Ready for your Italian idyll? The address is the majestic, honey-colored Villa Le Maschere, a beautifully restored villa set atop a Tuscan hillside and offering a 5-star retreat with outstanding service and luxury amenities. Just 30 miles from art-filled Florence but a galaxy away in terms of tranquility and space, the property’s storied past includes regular visits from noblemen and royalty such as King Carlo Felice, Pope Pius IX and Carlo Emanuele IV, King of Sardinia. Built in the late 16th century and now a member of the exclusive Small Luxury Hotels of the World, “Maschere” translates to “masks,” and the property’s name derives from a border of intriguing mask reliefs visible beneath the roofline along the front of the villa.

Part of the Una Hotels & Resorts collection, the building is resplendent with works by Florentine artist and decorative master craftsman Tito Chini, painter Francesco Furini, carvings by Giovanni Battista Foggini and majolica from the famed Chini factory located nearby in Borgo San Lorenzo. Each of the 65 rooms and suites has a special touch, from individual color schemes and furnishings to sculptural elements, frescoes, gesso moldings and intricate stucco. Beautiful details extend to rooms with French doors opening into the gardens, junior suites with mezzanine levels and a suite with actual gold-leaf floors and walls. Graceful spaces also have cheeky edges in certain rooms, such as a burst of orange upholstery, minty green trim or a fire-engine red metal stair rail.

A terraced garden with wide avenues graces the grounds, while a spa and wellness center on the villa’s lower level includes a sauna and steam bath, an emotional shower with color options and multi-level sprays and a huge jetted tub with benches and waterfall features that leads outdoors into a wide swimming pool. A full range of therapies and treatments featuring the Sothys line includes hydrating and anti-aging facials, plenty of massages, and themed visits with these focuses: Regenerating, Rebalancing, Hydrating and Purifying. Complimentary shuttles take guests to and from Florence city center. Breakfast in the sun-filled morning room (or on the multilevel terrace overlooking the villa’s gardens and parkland during summer months) is included. At night, savor luscious traditional Tuscan and Mugello fare at Il Piopponero.