Florentine identity between the rooms and beyond the Hotel Savoy

Perfect location in the heart of Florence, meticulous design by Lady Olga Polizzi, true Italian cuisine by Fulvio Pierangelini, impeccable service of a five-star hotel. The Hotel Savoy needs no further credentials to be one of the best addresses in town. Yet the hotel owned by the Rocco Forte group is constantly striving to uphold the Florentine identity, from the Pucci fabrics in the lobby to the private entrance to the Officina Santa Maria Novella micro-workshop, to the partnership with the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, famous for its internationally renowned exhibition events. "We try to be a bridge between our guests and the cultural life of the city. And the lasting collaboration with the foundation is an example of this," says Matteo Gentile, general manager of the Savoy. "In this way, the stay becomes an opportunity for personal intellectual and spiritual enrichment."

The hotel presents itself as a contemporary lens for experiencing Florence, mixing the warmth of Italian hospitality with the avant-garde spirit of the world's most important artists. This is the case of 'Rothko in Florence' (until 23 August), one of the most eagerly awaited cultural events of 2026 in Europe. After the exhibition dedicated to Beato Angelico, the most visited exhibition in the twenty-year history of Palazzo Strozzi with 250,000 visitors, and 100,000 at the San Marco Museum (a fourfold increase over the previous year), we are faced with another unrepeatable exhibition for several reasons. Many of the over seventy canvases by Mark Rothko, in Italia for the first time, come from the family collection and from the most important contemporary art institutions, the MoMa in New York, the Tate in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington. In addition, the curatorship is by his son Christopher Rothko (with Elena Geuna) who has had the audacity to create a spiritual and introspective setting, placing five of his father's paintings next to Beato Angelico's frescoes in the San Marco Museum and two in the vestibule of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, a monumental project by the architect Michelangelo. Not as a comparison with the giants of the Renaissance, but to bring the American painter closer to the source of inspiration that he, obsessed with the search for the "fabulous", after much wandering, had finally captured in the masterpieces of the two Florentine artists.

A not-to-be-missed exhibition that the Hotel Savoy transforms into a personalised experience for the guests of its suites who, upon booking, can visit it behind closed doors accompanied by Arturo Galansino, director of Palazzo Strozzi, or a curator from the foundation. Also at the Savoy, the four "Maestro of Colours" cocktails, a tribute to Rothko, are for everyone, guests and non-guests alike, amidst the surreal frescoes in the hotel's Bar Artemisia. After the exhibition, it will be easier to guess that the Nocturne Vermillon, with blackberry mousse and Negroni is inspired by the 1953 Untitled Red and Black, and that the coconut cream of the Milky Light separating the lavender and passion fruit is an obvious reference to that 1950 White Center just seen hanging in the museum.