Five-star Barberino di Mugello, about 30 km north of Florence, Florence
Villa Le Maschere
A late Renaissance villa in eighteen hectares of park in the Mugello hills, with stuccoes by the Medici court sculptor, two pools and a shuttle down to Florence.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- Rooms
- 64, in the villa and the Chini Pavilion
- Built
- Second half of the sixteenth century
- Park
- 18 hectares, with sequoias
- From the airport
- Under 30 minutes from Peretola
The hotel
A Medici-era villa in the Mugello.
Villa Le Maschere went up in the second half of the sixteenth century on Via Nazionale in the Mugello hills, about 30 kilometres north of Florence. Some of its rooms carry stuccoes and frescoes by Giovanni Battista Foggini, architect and sculptor to Cosimo III de' Medici. Sovereigns, artists and noblemen stayed here over the centuries. The name means the masks.
In the 1960s the house was abandoned and fell into ruin. A restoration lasting five years brought back its stuccoes, floors and frescoes, and turned it into a hotel. The old gardener's cottage became the Chini Pavilion, named after the Florentine artist Galileo Chini, and majolica from the Chini workshop is placed through the house. Around it lies a park of eighteen hectares, with sequoias and an Italian garden.
- The wellness centre In the villa's old basements: a Turkish bath, a sauna, treatment rooms and a jacuzzi that opens onto the pool.
- Two pools Outdoor pools in the park, with the Tuscan hills beyond.
- Around the villa The Poggio dei Medici golf club and Barberino's outlet shops are about ten minutes away, the Mugello racing circuit about fifteen.
Rooms & suites
From the villa to the pavilion.
Sixty-four rooms over three floors of the villa and in the Chini Pavilion. The higher categories carry the most decoration.
- In the garden Chini Pavilion Suite In the two-storey pavilion that was once the gardener's cottage, named after Galileo Chini.
- Named suite Marchesa Liliana Suite One of the villa's principal suites, for up to three guests.
- Top floor Le Maschere Penthouse The penthouse of the villa, for two.
Dining
Two dining rooms.
Restaurants as listed by Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Shown for information.
- Il Piopponero Seasonal and local Lunch and dinner; the name means black poplar
- Cancello di Ghiereto Breakfast With a terrace in spring and summer
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival Check-in from 2 pm, check-out by noon. Parking is free.
- Into Florence A free shuttle runs to the city; ask the concierge for the timetable. By car the centre is about 45 minutes away.
- Transfers Airport and station transfers are free with Junior Suite, Suite and Prestige bookings.
- Pets and children Both welcome; ask the hotel about its terms.
Getting there
Flying to Florence.
Florence Peretola is under 30 minutes away by car, an approximate figure, and the centre of Florence about 45 minutes. Business jets can land at Peretola; larger aircraft use Pisa or Bologna, each about 76 kilometres from the villa.
- Nice 45 min
- Olbia 50 min
- Geneva 1 h 00
- Paris 1 h 30
- London 1 h 55
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How far is Villa Le Maschere from Florence?
- About 45 minutes by car to the centre. The hotel runs a free shuttle into the city.
- Who decorated the villa?
- Giovanni Battista Foggini, architect and sculptor to Cosimo III de' Medici, made the stuccoes and frescoes in some rooms. Sculpture and majolica by Tito Chini and the Chini workshop are also on show.
- 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.
- Collegio alla Querce A sixteenth-century farm that became a Catholic boarding school, now 83 rooms about fifteen minutes by car from the Duomo.
- 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.
Staying at Villa Le Maschere?
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.