The Ferragamo family's original Lungarno Collection hotel — 62 rooms on the south bank of the Arno, half facing the river with private terraces directly over the water, and the Michelin-starred Borgo San Jacopo restaurant occupying the corner where the Ponte Vecchio meets the Oltrarno.
"The Ferragamo family's first hotel — and still, in some editorial counts, the most desirable river-view rooms in any Florentine luxury address. Borgo San Jacopo's Michelin star is the kitchen, and the river-facing terraces are the reason every honeymoon couple ends up booking the Junior Suite Vista Arno."
Hotel Lungarno is the original Lungarno Collection property — Leonardo Ferragamo, son of Salvatore, founded the privately held group in 1995 by acquiring this 62-room hotel on Borgo San Jacopo on the south bank of the Arno. The position is the central proposition: the building anchors the Oltrarno end of the Ponte Santa Trinita with most rooms directly over the river, and the corner room (the named Suite of the same address) sits within twenty-five metres of the Ponte Vecchio with a frontal view of it. The hotel was comprehensively re-designed by Michele Bonan in 2011 in the same cashmere-walnut-Carrara palette that now characterises every Lungarno Collection property.
The 62 rooms (including 12 suites) split between river-facing and city-facing categories. Standard Doubles run smaller than the contemporary five-star average (around 25 square metres) but the river-facing categories — Junior Suites Vista Arno, the Penthouse Suite, and the named corner suites — are why the hotel is on the Florence shortlist. The Suite Lungarno on the corner of Borgo San Jacopo and the Ponte Santa Trinita has the directly framed Ponte Vecchio view from the bedroom; Junior Suites Vista Arno have private terraces over the river that allow breakfast or aperitivo with the bridge in the foreground. The hotel maintains a private library of approximately 250 original works by Renato Guttuso, Giorgio de Chirico, Giovanni Fattori, Felice Casorati, and Annigoni — a domestic-scale gallery that hangs throughout the public rooms and corridors.
Borgo San Jacopo is the in-house restaurant — a Michelin-starred kitchen with views directly onto the river and the bridge, currently under chef Claudio Mengoni. The cuisine is Tuscan-inflected contemporary Italian; the wine list extends to the Ferragamo family's own Il Borro estate plus the strongest Tuscan representation in any Florence hotel kitchen. The Picteau Lounge serves cocktails and aperitivo under the Picasso lithographs that line its walls — among the best-kept hotel bars in the city for late-evening drinks. The hotel also operates a private boat (the riva) that runs Champagne-and-river-cruise itineraries from a private mooring directly outside; it is the only Florence hotel with a working private waterborne service on the Arno.
Service follows the Lungarno Collection's Lifestyle Ambassador model — every guest is assigned a single 24-hour point of contact who consolidates concierge, restaurant booking, and personal-styling needs through one number. The hotel is a Leading Hotels of the World member and holds Forbes Travel Guide recognition. For couples for whom the river view, the Michelin-starred restaurant on premises, and the Ferragamo standard of service are the brief — and who prefer the Oltrarno's quieter, artisan-workshop side of the river to the Centro Storico — Hotel Lungarno is the most considered five-star answer in the city.
For the Florence honeymoon where the river view from a private terrace is the central image, Hotel Lungarno is the answer. Junior Suite Vista Arno is the central booking; Suite Lungarno on the corner is the milestone version. Borgo San Jacopo at dinner with the Ponte Vecchio framed in the window is the city's most romantic Michelin-starred meal; the private boat for sunset Champagne is the moment that closes the trip.
A Florence anniversary at Hotel Lungarno calibrates by suite category — Deluxe Double for a quiet weekend, Junior Suite Vista Arno for a milestone, Penthouse for a major one. The Picteau Lounge's late-evening hour under the Picasso lithographs is the better setting for the long conversation than any of the louder Centro Storico bars; Borgo San Jacopo at the corner table is the dinner.
The Oltrarno is the solo Florence brief — quieter, residential, with the artisan workshops still functioning two streets back from the river. Hotel Lungarno's smaller room categories at smaller money points, the Picteau Lounge as the writing room, the river-walk to Santo Spirito or up to San Miniato al Monte — the property is the strongest answer for the Florence trip designed around solitude rather than spectacle.
Borgo San Jacopo 14
50125 Florence FI
Italy
Ponte Vecchio 90 seconds north; Pitti Palace 6 minutes south; Santo Spirito 4 minutes; Florence Santa Maria Novella station 14 minutes
62 rooms (incl. 12 suites)
Deluxe Doubles from €600/night
Junior Suites Vista Arno from €1,200/night
Suite Lungarno from €2,400/night
Penthouse Suite from €4,500/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Founded as a hotel 1960s; Lungarno Collection since 1995
Michele Bonan redesign 2011
Borgo San Jacopo (1 Michelin star)
Picteau Lounge with Picasso lithographs
Private library of 250+ original works
Private river boat for guests
Lifestyle Ambassador service
Leading Hotels of the World
From €600/night. River-facing rooms and the corner Suite Lungarno book three months ahead for spring (April–June) and autumn (September–October) weekends.
Book This Hotel →The other Lungarno Collection hotel — 37 all-suite rooms by the Ponte Vecchio, with the Penthouse rooftop terrace.
Two Renaissance palaces around the city's largest private garden, with Vincent Wallace's Forbes 5★ kitchen at Il Palagio.
The Brunelleschi-attributed palazzo on Piazza Ognissanti, with St. Regis Butlers and the Winter Garden under the original frescoes.