Facing Lucca's Piazza Napoleone — the grand civic stage that Napoleon's sister Elisa Baciocchi remodelled in the early nineteenth century — a neoclassical palazzo with ochre-washed render and deep green shutters has been converted into Grand Universe Lucca, part of Marriott's Autograph Collection. The building's four-storey facade, articulated with rusticated stone at street level and arched fanlight windows above, holds its formal composure against one of Tuscany's most ceremonially proportioned squares, where a merry-go-round still turns beneath the plane trees in winter. The interiors navigate the palazzo's bones — vaulted plaster ceilings, exposed timber beams in the upper rooms — with a contemporary palette that avoids the usual period-costume approach to Italian historic conversions. The bar and restaurant spaces preserve their original groin vaults, washed in warm limewash plaster and animated by clustered globe pendants and a sculptural starburst chandelier that hangs low over the dining room's terrazzo floor. Velvet seating shifts between deep plum, forest green, and dusty rose across the public areas, the upholstery choices bold enough to register against the muted stone tones without competing with them. Guest rooms layer saffron-yellow velvet headboards and patterned herringbone parquet with blue-grey abstract rugs and damask curtains, while the upper suites reveal their full ceiling height through the exposed beams — a reminder that the building was always meant to impress, long before it became a hotel.

No travel notes provided yet.

Everything is authentic, from the city, with its history and perfectly preserved original architecture, to the elegant Palazzo masterfully renovated. Located in the heart of Lucca, whose walls are intact from the right next to the Piazza Napoleone which was created by Elisa Bonaparte back to the16th century . Standing in front of the Teatro del Giglio, Grand Universe Lucca offers breathtaking views of Saint Martino’s Cathedral, all the churches, monuments and towers. Grand Universe Lucca is an historical beacon blending different eras of history, from antiquity until today. From the existing building wall foundations dating back to Roman times, to the ancient glass blowers fountain remnants in the cellar, to the beautiful classic but fresh design of the hotel, Grand Universe Lucca is a destination truly unique to the city