bluestocking
italian hideaways Baroque architecture.
Pristine beaches. Peerless cuisine. It’s hard to imagine
a bad day in Italy, and Meg Nolan’s latest exploration
of Italian splendor doesn’t make the challenge any
easier. Italian Hideaways: Discovering Enchanting
Rooms and Private Villas blends Nolan’s discerning
taste in travel with her appetite for off-the-beaten-
path destinations to create a symphony of Italian
retreats for both the avid traveler and the armchair
dreamer to enjoy.
Whether it’s the cosmopolitan cache of Florence or
palatial seclusion on the outskirts of Venice, Nolan
leaves little to chance by unearthing a myriad of
treasured small hotels and villas and highlighting their
finest rooms and accents—a secret handshake of sorts
for those lucky enough to stay the night. Extending
from the hills of Umbria to the vineyards of Tuscany,
Capri’s cerulean landscape to the romantic shadows
of Rome, Italian Hideaways is a guide for the curious
explorer, the Italian aficionado and the traveler who
isn’t satisfied absorbing a country’s culture from the
confines of a mediocre hotel room.
With a voice both direct and sophisticated, Nolan
introduces us to her debut travels through Italy and
her heartfelt adoration for the Grand Hotel Villa
Serbelloni in the intimate town of Bellagio. “Majestic
with its antique yellow façade and lakefront location,
the Villa Serbelloni awed me with its profound beauty
and prominence,” she writes. “Then we went inside.”
And Nolan experienced the effect of an extravagant,
yet carefree luxury that seems only to exist amongst
the hidden gems of the countryside. “The room
was one I will never forget, not only because of its
opulent furnishings and historic splendor but also
because of the way it made all of us feel.” With her
personalized passages that explain the sensation of
