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If you’re looking to escape for a long Easter weekend this year, Italy is always a great idea–especially Florence, where the dawn of spring marks an ideal time to visit the city before the summer crowds descend.

This year, Grand Hotel Minerva, one of the city’s chicest and most storied hotels, is offering a special Easter weekend package. With a minimum two-night stay in a suite or deluxe junior suite from March 31 through April 1, you’ll enjoy a delectable Easter lunch at the hotel restaurant, La Buona Novella, as well as a champagne welcome, daily à la carte in-room breakfast,early check-in and late checkout (subject to availability), housekeeping assistance for packing and unpacking, and complimentary ironing service. Those booking a suite will also receive a complimentary transfer to or from the Florence airport or railway station.

Nestled in a prime position in the heart of town and presiding over the elegant and historic Piazza Santa Maria Novella–named for the 14th-century basilica at the eastern corner of the square–the 97-room hotel is within walking distance of some of the city’s most iconic landmarks, including the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, and the Uffizi Gallery.

A few of the suites, including the Open Space Frescoed Suite, showcase the 13th-century building’s … [+] original frescoes.

Andrea Getuli

Beyond its enviable location, the Grand Hotel Minerva–part of Collezione EM, a family-owned Italian luxury hotel brand that most recently opened Violino d’Oro in Venice to worldwide acclaim late last year–boasts a fascinating past and impeccable pedigree. Housed in a 13th-century palazzo that was once home to the monks of Santa Maria Novella more than seven centuries ago, the hotel has hospitality roots that date back to 1848, when the building–which in the ensuing centuries had been home to several aristocratic Florentine families–was reborn as an inn for weary travelers. After becoming a full-fledged hotel in the early 1900s, its most esteemed incarnation began in 1958, thanks in large part to the Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa, one of the most influential talents of the 20th century in Europe. That year, “the Maestro,” as he was known, transformed the property into what would become an enduring symbol of Italian modernist architecture, while leaving the breathtaking frescoes and original hand-painted wooden beams found in a few of the hotel’s most dazzling suites as testament to the building’s remarkable past.

The walls of the striking breakfast room are covered with the work of Florentine conceptual artist … [+] and composer Giuseppe Chiari.

Grand Hotel Minerva

These days, the property’s singular elegance manifests from the moment you enter the lobby and hear the grand piano playing quietly in the background, while well-heeled guests sip negronis in leather-wrapped chairs and velvet sofas in the achingly elegant Bistrot Bar. Simultaneously a top-tier home-away-from-home and modernist museum, the hotel pays homage to Italy’s incomparable creativity at every turn: the works of Florentine conceptual artist and composer Giuseppe Chiari decorate the walls of the breakfast room, while a sculpture by Emilio Greco–widely regarded as one of the greatest Italian sculptors of the 20th century–enjoys pride of place in the lobby.

Beyond its rarefied decor, the hotel brims with creature comforts–like the heated rooftop pool, open seasonally from April to October and exclusively for hotel guests, offering jaw-dropping panoramic views over the city. A multimillion-dollar renovation in 2018, led by local architect Piera Tempesti Benelli, balanced the hotel’s myriad attributes and innovative design with the operational demands of a luxury property, preparing it for its next illustrious chapter.

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