Grand Hotel Villa Cora is an extensive property just outside Florence, on the hill overlooking the Boboli Gardens, near Piazzale Michelangelo. Not surprisingly, the hotel in question was born, at the time when the Tuscan capital was the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, as the home of Baron Oppenheim and his wife.
Villa Cora History
The Grand Hotel Villa Cora, housed in a sumptuous nineteenth-century villa in pure neoclassical style, built on commission of Baron Oppenheim in 1868, was the favorite residence of aristocrats and men of culture, which pays homage and recalls even in the names of the suites or plans, like the second dedicated to the former empress Eugenie, widow of Napoleon III, and to the roses that were her favorite flower. Later the property passed into the hands of Egidio Cora, from which he took the current name. Giuliano Cora, son of Egidio, was the ambassador of Florence in the world and became a personal friend of the Ethiopian emperor Hailè Selassie.
Returning to the present day, after alternating events, the villa reopened its doors in January 2011 and has been transformed into a hotel under the leadership of the Whythebest Hotels group, but it is still imbued with its history that is reflected in the mix of particular styles that they characterize and distinguish.
The splendidly decorated common rooms located on the ground floor of the main villa have been renovated in full respect of the original elements and offer multiple solutions for meetings, business lunches and events of sure impact. The Moresca Room, of oriental style according to the eclectic taste that distinguishes the Villa, is able to accommodate 20 guests and is ideal for private meetings or representative dinners. The Salone degli Specchi is the largest and most majestic room: considered the most beautiful ballroom in Florence, with its Baroque decorations it lends itself to the most sumptuous events. On the other hand, the Sala delle Carte presents a more intimate environment devoted to tranquility, while on the roof there is a large terrace overlooking the park and the hills declining towards Florence.
As for the reception, the Grand Hotel Villa Cora includes all types of rooms: classic and deluxe, suites and junior suites, duplex and the majestic imperial suite, dedicated to Hirohito, the Japanese emperor who lived here. The main complex collects most of the residences, for those who love more privacy you can also stay in the Eugenia small villa, an outbuilding with fourteen different rooms, each decorated and furnished according to the bourgeois customs of the late nineteenth century. In the same house, on the lower floor, there is the SPA, whose pride is the treatments of Sara Chapman, London-based visagist who created the skin ritual skiness facial. At the SPA you can also get through a underground tunnel and here you can find a sauna, a gym, a tepidarium and a hammam.
Two restaurants complete the receptive offer cuddling the palate and not only: in fact, the view is gratified by the precious Richard Ginori porcelain still in use, while in the adjacent cigar room you can enjoy distillates and consume fine cigars from all the world. The à la carte menu selected by the Executive Chef Alessandro Liberatore in first person offers a proposal of continuous research that presents only seasonal products and mainly of the territory.