It may be the Italian love for making fine discriminations, but still, The Hotel Detective was astonished to learn that the 20-room JK Place in Florence has eight room categories. That’s what the Italians would call cutting it sottile.
In the ecosystem of Florentine luxury hotels, though, JK Place holds a unique spot. It’s not a palazzo, it’s a townhouse. It isn’t meant to feel grand, but rather like home. It’s more French in form (a Hôtel Particulier) than Italian, and it delivers because of the layout. The building is wrapped around a tall, narrow courtyard, and the decor on the first floor sends the come se siate a casa message clearly. There’s a sitting room furnished like a small library and a breakfast room that is made for dawdling over newspapers. Reception is almost invisible, a minute check-in desk off the corridor between the sitting and breakfast rooms.
The look, but even more the feel, has struck a chord: JK Place is heavily booked, even though the two lowest room categories, Classic Double and Superior Double are as trim and fitted as a luxury cruise-ship cabin (250 and 300 square feet, respectively). JK Place has pulled off something interesting: It charges top dollar, but has somehow convinced its clientele that the hotel's feel and service is their money’s worth, not the room size. Two people staying for longer than two nights in a double will have to be experienced pas-de-deux partners to get along. THD’s advice on Superiors is to book 19 because the arch over the bed somehow makes the room look bigger than 16, where THD bivouaced. Same space, different feeling.
Trip Advisor has 406 reviews of JK Place, an unusually large number for a luxury hotel on this site, given that so many of its review pages for luxury hotels sport the caption, “Be the first to write a review.” That says something about the demographic, but also says something about JK Place having made affluent people take to the site to express opinions, mainly in the key of ecstasy, with the words “feels like a home” a recurrent theme. One in French seemed to get at the hotel’s essence: “Oase de paix et de luxe.”
So THD’s advice about JK Place is, buy in to the vibe but consider stepping up to a larger room, especially one that takes advantage of the hotel’s location, overlooking the Church of Santa Maria Novella. There are two great Masaccio frescoes inside, among other great works.
There are five numbers to know for these rooms: 1 (above), 6, 12 (below), 21, and 22. As the number goes up, so does the floor. Thus room number one is on the first floor, six is on the second, 12 on the third, and 21 and 22 occupy the fourth (top) floor. The first three are Master Rooms (550 square feet), 21 is a Duplex Junior Suite (400 square feet), and 22 is the JK Panoramic Loft (500 square feet), also a duplex. One other thing: These rooms are heavily booked, so if you want to get in, the name to know is Michael Albanese at Element Lifestyle in Los Angeles, a concierge travel service with a direct line to the GM at JK Place and to a host of other exclusive hotels and travel experiences around the world.
What THD liked about JK Place was the feeling of seclusion, of being wrapped in sophisticated contemporary surroundings, even in one of the smaller rooms. Some rooms at the back of the hotel such as 11, a second-floor suite, amplify that feeling. It’s dead quiet, has a living room done in the hotel colors (white, beige, and light gray) and flourishes (linen slip covers with piping). It’s the kind of room that THD could imagine living in for a couple of months while writing a crime novel set in a luxury hotel.
It’s part of JK Place’s complexity that the Penthouse (room 24, below) is not the largest room and doesn’t overlook Piazza Santa Maria Novella. It’s at the back of the hotel, a 400-square-foot duplex consisting of a bedroom on the first floor and a bathroom and terrace above. It’s private, the terrace and tub have fine views of the Duomo and Campanile, and the millionaire from Ohio, who gave THD a tour, loved it.
Whichever JK Place slot you slip into, there’s the rooftop terrace (below), which offers a dead-on view of the Duomo and Campanile and levels the playing field. That’s where THD met the Penthouse occupant, had a great time chatting, punctuated by the Duomo bells ringing the hour. (See below for recent THD articles on Florence hotels.)
