Italy has its fair share of dazzling palace hotels, but there’s much joy to be had in the simpler pleasures of this rustic country villa. Once home to the 18th-century poet Antonio Guadagnoli, this tiny estate and its 400-year-old buildings were painstakingly restored by owners Silvia and Riccardo Barrachi, and the result feels like an invitation to a private home.

Even by Venetian standards, the Hotel Metropole is steeped in history — this was once an orphanage where Vivaldi gave music lessons. More recently, though still decades ago, it was acquired by the Beggiato family, and remains a family-owned and -operated hotel, decorated with the owners’ collections of art and antiques. And while it’s been renovated to keep pace with the times, its style is deliciously decadent, and eclectic — spanning a couple of centuries, and incorporating influences from all along the Silk Road, from Venice to Shanghai and everywhere in between.

Castel Fragsburg occupies what may be the most privileged position in this spectacularly beautiful corner South Tyrol, Italy’s famous patch of Alpine-style paradise. It’s is located inside an elegant hunting lodge that first opened its doors nearly four centuries ago. You’ll spot its red gables from afar as you navigate the hairpin roads leading up from the ancient spa town of Merano; you’ll know you’ve arrived when you see a antique motorbike, complete with a sidecar, parked outside.

Contemporary design is now so common in hotels as to have become almost standard. But there are still some places where a bit of modernity goes a long way, places where there’s a striking contrast between the clean and contemporary interiors and the ancient character of the weathered streets outside. Rome is one of these places — and Leon’s Place is a fine example of the way one’s perspective on an ancient city can be changed by the view from a modern hotel.

The name could hardly be more French, but the Chateau Monfort, on the fringes of the Milanese city center, isn’t your typical storybook chateau. To be fair, it isn’t your typical Milanese design hotel — or your typical anything, for that matter. It may begin with a classically French sensibility, but it’s filtered through a deranged postmodern imagination, and the result, though certainly stylish in its unique way, is about as far as you can get from the sober tones and high seriousness of Milanese luxury design.

Cortina, home of the 1956 Winter Olympics, has long been one of Italy’s most famous ski towns, and Faloria has long been one of Cortina’s most famous hotels. But it’s only now, after a complete redesign at the hand of architect Flaviano Capriotti, that the Faloria Mountain Spa Resort ascends to the highest levels of contemporary luxury hospitality.

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