In Florence, intimacy, atmosphere and style at The James

Take Via di Mezzo and head to number 20. There’s no sign, just a number above the door (1564). It feels as though you’re stepping through the front door of a private residence, in the Renaissance heart of Florence, near the Basilica of Santa Croce and Dante’s House. Step inside and you’ll find yourself enveloped in a soft blue room, with trompe l’oeil paintings imitating the sky on a spring day, featuring hand-painted plants and flowers climbing up the pilasters and vaulted ceilings. Arriving at The James is pure poetry. Take a seat in a Bonacina wicker armchair (the timeless ‘Eva’ chairs designed by Giovanni Travasa in 1965), look around, and perhaps you’ll find yourself humming softly: ‘This room no longer has walls, but trees, endless trees…’. Books, sculptures, rugs and lighting create an atmosphere that envelops you throughout your stay.

The James is a small, unique and rare hotel. What makes it so special is the design by architect James Cavagnari, who lived there as a child, oversaw its restoration and décor down to the very last detail, and then entrusted its management to the Manfredi Hotels group. There are just 14 rooms and suites, each one different from the next, set within a small palace dating from 1564 (that’s what that number at the entrance meant!), the same year that Michelangelo died and Galileo and Shakespeare were born. It retains the Renaissance structure of the former convent, with its courtyards, understated façade, rooms featuring barrel-vaulted or frescoed ceilings, and irregular floor plans, whilst inside it exudes the warmth of the British style – rich and inviting.

All the suites feature different layouts, colour schemes and velvets, antique furniture and unique works of art. They are intimate and cosy, some as sumptuous as number 30, magnificent in its indigo blue – a whole other world within the room – with its purplish-red bathroom tiles, a balcony with wicker chairs and lush plants, and a sort of boudoir with two ottomans on which to lie back and while away the hours to your heart’s content. The room is decorated with Moorish heads, heroes’ feet and so many books that one would need to stay a week just to leaf through them all. Even the notepad, the writing paper and the room instructions feature graphics that hint at the architect’s philosophy: an eye peering through a keyhole, not to spy but to try to work out where one is and enter with the tiniest of steps.

The same intimate atmosphere can be found in the lounge, decorated in sage green and antique pink, where you can enjoy imaginative drinks, and in the restaurant in the jardin d’hiver – bathed in light yet sheltered – where you can have breakfast in the morning and dine in the evening on simple dishes, just as one might wish after a day spent exploring Florence’s treasures, continuing in the same beautiful setting, amidst mirrors, plants and chandeliers – only here it is more relaxing, with no obligation other than to enjoy the evening. If we are to adhere to the original definition of a ‘boutique hotel’ as conceived by the brilliant hotelier Ian Schrager, then The James is one of the very few – truly very few – that deserve the title: namely, a project created using unique and diverse elements, which the architect weaves together to form a style, where every space, whilst distinct, interacts harmoniously with the others.

NB: A boutique hotel does not necessarily mean a small one, as everyone seems to think. Schrager cited the most elegant fashion boutiques as an example, where the owner selects pieces from different collections to create a personal, unique style. That is what a boutique hotel means.