Random observation about rates that some people may find interesting:

As I've been spec'ing this out for my dates, the rates have climbed quickly for the Marriott hotels.

• I speculatively booked a fully flexible FHR reservation at StR Florence for the Junior Suite when I made this post. 4 nights all in is 5770 EUR (as I can see on my Marriott rewards account "My Trips"). Now it's 8110 EUR for same category (AAA knocks ~100 EUR off a night). We're talking ~1 week. I could get a Citi 4NF rate for that room category for 4853 EUR two days ago. Now it is 6877.05 EUR.
• Citi 4NF flexible rate for I booked for Landmark @ Gritti was $6,359.10. Now it's $8,241.51 for same cat.
• StR Rome, which I didn't book, has also gone up but not as much (and I can't quite find the exact figures).

Just a popular time of year? Or is there so little inventory that my bookings have significantly raised the prices? Some combination?

I always book flexible rates super early because... why not? If it goes down, rebook.