Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 360,930 inhabitants in 2023, and 984,991 in its metropolitan area.
The Orient Express was a long-distance passenger luxury train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe, with terminal stations in Paris in the northwest and Istanbul in the southeast, and branches extending service to Athens, Brussels, and London.
Fiesole is a town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times.
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) is a private luxury train service from London to Venice and other European cities. It is currently owned by Belmond.
The Belmond Hotel Monasterio is a five-star hotel in Cusco, Peru. It is a refurbished Baroque seminary built in the 17th century on Inca foundations. The hotel is located two blocks from the Plaza de Armas, in the former premises of Saint Anthony the Abbot Seminary.
Pontassieve is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 14 kilometres (9 mi) east of Florence, nearby Fiesole, at the confluence of the Arno and Sieve rivers.
Tavarnelle Val di Pesa is a former comune (municipality) and since 2019 a frazione of Barberino Tavarnelle in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany. It is located about 25 kilometres south of Florence.
The Eastern & Oriental Express is a luxury cruise train that carries passengers between Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Belmond Ltd. is a hospitality and leisure company that operates luxury hotels, train services and river cruises worldwide. In 2015, the company had 35 deluxe hotels, 7 tourist trains, 3 river cruises and restaurants in 22 countries.
The Belmond Hotel Cipriani is a deluxe hotel on the island of Giudecca in Venice, northern Italy. It is reached by hotel launch from St Mark's Square, a five-minute journey across the lagoon. Long considered one of the leading luxury hotels of the world, its room rates begin at USD $1,400 per night.
The Belmond Hotel Splendido is a hotel in Portofino, Italy. The site was formerly home to a Benedictine monastery which was ransacked so many times by Saracen pirates that the monks abandoned it in the 16th century. The four-storey high building subsequently fell into disrepair. In the 19th century the property was purchased by Italian aristocrat Baron Baratta, who renovated and converted it into a family summer house. In 1901 the building was purchased by Ruggero Valentini who transformed it into a hotel which opened in 1902. Since its inception, the hotel has played host to various famous people and noble families. The 1950s witnessed the discovery of Portofino by American visitors who made the hotel their accommodation of choice. Among the visitors from this time to the present have been the Duke of Windsor, Winston Churchill and Rex Harrison.in 1952, Clark Gable in 1953, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Groucho Marx and Ava Gardner in 1954, Fredric March in 1955, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in 1967. Christopher Plummer in 1971. Italian President of Republic Giuseppe Saragat in 1971. The whole Families of Counts Agusta in 1965. Valentina Cortese 1965.
Attilio Di Fabrizio, chef de cuisine for both the Villa San Michele in Florence and the Hotel Splendido in Portofino, was born in the town of Abruzzi. He studied at the Villa Santa Cookery School, cradle of many of Italy's most outstanding chefs. Di Fabrizio followed formal training with apprenticeships in Italy, France, Great Britain, and Switzerland, developing his skills and broadening his knowledge, before returning to Italy to the world-famous Hotel Cipriani in Venice.
Luxury trains are a premium passenger rail service. Some luxury trains promote tourism in destinations across a region, while others take passengers on a ride through a single country.
Belmond Reid's Palace is a historic hotel located to the west of Funchal Bay in Madeira, Portugal, in an imposing position looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. The hotel has sloping gardens. The hotel's complex include more than 40,000 square meters of space designed as a subtropical botanical garden.
Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo is a hotel located at the centre of Taormina in Sicily, adjacent to the Greek Theatre.
Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel is a luxury hotel situated in the Gardens neighbourhood in inner-city Cape Town in a garden estate overlooked by Table Mountain.
Belmond British Pullman is a private luxury train that operates day and weekend journeys around Britain. Until 2023, it also served as the British leg of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) service between London and Venice.
Villa il Palmerino is a villa in Settignano, in the north-eastern part of the city of Florence, in central Italy. It lies in the hills below Fiesole, close to the frazione and convent of San Domenico. From about 1889 it was the home of the British writer Violet Paget, who wrote under the pseudonym "Vernon Lee", and was at that time also known as Villa Paget.
The Villa San Girolamo, sometimes known as the Church of San Girolamo, is a building complex that includes a villa, olive grove, and former Catholic monastery and church located on Via Vecchia Fiesolana in Fiesole, Tuscany.
Mary Teissier was a Ukrainian-French socialite, heiress, interior designer, and art collector. She is best known as the long-time mistress of American millionaire J. Paul Getty, with whom she lived at Sutton Place. When Getty died in 1976, she received the second-largest inheritance out of all of his mistresses. She was married to the Parisian socialite Lucien Teissier, with whom she owned the Villa San Michele in Tuscany. Through her mother, Teissier was a morganatic descendant of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia.
