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When we think of Casa Howard, one word comes to mind: taste. This carefully-curated guesthouse, which is more a boutique hotel, in Florence’s city center is the product of three generations of the Forneris family and what is clearly an inherited eye for detail and beauty. 

 

Running the show these days is Bonifacio, who took over the property after his mother, Jennifer Forneris, passed away a few years ago. Casa Howard was her dream; after years of traveling the world with her own father, who was one of the preeminent suppliers of Italian textiles for luxury brands worldwide (you can see a photo of him, taken by Helmut Newton, on the second floor just passed the spiral staircase), she wanted to bring the beauty she’d experienced in that world and give it a home. 

 

The idea was to create something that felt (quite literally) as high-end as the best hotels in the world, but with the warmth and easy-going nature of staying at a friend’s house. 

 

To the first point, the furniture you see today are original pieces that Jennifer brought back from her travels, as well as pieces that Bonifacio has had custom made or sourced himself from around the world. Fittingly, most of the textiles come from his grandfather’s business–you can feel this attention to detail and intrinsic sense of hominess everywhere, from the striped upholstery to the square samples of fine cotton textiles that are framed as art pieces. Every room is designed completely different: the terrace room was conceived for people who come with a dog (they are big dog lovers at Casa Howard); the playroom is a suite for kids, complete with a climbing wall above the twin beds; there are two communicating rooms for friends or larger families traveling together; and then there’s the hidden room, tucked behind a plush paneled wall. It’s a bit more romantic with a sunken tub and soundproof walls. 

 

Bonifacio is very keen on sustainability. All the amenities, the Officina Profumo – Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, are compostable, the dispensers are reusable, water in the rooms is microfiltered and served in custom-designed reusable glass bottles, Nespresso capsules are made of steel and filled daily with their own coffee, and the mattresses are made in Tuscany by a local producer, with 95% recycled materials and a recycled goose down topper. The pillows and duvet–which we personally will continue to dream about for a long time–are filled with silk, one of the most incredible raw materials in the world, and the only one that has an inverse carbon footprint (silkworms eat mulberry tree leaves, so, to have silk, you need to plant more trees). 

 

The sense of symmetry and perfectionism here is Wes Anderson-esque. Every little thing has its place. But the feeling is far from uptight; guests have their own keys, so they can come and go as they please. There is a small but cozy garden terrace on which drinks are served a la carte throughout the day. The highly-trained concierge team, led by Clefs d’Or Antonio Pagano, will go out of their way to help you get reservations at the best restaurants and bars, organize special experiences, and solve any kind of inconveniences that inevitably may pop up in a busy travel schedule. But one of the best parts, undoubtedly, is the breakfast in bed, served to your room every morning on a tray with Ginori crockery and silver cutlery. In line with their ethos of sustainability, they make their own yogurt, and source the jams, honey, and eggs from producers in the region. Except for the pastries, which are sourced from France, because, well, French pastries. 

 

Plans for the future include acquiring the top floor of the building, which would give them space to have 18 rooms, and raise their status from a high-end guesthouse to a full-on boutique hotel. When that happens, Bonifacio also has big plans to turn the whole ground floor into a common living area, with, in his words, “a badass bar,” that would be the beating heart of the hotel. 

 

A few Segreti (secrets) from Bonifacio:

 

Trattoria Cammillo – “This is one of my favorite spots, an absolute Florentine institution.” Must Order: shrimp curry with mango chutney, frittata with porcini, sedano rapa (celeriac) with bottarga.

 

Trattoria Sostanza – Another institution that’s been around for over 150 years, located right behind the hotel. Must Order: chicken cooked in five fingers of butter, it’s sublime. 

 

Locale – They’ve won the best bar in Europe for two consecutive years. It’s in a 16th-century palazzo, but with state-of-the-art mixology.