Five-star Three MICHELIN Keys Hills north of the centre, Florence
Collegio alla Querce
A Barnabite boarding school on the hill above Florence, turned into 83 rooms and suites in 2025, with the Duomo in the windows and a shuttle down to the centre.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- Three Keys, 2026
- Rooms
- 83: 49 rooms and 34 suites
- Opened
- Spring 2025
- From the airport
- About 15 minutes from Peretola
The hotel
From villa to school to hotel.
The buildings began as a sixteenth-century country property; the oratory of Santa Maria della Querce, from 1520, is attributed to Michelangelo. Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo made the villa a country residence in 1774, and in 1868 the Barnabite fathers opened a boarding school here. Their scholar Timoteo Bertelli set up an observatory in 1870. The college closed in 2003 and stood empty for years.
Auberge Resorts Collection opened it as its first hotel in Italy in 2025. Esteva i Esteva led the restoration, ArchFlorence did the interiors and Francesca Watson brought back the terraced gardens. Frescoes and wooden ceilings survive; classrooms became suites, the canteen became La Gamella, and the headmaster's study is now Bar Bertelli, with portraits of the best pupils still on the wall.
- Aelia Spa Four treatment suites with Furtuna Skin, two with private steam showers, and an outdoor relaxation pool. Open all year.
- Above the city Terraced gardens on four levels, a seasonal pool and views down to the Duomo.
- Into town A free shuttle runs to Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, about fifteen minutes away.
Rooms & suites
Classrooms turned into suites.
Antiques from the region sit beside steel consoles and mid-century chairs, under the original ceilings.
- Rooms Guest rooms Forty-nine rooms in the old college buildings.
- Suites Suites and Grand Suites Twenty-eight suites and six Grand Suites, several made from former classrooms.
- Signature suite Residenza la Quercia 213 square metres, with two living rooms, two bathrooms, a butler's kitchen and a roof terrace with a hot tub.
Dining
Meals in the old canteen.
Venues as listed by the hotel. Shown for information.
- La Gamella Seasonal Italian In the former student canteen; breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Bar Bertelli Cocktails In the headmaster's old study
- Il Bosco Poolside dining Seasonal, from 1 May
- The Conservatorio Light dishes and pastries All-day lounge in the atrium
Recognition
In the guides.
- Three MICHELIN Keys 2026, new in the selection
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival Check-in from 4 pm, check-out by 11 am.
- Pets Accepted.
- Pool The outdoor pool is open from 15 April to 30 September; the spa is open all year.
- Parking Valet parking is available for a fee.
Getting there
Flying to Florence.
Florence Peretola is about fifteen minutes away by car, according to the hotel, and private jets land there too. Larger aircraft use Pisa or Bologna, each about an hour or more by road, our estimate.
- Nice 45 min
- Olbia 50 min
- Geneva 1 h 00
- Paris 1 h 30
- London 1 h 55
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How many MICHELIN Keys does Collegio alla Querce have?
- Three, awarded in the 2026 selection, its first since opening in 2025.
- How do you get from Collegio alla Querce into Florence?
- A free hotel shuttle runs to Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, near the Duomo, in about fifteen minutes.
- When is the pool open?
- From 15 April to 30 September. The Aelia Spa is open all year.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Florence?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Florence, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Florence
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Four Seasons Hotel Firenze A Renaissance palazzo with frescoed ceilings in the Gherardesca Garden, with an outdoor pool and the starred Il Palagio.
- Villa Cora Built by Baron Oppenheim for his bride in the nineteenth century, near the Boboli Gardens, with a heated pool open all year.
- Villa La Massa A Medici-era villa on the Arno in some twenty-two acres of park, open from late March to early November, with a shuttle to the Ponte Vecchio.
- Hotel Lungarno Run by the Ferragamo family on the south bank, with Picasso and Cocteau in the lounge and the Ponte Vecchio framed from its restaurant.
- Brunelleschi Hotel A private museum of the building's history, a top-floor view of the cathedral, and the two-star Santa Elisabetta inside.
- The St. Regis Florence A palazzo first planned by Brunelleschi, with some rooms looking onto the Arno.
- Grand Hotel Minerva Redesigned by Carlo Scarpa in the 1950s, with a rooftop pool open in the warm months.
- Portrait Firenze Thirty-seven rooms and suites on the river beside the Ponte Vecchio, rated Five-Star by Forbes Travel Guide in 2026.
- Hotel Savoy Olga Polizzi did the interiors, and the trattoria downstairs, Irene, is named after Lady Forte.
- Hotel La Gemma Thirty-nine rooms near the Duomo, with Luca's, holder of a MICHELIN star, on the first floor and a Biologique Recherche spa.
- Sina Villa Medici, Autograph Collection An early nineteenth-century palazzo where the monastery of Sant'Anna once stood, its garden and pool shared with Harry's Bar The Garden.
- Il Salviatino A fifteenth-century villa of 39 rooms looking down on the city, with its spa in the old greenhouse and a shuttle into town.
- COMO Castello Del Nero A twelfth-century castle in the Chianti hills, with a COMO Shambhala spa.
- The Place Firenze Suites on the square in front of the basilica, with one MICHELIN Key and a bar and restaurant serving through the day.
- Hotel Bernini Palace While Florence was capital of Italy, deputies and senators met in its frescoed Sala Parlamento, now the breakfast room.
- Helvetia & Bristol Eleonora Duse stayed here on her visits to Florence, and its Winter Garden restaurant was a meeting place for writers.
- Villa La Vedetta A villa on the hill of Piazzale Michelangelo, with an outdoor pool and a restaurant of its own.
- Villa Le Maschere A villa resort in the Mugello hills whose wellness centre includes a Turkish bath.
Staying at Collegio alla Querce?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Florence, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.