It's All About the Hotel... this trip

Ooooh this is a life I dream of living. It will be so interesting to see what suggestions you get and where you end up going.

What is your definition of "nice hotel." ??? I could make the argument that all of our hotels have been nice except for a couple. Last year the Waldorf Astoria on Maui for T Giving was very nice. Is that what you are looking for?

La Torretta in Manarola for Cinque Terre, in a sea view room. Not luxurious or fancy; it is modern yet full of charm. The owner is very gracious.

http://www.torrettas.com/

Edit: I see they have doubled their prices and re-decorated since we were last there. I would not pay that much now.

Meuble Il Riccio in montepulciano. The hotel is at the top of the town. The room we stayed at had a balcony with a beautiful view of the town, the valley and the sunrise. It was a great location with lots of good restaurants near it and plenty of towns to explore close by during the day.

I hate to sound like a shill, but...

Travel Advisors can bring a lot of value when booking high-end hotels. The travel agency consortiums have special deals with specific hotels in cities around the world, getting standard amenities like free breakfast, priority upgrades, as assorted extras like a food & bev credit, free transfer, or some special experience. All for rates that are competitive. I'd look for someone that's affiliated with either Virtuoso or the Signature Travel Netowork—they're the higher-end consortiums.

I’ll second Adam’s recommendation for Meuble il Riccio. We had a similar room with amazing views. It was a few years ago and I don’t remember the price, but probably less than 200 euros per night. The hosts are classics in Rick Steves lore, but live up to it. They gave us great dinner recommendations, including a new restaurant nearby that we ate in twice. They have parking spots near the hotel at the top of the town. We did several day trips from there.

We stayed in a suite with a river view here in Florence: https://www.palazzoalfieri.it/en/index.php It's much more luxe than our usual choices, but it was off season.

Our suite was the size of an apartment. We had a huge bedroom with a river view, and a big bathroom with a large walk-in shower with coloured lighting. Then there was an entry vestibule. On the other side of the vestibule was a small kitchen, and behind that was a chaise lounge and, on the other side of a pony wall, a jetted tub and television.

These were all gems to me

Tuscany (southwest if Cortona) - Villa Loggio https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g2059502-d4172821-Reviews-Villa_Loggio-Cignano_Cortona_Province_of_Arezzo_Tuscany.html Great breakfasts, great rooms, great pool, great for exploring southeast Tuscany and umbria. Skip dinner (unless for convenience or mingling with other guests), but enjoy the wine. Lovely dogs that roam the grounds. EDITED TO ADD: looks like they possibly shut down during covid or went out of business :(

Cinque terra (a hike above town on the way from vernazza to corniglia) - this is on Airbnb, but it is an actual B&B https://abnb.me/B7wUYaUj8qb ... Great breakfasts and nice to be outside of town and can beat everyone to the hiking trail.

Rome - I loved this hotel, Le Suite Del Barone
http://www.lesuitedelbarone.com/?cn-reloaded=1
Great rooms, nice terraces, delicious breakfasts delivered to your room (or brought night before if you have an early morning), they had freshly baked cookies in reception all the time.

I want to go back!

Dievole in Chianti

HOTEL L'OROLOGIO In Florence

Borgo Le Terrazze in Bellagio

Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco Resort & Spa in Barga

Villa San Cosma in Ravello

Rome Marriott Grand Hotel Flora- I love this one for the roof top where breakfast is served, as well as the vicinity to Borghese Gardens.

Wow, these are some great suggestions. Looking forward to researching them all.
@Frank. By nice I guess I mean something that stuck in your mind that if you knew someone was going to a certain place you would tell them they have to stay there. Also nice that had that million-dollar view, ambiance, amenities, room size, location, etc. I am sure there are amazing places out there that someone has stayed, and may not get mentioned a lot here. One such hotel mentioned in a previous post is the Hotel Villa Steno. It seemed to be a higher-end hotel mentioned in Montoresso, where we have yet to go. A nice room, with a great view, a room/air bnb/apartment that just makes you feel good to be in.

Sorry, but we stayed at Meuble Il Riccio in 2006 and really disliked it. Owners were nice, but room was small, dusty, very basic, and we felt like we were staying in someone’s home (not in a good way). It’s not like a hotel, it’s like staying in a B&B.

On the edge of Siena is Hotel Borgo Grondaie, which we really enjoyed. So much so, we returned the next year just to stay there again, not to see Siena again. It used to be someone’s estate, and was turned into a hotel with lots of charming small buildings with rooms and apartments, surrounded by lovely grounds, flowers, lush green rolling lawns, old growth trees, lounge chairs, an infinity pool set up above the hotel with a 180 view of Siena, free washing machine and iron & ironing board, a charming area with clothes lines to dry your clothes, a great breakfast buffet, lovely terrace with tables and umbrellas, Happy Hour with yummy food, free pkng, and extremely nice owners and staff. Rooms are not fancy but very clean and comfortable.

https://hotelsienaborgogrondaie.com/

In Rome, we stayed at Hotel Albergo del Senato, a very nice hotel. It’s located in the plaza in front of the Pantheon. We had a large room with 4 large windows… 2 of the windows looked out onto the plaza and Pantheon. It was magical.

https://www.albergodelsenato.it/

Thanks, Susan, that's the word we are looking for - magical.

At night with the Pantheon lit up especially… Loved staying there and in that setting. They also have a rooftop terrace and bar.

Love reading these wonderful ideas! We enjoyed Hotel Belvedere di San Leonino…a bit south of Castellina in Chianti…going back in October!

In Tuscany, we stayed at Terre di Nano, between Montepulciano and Pienza. We loved it! Gorgeous views of the Val D’Orcia, beautiful accommodations, a wonderful chef preparing meals, their own wine and olive oil. They have rooms and apartments. It’s become really popular for weddings so it can be hard to book!

Rome, hands down https://www.biohotelraphael.com/new-intro-page.htm Gorgeous, incredibly well-placed, warm competent and friendly staff. Oh, did I forget the terrace ... you never will. (scroll down the webpage for a picture of it. In the olden days, the game was called "Name that dome".)

I would echo the recommendation for Borgo Le Terrazze in Bellagio. Amazing views and very reasonable prices!