A Renaissance Villa on the Arno: Villa La Massa, Florence

The Arno runs slow and green below the lawns at Villa La Massa, and in the early morning the only sound in the park is gravel under paws. Cypresses and olive trees throw long shadows across the grass, the old ochre villa glows behind you, and the hills rise softly on the far bank. Florence is fifteen minutes downstream, but here it feels a world away. Villa La Massa holds an A+ in the Roch Dog assessment, the highest grade we give, and in our review it stands as one of the most generous places in Tuscany to stay with a dog. The dog sleeps in your room at no charge, and it is welcome at the table in both restaurants and in the bar.

The Setting

The villa sits at Candeli, in the commune of Bagno a Ripoli, on a bend of the Arno just east of the city, where Florence gives way to olive groves and the first of the Tuscan hills. The hotel's own description is of olive groves and the scent of cypress trees, and its estate of gardens, lemon trees and lawns runs right down to the river. Getting here is easy. Florence Peretola airport is 15 kilometres away, Santa Maria Novella station about twenty minutes by car, there is free parking for guests, and the villa even has its own helipad.

What makes the place unusual is that it gives you both halves of Tuscany at once. A complimentary electric shuttle runs into the centre of Florence through the day, reaching the city in around fifteen minutes, and then the evening brings you back to a quiet park by the river. You get the Uffizi and the Ponte Vecchio by day and country silence by night, which for anyone travelling with a dog is exactly the right balance.

The Hotel Itself

The house is very old. The hotel traces it to the 13th century, and its own history of the estate begins properly in 1525, when Santi Landini, a Florentine publisher and aristocrat, chose the banks of the Arno for his summer residence. In 1788 it passed to Cardinal Giovanni Rinuccini, whose nephew Alessandro added the four corner towers that still frame the villa, enlarged the central staircase and remodelled the private chapel. In 1826 Lady Catherine Hombert brought in the frescoes that were recently rediscovered on the ground and second floors, painted in soft pastels including a fashionable Parisian pigment known as Monsieur Guinet blue. Later came a Russian countess, and then the American Sears family, who made the villa a hotel and drew a stream of famous guests: Gregory Peck, Winston Churchill, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. In 1992 David Bowie and Iman took the whole estate for their wedding. Since 1998 it has belonged to the Villa d'Este group, which has restored it with great care.

Today there are 37 rooms and suites spread across six buildings in the park. The Prestige Rooms in Villa Nobile and Il Mulino have canopy beds, linen wall coverings, wood panelling and either frescoed ceilings or exposed beams, with views across the gardens or the river. The Arno Suite in Il Villino has a fireplace, its own private garden and a terrace above the water, and the suites of the 19th century Casa Colonica farmhouse are all terracotta, Santafiora stone and jasmine scented courtyards. For a family or a group there are three apartments in Villa Hombert and two whole villas in the gardens, with an in-house chef on request.

Around them sit the things that make a great country house hotel. The Arno Spa works with the botanical products of the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, there is a heated outdoor pool on a lawn of loungers and parasols, and a gym inside Villa Nobile. The wine cellar dates to the 15th century and keeps rare Tuscan labels from the neighbouring Chianti Rufina. The Michelin Guide has given the villa Two Keys, and Forbes Travel Guide rated it four stars in 2024.

The Welcome

Villa La Massa asks very little of a dog owner and gives a great deal. According to our assessment, dogs are welcome in the rooms, with no weight limit, no dog fee and no damage deposit, so the dog costs nothing extra at all. When you arrive there is a bowl, a basket and a few welcome biscuits waiting in the room, and the kitchen can provide dog food on request, so you can leave half the usual luggage at home.

The dog is not confined to the room either. It can come with you to both restaurants, Il Verrocchio and L'Oliveto, and into the bar, and the park is its own: a large private estate where dogs may walk freely. The team hands out maps of the walking route they recommend to guests, and dog walking can be organised if you would rather lie by the pool. If you want to go out for dinner or spend a morning in the Uffizi, your dog may stay settled in the room; simply tell the team your preferred time for turndown so housekeeping can work around you. If anything goes wrong, the hotel will call a vet for you. Cats, for the record, are welcome too.

Dinner Beside the River

The signature pleasure here is a meal with the dog at your feet. Il Verrocchio is the main restaurant, a tribute to authentic Tuscan cooking with a contemporary touch, built on seasonal produce, pasta made fresh every day and oil from the villa's own groves. It serves breakfast and dinner, and a Sunday brunch on its terrace above the Arno, except in August. At lunch the place to be is L'Oliveto, the poolside bistro in a former stone hayloft, which keeps to simple, authentic cooking and is open through the afternoon.

Then, as the light goes, there is Bar Mediceo, the villa's secret drawing room, where cocktails are inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy and served beneath historic frescoes until midnight. A quiet corner, a negroni, a dog asleep under the chair: it is hard to think of a more Florentine way to end the day. This autumn the estate also runs an olive harvest from 2 to 6 November, with a visit to the local mill and a lunch at L'Oliveto devoted to the new oil.

A Day Here With Your Dog

Start in the park. Take the hotel's map and follow the recommended route through the gardens, past the iris beds and down to the river, before the first guests come out to breakfast. The estate is big enough for a proper walk, and there are more green spaces close by if the dog wants to keep going.

Mid morning, head into Florence and make for San Niccolò, the quiet neighbourhood on the river's south bank just upstream of the Ponte Vecchio. From the old gate at Porta San Niccolò, the Rampe del Poggi, the staircases, grottoes and fountains Giuseppe Poggi built up the hillside at the end of the 19th century, climb towards Piazzale Michelangelo and the most famous view of the city. Coffee first, if you like, at Ditta Artigianale in the Oltrarno, where dogs are welcome.

For lunch, stay in San Niccolò. ZEB Gastronomia is a tiny counter restaurant serving seasonal dishes from the traditional Tuscan kitchen, a few steps from the Arno, and it welcomes dogs. Or take a table in the garden at Rifrullo, which looks out over the old city walls and welcomes leashed dogs. Then back to the villa for a slow afternoon on the lawn, a last turn by the river at dusk, and dinner at Il Verrocchio with the dog beside you.

Why It Matters

Florence is one of the great cities of the world, and it is not an easy one to do with a dog in August heat or crowded streets. Villa La Massa solves that problem beautifully. It gives the dog a park, a river and a bed of its own, it lets it sit beside you at dinner, it charges nothing for the privilege and it sets no limit on size. And it does all of this in a Renaissance house with five centuries of stories in its walls, fifteen minutes from the Uffizi. For a dog owner who has always wanted Florence and never wanted to leave the dog behind, this is the place. Book it, mention the dog, and ask for the walking map on arrival.

Good to Know

The villa takes one dog per room, depending on size, so tell the hotel about your dog when you book. The cooking classes take place in the kitchen, which is kept for people.

Read the official Roch Dog review or visit the hotel's website.