Snob Diaries: Justin Kendall Embarks On A Five-Star Italian Tour

If you've ever wondered what an influencer's job actually entails (or, very occasionally, a magazine editor’s), allow me to offer a data point. Last month, ten of the zeitgeist's top cultural tastemakers embarked on a five-star trip across Italy with design-first hotel chain W Hotels. With stops in  Florence, Rome, and finally Sardinia, the trip was, by any measure, extremely hard work.

Our first stop was Florence, where our motley crew was greeted by a welcome cocktail on the rooftop of W Hotels' new-ish Florentine location. Opened in 2025, the hotel sits in a Brutalist construction designed by Lando Bartoli in 1968. Whatever your opinions on the aesthetic of its exterior, the view from the top is undeniable — the Duomo rising above a sea of terracotta rooftops, a mismatch of the old and the new.

Looking out over the city from above, the first guests start trickling in, lured by the promise of an aperol spritz. Among them are fashion designer Conner Ives, chef and TV personality Gizzi Erskine, artist Andrés Reisinger — as well as a crop of writers, influencers and industry insiders.

An evening drink turned into a private tour of Rothko paintings at the Palazzo Strozzi (as it does), followed by a loud and meaty feast at a local trattoria. The next day brought another private visit, this time to the Gucci Archives at the Palazzo Settimanni — no photos allowed, obviously — followed by a multiple course 'Connector's Dinner,' again overlooking Florence at sunset. 

But the highlight of Florence was without question: a brief outing to Crisco Disco, a secret gay nightclub bar hidden away down a side street. Myself and a few of the gang's most adventurous members drunkenly stumbled down to said institution, ringing a bell and being greeted with suspicion. After shepherding NYC store owner, writer and stylist Beverly Nguyen in as “basically a gay guy" — the door policy is strictly men-only — we made our way in for a chic two hours, had a couple of drinks at the bar, and left. Keeping things professional.

Still, there were a few groggy faces upon our early departure for Rome the next day, where a fully booked-out train carriage, a calligraphy workshop, and some free time to explore the city gave way to a beautiful dinner at Nino — and despite a few hangovers, the group’s performance was excellent.

Highlights of Rome included a visit to the Palazzo Colonna, one of the oldest and largest private palaces in the city, and, when we were feeling a little less cultured, the chance for a refreshing dip. On the rooftop of W Rome sits a beautifully designed swimming pool — designed for tiny little drinks and long, languid afternoons. Our last afternoon in Rome was spent, blissfully, doing absolutely nothing at all.

But the real highlight of the trip was Sardinia. A trip to this paradisiacal island was what the entire group had been anticipating, and when we arrived at W Sardinia, we were not disappointed. Here, just above the harbour of Poltu Quatu — fittingly, "hidden port" in the local dialect — a jumble of white stone and terracotta surrounds an enormous, multi-layered pool.

W Sardinia is newly opened, and we were there to celebrate it. On the first night, an affluent crowd descended on the aforementioned pool, ready to party. But this was far from an ordinary cocktail party. About halfway into the evening, a procession of Mamuthones — the ancient masked figures of Sardinian tradition — appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and began to perform a ritualistic, and quite frightening, dance. Their heavy cowbells clanged in unison, their black wooden masks catching the last of the evening light.

The pièce de résistance of this extravagant trip was a day spent on three yachts, setting off from the port the morning after the party and rounding the whole thing off on a suitably lavish note. There was a slight sense of whiplash sitting in the airport a few hours later, refraining from ordering a €6 beer on the EasyJet flight back to Berlin — but I suppose normalcy had to return at some point.