuscan property, owned by the same family since 1860, has since expanded to offer guest rooms. Located "just outside Cortona," a town with Etruscan archaeological sites, the property comprises a seventeenth-century villa surrounded by vineyards and converted farmhouses. Rooms overlooking the vineyards and olive groves are individually decorated with antiques and modern and traditional textiles. The "wonderful property" also includes a winery and spa housed within a walled garden—treatments utilize olive oil, grapes, and wine. Enjoy "fine food and service" at the restaurant, which offers Tuscan cuisine and cooking classes.
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Courtesy Park Hyatthotel6. Park Hyatt Milan
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2021, 2023Dating to the 1870s, this former bank headquarters is "in a spot that can’t be beat," facing Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II—a location that snags a perfect score. The "ultra comfortable and stylish design" includes a glass cupola lounge with a giant sculpture of Medusa’s head, and rooms in apricot and beige with high ceilings and marble inlay. "The attentive staff are just perfect." Finished in pastel Venetian stucco, the spa has a whirlpool wall made of glass and a 250,000-piece mosaic with gold leaf. Dine on seasonal Italian at the Park Bar. "This is the best Hyatt property I’ve ever stayed at."
Courtesy Il San Pietro di Positanohotel5. Il San Pietro di Positano
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023A 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.
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Tyson Sadlo/Courtesy Belmond Hotel Carusohotel4. Caruso, A Belmond Hotel, Amalfi Coast
$$$ | Gold List 2019, 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023People talk about old classics, but this one has roots dating back to the 11th century. Shipwrecked en route to Constantinople, a wealthy Italian family built the foundations of the Caruso on a limestone bluff above Ravello, a symbol of their power and good fortune to have escaped unharmed. And here, their high eyrie remained, withstanding the wars of the Middle Ages, neglected, repaired, neglected again, until 1893 when Pantaleone Caruso stepped in and turned it into a hotel. Belmond (then Orient-Express hotels) took over in 2000 and began a serious restoration: art historians were shipped in to unearth the building’s Arcadian frescos, and archaeologists arrived to uncover the original medieval foundations. Today, Old Masters hang in the marble corridors and the 50 bedrooms have been brought up-to-date, but not charm-crushingly modernized. They retain their original vaulted ceilings, stone fireplaces and terra cotta tiles, and have bathrooms stashed with bottles of Penhaligon’s. It has just opened Villa Margherita too, a two-bedroom retreat deep in the heady gardens. Guests feast on lunches of lobster, langoustine, and truffles, or head down to the water to explore the craggy coastline on the hotel’s pretty wooden boat. It’s a place synonymous with seclusion, with its lemon-scented air and hanging gardens spilling down onto the Tyrrhenian Sea, stony nooks, and quiet spots to sit and take in the dizzying views. And romance: it is said to be where Jackie Kennedy and Gianni Agnelli began their affair, where Humphrey Bogart, Greta Garbo, and Virginia Woolf came to hide out. A truly brightening, timeless place.
Courtesy Hotel Il Pellicanohotel3. Hotel Il Pellicano
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2019 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023The 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.
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Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotelhotel2. Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2022, 2023A stay at this five-star hotel perched on a cliff’s edge on the Amalfi Coast may feel like a religious experience—and with very good reason. The property occupies a monastery with parts that date back to 1212, and it was home to the Capuchin monks from 1583 to 1826, before the complex was converted into a hotel. During those early days, it was a favorite stop for globetrotting travelers on their Grand Tour of Europe, and over the years, it has housed the likes of Victor Hugo, Elizabeth Taylor, and Greta Garbo. Don’t expect monastic simplicity, though guest rooms do intentionally skew toward the comfortable and unfussy, with white linens and terra-cotta tiles. Chef Claudio Lanuto’s Dei Cappuccini Restaurant serves playfully reimagined Mediterranean dishes with equally sumptuous views out over the coastline, while the poolside La Locanda is the place to be for lunch in the sun. For an even more special event, the hotel is still home to a 13th-century cloister and a Catholic consecrated church—the perfect spot for a destination wedding with up to 70 of your closest friends and family members.
Martin Morrell/COMO Castello del Nerohotel1. COMO Castello del Nero
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2020, 2021, 2023Not your average Tuscan estate, this 12th-century castle wedged deep into the Chianti countryside 40 minutes south of Florence, is COMO’s first property in mainland Europe. And what a place: What used to be a flouncy Italianate hotel has been transformed into a thoroughly modern, city-sleek pad with brooding gray and putty-colored walls paired with eau-de-nil armchairs and the odd jade patio door. COMO’s highlights are its spas, of course, and this one doesn’t disappoint, with signature COMO Shambhala treatments, Guinot facials, and an outdoor pool in the summer season (when there’s also outdoor yoga, overlooking the rolling hills). At Michelin-starred restaurant La Torre, executive chef Giovanni Luca Di Pirro works his magic on local ingredients; pre-game with an oil or wine tasting in the medieval wine cellars.
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