“Let’s meet in the piazza,” says hotel manager Patrizia Chiari. She is arranging a tour of Borgo San Felice, a five-star resort in what was once a tiny Tuscan village. It is now fully renovated with modern luxuries from a heated outdoor pool to a spa, yet it manages to maintain the historic rural character of a centuries-old Italian hamlet.

A high-class hotel in a humble historic village

In the central square of Borgo San Felice is the noble palazzo of the Grisaldi Del Taja family, who once commanded life in this pocket-sized community. “The stone structures around the villa would have housed their workers,” Chiari explains, “who labored in the fields around the village in exchange for a portion of the profits.” Come the 60s, however, young people were unwilling to partake in this system and, as occurred throughout Italy, residents relocated to cities.

Gradually, San Felice lost its population. However, in 1978 the Allianz Group saw the opportunity to buy the village with the aim of creating a borgo (Italian for village) hotel in the heart of Chianti country. Now, there are several hamlet-resorts in Italy, but San Felice claims to have started this luxury trend.

Whoever the inventors were, the setup is proving successful, as San Felice’s booming bookings suggest. The fully pedestrianized village (golf carts excepting) is like a tiny time capsule. The pristinely restored medieval stone buildings are adorned with thick ivy and decorative cast iron street lamps. A sign still indicates the local grocery store while another displaying a red phone once hung above the public telephone. A tabernacle still houses a little polychromatic statue while the piazza is home to an 18th-century well.

A Tuscan resort with a Michelin star

The narrow paved alleys are probably a lot quieter than they once would have been. But village life can be found at the poolside bar Gli Archi and the adjacent restaurant Il Poggio Rosso. Under a shaded arcade in a little brick-paved square, guests can have a casual lunch at the bar with seasonal dishes like pasta with the catch of the day or a chicken caesar salad with leaves from San Felice’s vegetable garden.

The Orto Felice, as the garden is called, is part of the social inclusion project Umana Mente established by the Allianz Group. Here, elderly volunteers teach a group of young people with disabilities to take care of the garden and farmyard, whose products are then used in the hotel’s restaurants.

Il Poggio Rosso restaurant is one of the hotel’s top attractions. It first gained a Michelin star in 2020 thanks to Colombian-born chef Juan Quintero. His masterful menu elevates heavy Tuscan fare to delectable flavor explosions by stirring in unpredictable Colombian twists. For example, the macaroni pasta with hazelnut butter and mussels has an unusual addition of anise, while potatoes and truffles are cooked with Colombian coffee.

“I am also deeply inspired by local dishes and I like to reinterpret Tuscan classics,” Quintero says. One example is his take on panforte, a sweet bread from Siena rich with spices and dried fruit. Quintero decided to concoct a savory version that balances the aromatic flavors with chicken liver paté.

This top-of-the-range dining option is well-balanced with the resort’s second restaurant, Osteria del Grigio. This more traditional eatery serves modern Tuscan cuisine. Guests can expect all the classics – pasta with wild boar ragù, ribollita soup and fiorentina steak – along with more creative options like focaccia with fig and parmesan or raviolini with sheep ricotta, wild herbs and brown butter.

The best activities to get outside in the Tuscan countryside

Borgo San Felice is a place to disconnect completely, but guests with itchy feet can do what one should always do in Tuscany and go out into the countryside. For an idyllic morning walk, guests can follow the road encircling the hotel, which finishes by cutting through the vineyards. These supply the grapes for the San Felice Winery, which lies just off the village square and predates the hotel.

San Felice produces Chianti Classico wines as well as Brunello di Montalcino, Bolgheri and Super Tuscans in nearby vineyards. At the winery in the borgo, guests can taste all the range. In 2015, the flagship Chianti Classico Il Grigio Gran Selezione topped Wine Enthusiast’s rankings with the 2011 vintage.

Winemaker Leonardo Bellaccini also produces an intriguing indigenous wine called Pugnitello. Decades ago, the University of Florence asked San Felice to act as a nursery for their 200 autochthonous vines. Over the years, Bellaccini studied and experimented with these historic varieties, finally selecting Pugnitello as a viable grape for wine production and registering it officially.

Epicurean guests should also join a truffle hunting experience with expert Daniele Borgogni. In his reserve, he unearths white truffles, the king of the tubers. Good footwear is essential to follow Borgogni and his trained canine companions as they delve deep into the forest.

When the dogs suddenly start digging, it’s the signal for Borgogni to rush over, prevent the dogs from eating their find themselves with a quick treat, and bore into the soil until he extracts a knobbly beige tuber with a pungent garlicky scent.

Experience life in a classic Italian hamlet

To help create the sense of a living village, the resort is also open to outside visitors who can stroll through the vine-shaded streets and dine in the restaurants. In summer, artisan markets bring color and life to the little lanes, and mass is still held fortnightly in the village church.

As darkness falls, the borgo echoes the sound of crunching footsteps and anticipatory voices of guests as they cross the piazza and head to the restaurant.