Herbert Ypma has ventured far beyond the familiar rolling hills of Tuscany, the postcard-perfect Amalfi Coast, or the Grand Tour destinations of Venice, Florence and Rome, to introduce real discoveries in underexplored regions like Campania, Puglia, Basilicata and Le Marche.
You might be inspired to visit the utterly refined Hotel Raya on the Aeolian island of Panarea, from whose all-white terraces you can watch the volcano of Stromboli spurt fiery lava into the night skies. Sicily offers medieval gems like a converted Franciscan monastery in Taormina, and Castello di Falconara, a Norman castle right on the beach.
At the opposite end of the country, in the ultra-stylish ski town of Cortina d'Ampezzo, is Hotel de la Poste, run today by the same family as when Hemingway used to jump into his Buick convertible and drive up from Venice in the early 1930s. If the beach life and night life of the Adriatic coast are more your scene, then fashion designer Alberta Ferretti's Carducci 76 makes a superslick base. Or enjoy the peace and splendour of the stately neo-gothic Villa Feltrinelli on the shores of Lake Garda – recently revamped and restored by a funky San Francisco-based design firm.
Many hotels are a complete surprise: ancient sassi cave-dwellings in the eroded rocky landscape of Basilicata, or the trulli of Puglia, centuries-old igloo-like constructions with conical slate roofs. And whether cave, abbey, olive mill, fishing hut or barefoot beachside palazzo, every one of these unique hotels is true to its locale in its architecture, design and gastronomy.