W Hotels has spent the better part of the last few years rewriting what it means to be the original “lifestyle” hotel. With more than 70 properties worldwide, the brand is deep into a global evolution built on a specific trifecta—detail-driven design, an elevated service culture, and dynamic programming—and nowhere is that recalibration more legible than in Italy, where W now runs a three-property portfolio spanning the capital, the Tuscan center, and the Sardinian coast.

When Hillary Duff was zooming around Rome on a Vespa and singing this is “What Dreams Are Made Of,” this is what she meant.

The throughline with these properties is service as much as style. W’s answer to the concierge is the W Insider, the person tasked with embodying the brand’s Whatever/Whenever philosophy—approachable, attentive, and, ideally, one step ahead of you. Around that sits the programming: a rolling calendar of collaborations organized under the brand’s stated passions of Stance, Sound, Scene, Taste, and Body.

Below are the three hotels, and three very different versions of what a W can be.

W Rome

The one that started it all in Italy. W Rome marks the brand’s Italian debut, and it makes its case through contrast: interiors by Meyer Davis set the city’s traditional architecture and cultural heritage against a distinctly W interpretation of Roman design—captivating, a little glamorous, and unmistakably on brand. Dining is anchored by Michelin-starred chef Ciccio Sultano, whose signature Giano Restaurant offers a contemporary, imaginative take on traditional Sicilian cooking, leaning on authentic Italian flavors and indigenous Sicilian ingredients to fuse island cuisine with Roman sensibility. Upstairs, the rooftop terrace houses the WET Deck and its plunge pool alongside the Otto Rooftop Bar—panoramic views of Rome, cocktails, crudo, and pizza.

W Florence

W’s second Italian property is also its most historically loaded. The hotel occupies the former Grand Hotel Majestic, a landmark originally built in the rationalist-modernist style and designed by Florentine architect Lando Bartoli in 1968. Rather than erase that lineage, W leaned into it: Italian firm Genius Loci Architettura restored and reimagined the building to LEED Gold and WELL Silver sustainability standards, while design firm AvroKO—the studio behind W Prague and the forthcoming W Hoboken—handled the interiors, blending the charm of the 1960s and ’70s with a modern, elevated aesthetic drawn from influential Italian fashion. The result is a deliberate interplay between past and present. Location does the rest: the hotel sits on Piazza dell’Unità Italiana, steps from the Duomo, the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, and the city-center shopping district.

W Sardinia – Poltu Quatu

The newest, and the most dramatic. W Sardinia – Poltu Quatu marks the brand’s Sardinian debut, set along the island’s northeast coast between Porto Cervo and Baia Sardinia, overlooking the Marina dell’Orso in the storied village of Poltu Quatu—a name that translates to “hidden port.” Carved into a natural fjord, the resort’s whitewashed architecture cascades down granite cliffs, engineered to sit inside the island’s rugged landscape rather than on top of it. Meyer Davis handled design and DE.TALES the architecture, delivering 157 guestrooms and suites shaped around Sardinia’s native textures, materials, and craftsmanship. Social life clusters around the signature W Lounge, WET Deck, and AWAY Spa, plus TANIT, a marina-front seafood restaurant built around Sardinian coastal cuisine. A seasonal roster of programming—local artisan collaborations, boat excursions across the La Maddalena Archipelago—positions the property as a culture-led gateway to the island rather than a sealed-off resort.

For those inclined to stay indefinitely, the property is also launching W Residences Sardinia – Poltu Quatu: a boutique collection of 29 private homes, with sales opening this summer and completion planned for 2027.

You might just catch us moving in. (One day).