Why Forte dei Marmi Is Your Next Italian Obsession
- Veronica Lawson Vilches
- Jun 8
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 10
The Italians have a word that has always sounded so pretty to me: villeggiatura. It means a seasonal retreat. A return to somewhere you love. Long days with nowhere to be and no reason to rush.
Forte dei Marmi, tucked between marble mountains and the Ligurian Sea, is where that tradition lives still up to this day. It’s a small, elegant town where Italians have been enjoying their summer for generations. Pine trees, white sand, aperitivo at golden hour, and a quiet that makes you sit in the moment and enjoy. No need for headphones or a book, just a presence in the moment.
This is not the Italy of tourist queues and highlight reels. It is a place with its own rhythm, and a hotel that understands it perfectly.
That hotel is Pensione America. If you've been looking for a reason to finally do Italy slightly differently, this is it.
Where Italy Summers
Forte dei Marmi sits on the Tuscan Riviera, between Florence and Liguria. Its name translates literally to "Fort of Marbles", which is a nod to its origins as a marble shipping port for the famous Carrara quarries nearby. It’s where Michelangelo would come to liberate his next masterpiece from the stone.
There is something in that image that captures Forte dei Marmi perfectly. It is a town that slowly reveals itself. The beauty is in the pine-lined streets, the unhurried pace, and the bike rides along the coast.
This is not the Amalfi Coast, nor is it Cinque Terre. There are no tour buses, no typical touristy activities, and no chaos. Forte dei Marmi is where Italians retreat in the summer months when they no longer want to be in large, tourist-filled cities. The clientele here is largely Italian (Milanese families, Florentine professionals, and old-money Europeans). They come back year after year to the same beach club and the same town square for aperitivo.
You’ll sometimes be able to catch a celebrity or two, and it’s a known fact that Andrea Bocelli has his residency here.
For American luxury travelers, it’s a place where you can go to and feel like you’re actually a part of the Italian lifestyle and culture.
The History of Pensione America
Pensione America began as a humble pensione, which in Italian means a small, family-run guest house or budget hotel. This type of hotel was often popular at the start of the 20th century along Italy's coastlines. They were simple places where families could spend their long summers with low expectations. It has stood on Via Colombo, just a few steps from the sea, for decades.
Today, as a member of both The Leading Hotels of the World and the Michelin Guide, you’d think that it has a completely different vibe to it. That thought, in fact, is wrong. It has been revived by the Maestrelli family, who have been vacationing in Forte for generations, and they genuinely love the place. It’s something you can feel when Sara Maestrelli presents these properties, who talks about how she summered there growing up, her memories, and her love for Forte.
Every detail of the hotel reflects that love: the hand-painted wallpaper that seems like they were printed, the original exterior paint colors, furnishings by Italian artisans, and the colors drawn from the landscape surrounding the villa. Everything has been chosen with intention. It is an adults-only retreat of just 18 rooms, and it manages to feel effortlessly chic and also unpretentious. As the Michelin Guide put it, “a modern take on the long, slow summers Italians do best.”
Pensione America is part of Collezione Em, a small collection of exceptional Italian properties that includes Villa Roma Imperiale also at Forte dei Marmi, Grand Hotel Minerva and Hotel Brunelleschi in Florence, and Violino d’Oro in Venice.
The Property & The Experience
When I first stepped into the gate, I felt like the world outside had disappeared. I was caught by the pathway into the hotel filled with plants and flowers, the garden full of chirping birds in the background, and pine trees surrounding me. At the center is the hand-painted Sicilian ceramic pool, which I had seen all over social media.
The property doesn’t feel crowded. I felt like I was being invited into an Italian home.
Rooms are naturally filled with light, have wooden floors, walk-in showers made with hand-painted Sicilian tiles (like the pool), bathrobes, and the famous Florentine brand Farmacia di Santa Maria Novella bath collection. There are private terraces that overlook the garden, making you enjoy the view privately.
But the true experience of Pensione America happens outside of the room.
Mornings are slow, starting on the veranda with fresh fruit, espresso, and pastries made by the chef. If you happen to be in Forte on a Wednesday or Sunday, take the free accessible bikes of the hotel over to the market, and fill your bags with cashmere, linen, and hats you probably didn’t need but still should get anyway. From there, head to Bagno Assunta, the hotel’s private beach club two minutes away, where your umbrella is waiting, and lunch is served directly to you. You can also spend time at Tennis Roma, the courts next to the hotel grounds.
Aperitivo should be had on the veranda, and make sure to try the signature cocktail that is a call to the region (and served with a piece of frozen Carrara marble). Dinner should be had at least once on the grounds, with homemade spaghetti alle arselle being the dish to try. Not just because it’s good, but because the pasta is all handmade and cooked with local ingredients.
This is what villeggiatura actually feels like.
Why Book With The Travel Maestro
There is a difference between finding this hotel and experiencing it the way our clients do.
We have a direct relationship with Pensione America, and with properties like it across Italy and beyond. That means when our clients arrive, they are not strangers walking in off the street. They are known. The staff knows why they are there, what they are celebrating, and what matters to them.
It also comes with a few perks, exclusively for clients who book through us:
Upgrade on arrival (subject to availability)
Early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability
Daily breakfast for two, served on the terrace or in the room
$100 USD Food and Beverage credit to use however you like
Beyond the amenities, we know the locations. We know which rooms are worth requesting. We know the right time of year to visit without confronting the crowds. We know how to build an itinerary around it, whether that means a day trip into Florence or the Cinque Terre and returning to the calm of the villa by evening, or simply doing nothing at all for a week and feeling completely justified in that choice.
Forte dei Marmi is a place you can come back to at the end of the day, sandy and sun-warmed and already planning dinner. Everything else just happens from there.
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