25hours Hotel Company to Open First Italian Property in Florence by Spring 2020

The 25hours Hotel Company, founded in 2005 by Stephan Gerhard, Ardi Goldman, Christoph Hoffmann, and Kai Hollmann, and allied with AccorHotels since 2016, will open its first Italian hotel in Florence by spring 2020. The project involves the adaptive reuse of the former Monte di Pietà building, originally an 11th-century convent, and the construction of a new 15-meter-tall structure on Via del Palazzuolo, near Piazza Santa Maria Novella and the Museo Novecento. The historic block, unused for over a decade, will house 73 of the 172 guest rooms, featuring varied layouts and wooden beam ceilings where possible. The new building, one of the most significant new constructions in Florence's historic center, will contain the remaining rooms. Designed by GLA – Genius Loci Architettura, the hotel will include a Tuscan restaurant, a bar called I Golosi (referencing Dante's Inferno), a family room with pool, spa, gym, and sauna. Interiors by Paola Navone draw on Dante's Divine Comedy, with rooms themed as Inferno and Paradiso, and corridors as Purgatorio. The hotel entrance will be from Piazza San Paolino, where a new square with steps and a ramp is planned, pending approval from the local heritage authority. CEO Hoffmann expressed enthusiasm for connecting the hotel with the city and revitalizing the urban void.