With an excited voice, the Italian actor Roberto Benigni quotes from Dante Alighieri’s “Commedia” as I walk down the hotel corridor to my room. Written in rhyme 800 years ago, the “Divine Comedy” is the literary classic of the Italian language and serves as the common thread for what is currently the youngest and cheekiest hotel in Florence.
When checking in at the reception in the 25hours Hotel Piazza San Paolo I had to decide: Inferno or Paradiso, these are the two extremely opposite room categories. For me, the choice was clear: in times of energy shortages, I should at least not freeze in hell. Let’s go.
“This hotel isn’t for everyone,” says General Manager Bart Spoorenberg himself. The Dutchman has already managed various five-star hotels as director in Italy, but with the 25hours Hotel he is really shaking up the conservative hotel market in Florence.
In the heart of the Medici city, the office of Genius Loci Architettura transformed a former ecclesiastical bank into a themed hotel right next to the half-ruining church of San Paolo. For this purpose, an outbuilding was demolished and replaced by a new building, in which most of the rooms are accommodated. The courtyard is covered with a glass vault.
The designer Paola Navone from Milan, who lived in Hong Kong for more than 20 years, has playfully designed the interior with her ethic style and downright staged the premises by referring to “Devina Commedia”.
The ensemble includes small figures and arrangements in the corridors with texts by the people from Dante’s epic, with which the room names are explained. Fire engine red is the dominant color in my Inferno room – apart from the gray duvet cover. Paola Navone even designed the wallpaper and carpets.
No, contrary to expectations, I was not overwhelmed by the color intensity of the room. I slept fine in hell. At night it was pitch dark in the room.
Take a look at the following hotel photo series:
– From brothel to hotel: This is what the most romantic hotel in the world looks like
– Sleeping 40 meters high: This crane is Amsterdam’s coolest hotel
– Gold taps on the alabaster bidet: That’s how luxurious the largest hotel suite in Europe is