The Helvetia & Bristol Hotel in Florence of the Starhotels Group was elected winner of the ‘Luxury Heritage Hotel’ category during the ’15th Annual World Luxury Hotel Awards 2021′. The recent renovation in 2019 – the result of a perfect mix of careful restoration and a new contemporary touch – allowed to return to the city one of its historic buildings and, at the same time, an authentic icon of the hotelerie. Located in the heart of the historic center of Florence, a few steps from Piazza Strozzi, the Duomo and via Tornabuoni, the refined Florentine shopping street, this Renaissance-style aristocratic residence has been offering elegant atmospheres to travelers from all over the world since the end of the nineteenth century inside the charm of history.
For this hotel Andrea Auletta, Milanese Interior Designer with a long and consolidated collaboration with the Starhotels Group, worked at the construction of the Heritage Suite Helvetia and the Bristol Winter Garden. The Helvetia Heritage Suite is an original space that pre-existed the intervention, for which Andrea Auletta chose to keep the white paneling already present onsite and the amber yellow chenille wall fabric. The wrought iron four-poster bed embellished with the curtains on the back is the work of a master craftsman from Arezzo and a mirror has been provided on the sides of the bed to give depth. The ceiling chandeliers have been repositioned and decorative elements such as black shelves with plaster busts and vertically positioned prints have been inserted, like a collection in a private residence. In the bathroom, the existing marble in white Carrara has been maintained with black marble edges similar to a Portoro, elegantly taken up by the black lines on the ceiling that give a touch of modernity, such as the mirrors and lamps that have been replaced in the restyling work, whose approach was to keep all the beauty already present, also making use of the help of restorers and master craftsmen, enriching it with elements that would enhance its personality and self-awareness.
For the Bristol Winter Garden, Andrea Auletta chose to keep the elegant and original skylight covering the ceiling punctuated by an alternation of colored glass in delicate shades of green and antique pink. Anthracite-colored wall mirrors with edges finished in liquid gold give depth to the long, narrow space. High mirrored screens with antiqued gilt metal structures are positioned in the winter garden to separate the space, with a presence that tells of evocative distances. The floor lamps are produced by Estro, while the ceiling lamps are the original ones with a light play of luminous tracery.
