Page 140 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2022 DISCOVERING MADRID

SLEEP became a showcase of clean, uncluttered Mid-
“Some people say, I don’t care about my hotel Century Modern style.
or where I sleep,” Sara Maestrelli acknowledged Scarpa also oversaw the installation of a
with a shake of her head as we toured the Grand swimming pool atop the hotel. With its 360-de-
Hotel Minerva, the historic four-star property gree views of the Florentine skyline, the rooftop
which has been in her family for more than pool terrace remains a key feature of the hotel’s
three decades. “But for me, it’s such an impor- appeal.
tant part of the journey, if the hotel represents a A few years ago, the Minerva was treated to
piece of the place where you’re travelling.” another multi-million-dollar makeover, over-
A hotel could hardly be more ingrained in its seen by local architect Piera Tempesti Benelli
surroundings than the Minerva. The building, and completed just in time for its 150th an-
which dates to the 13th century, first served as niversary as a hotel. “With seven centuries of
housing for the monks of Santa Maria Novella— art and life in this building, it had its soul,”
the landmark church with which it shares a vast Maestrelli said. “The goal was to highlight that.”
square, only a few minutes’ walk from Unita and Hence, much of Scarpa’s 1950s décor was
Santa Maria Novella train stations. maintained and restored. Some of the features
After the monks departed, aristocrats moved original to that period include black and white
in, treating the structure as a private home for marble floors and dining chairs in the breakfast
generations before it became a hotel in 1869. room, the wooden “floating staircase” leading
Legendary Italian architects Edoardo Detti and from the fifth floor to the rooftop terrace, and a
Carlo Scarpa masterminded an extensive re- concrete fireplace, moved from a guest room to
model in the 1950s, leaving only the façade and the lobby living room. The reception desk has
a few rooms untouched; the rest of the interior been repurposed as an elegant bar, accompa-

140 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2022