The St. Regis Florence ranks #35 on our 2026 list of the best anniversary hotels in the world. The case below explains why — the hotel itself, what it does specifically for milestone celebrations, and the alternatives we measured it against.
“On Piazza Ognissanti, river-facing, with the Brunelleschi-trained Bottega del Buon Caffè in residence. Ranked one of Europe's top five hotels by US News. Butler service in every room.”
The hotel itself
River-facing on Piazza Ognissanti, with butler service in every room and the Bottega del Buon Caffè kitchen on the ground floor. The most decorated hotel in Florence by US News' Europe rankings.
"The St. Regis butler programme applied to a 15th-century Florentine palazzo. River-facing junior suites overlooking the Arno are the room category to ask for; the Winter Garden under the stained-glass ceiling is the meeting space the city's old guard still chooses."
The St. Regis Florence occupies what was originally a 15th-century palazzo on Piazza Ognissanti, built by the Brunelleschi-trained architect Filippo Brunelleschi himself (or, depending on the source, by his school) and used over the centuries as a private residence, a barracks, and — for nearly 130 years from the 1880s — as the Grand Hotel Florence. Marriott's Luxury Collection acquired the property in the 2010s and converted it to The St. Regis brand standard, with a substantial renovation completed across multiple phases. The property reopened as The St. Regis Florence with a fully refurbished room programme and the introduction of the brand's signature butler service, which is included with every room category.
Why it works for an anniversary
Anniversary trips to great cities live or die on the dinner of the trip. The hotel must do the celebration without the city having to do the work — a private room in a Michelin restaurant inside the building, a bar where the right toast is poured, a turn-down service that knows tonight is the one. The cities that do this best — Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, Vienna — have grand-dame hotels measured in centuries, not decades.
St. Regis is Marriott's heritage flagship, built around the 1904 Manhattan original and the butler service that John Jacob Astor IV invented. For anniversaries St. Regis matters because the butler is real and consistent across the portfolio: your floor butler has a name, knows your schedule, and runs the room as a personal staff member. The St. Regis anniversary protocol — the toast, the room turn-down, the dinner reservation managed without asking — is one of the most operationally specific in luxury.
There are 99 rooms and 38 suites, distributed across two interconnected historic buildings. The river-facing rooms overlook the Arno toward the Oltrarno; the Piazza-facing rooms look across Piazza Ognissanti toward the Westin Excelsior, the St. Regis's neighbour and historic competitor. The Imperial Suite — the property's signature room, on the upper floor with a private terrace looking up the river — is one of the most photogenic suites in any Florentine hotel. The Bottega Veneta-styled rooms in the central wing are the brand's design-forward category; the heritage suites in the Brunelleschi wing keep the frescoed ceilings and the proportions of the original noble apartments.
The Winter Garden, the hotel's central lobby space under a 19th-century stained-glass ceiling, is the destination room: lunch, afternoon tea, and the late-afternoon cocktail programme are all served beneath the glass canopy. Bottega del Buon Caffè — the hotel's principal dining room, named after the Brunelleschi-era café that once occupied the ground floor — runs a contemporary Italian programme; the Winter Garden Bistrot serves all-day dining. The St. Regis Bar takes the brand's signature cocktail programme — the Bloody Mary was invented at the St. Regis New York — and applies it to Florence with a regional Tuscan slant. The fitness centre and wellness facilities are at the brand standard; the property has no swimming pool, which is the principal point of difference with the Four Seasons across the river.
Where it ranks against rivals
For a 2026 milestone anniversary at this level, the most direct comparisons are Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon in Lisbon (#34 on this list), The St. Regis Rome in Rome (#36 on this list), Raffles London at the OWO in London (#33 on this list). The St. Regis Florence earns the higher rank for one or two specific reasons covered in the verdict above. The other properties are not lesser hotels — in some cases the answer for your particular celebration is the runner-up. The city-specific page below has the full local ranking.
Practical: getting in
Address: Piazza Ognissanti, 1, 50123 Firenze FI, Italy. Anniversary-suited categories — the upgraded suites, the rooms with the morning view — book six to twelve months ahead. The full review at the hotel page has current rates, the room categories worth paying up for, and the dining and spa programmes worth booking pre-arrival. Use our anniversary occasion page for the broader context, or the Florence city guide for what else to do while you’re there.