Relais Villa d’Amelia - Reviews
Mystery Inspector's Reviews
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19 April 2010
Top 3 reasons to stay at the hotel:
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If you’ve always dreamed of touring the Italian wine region, your first step should be making a booking at Villa d’Amelia and getting in touch with Valentina, or another member of the concierge team. Consider the location: less then a 30 minutes drive from the famous wine producing regions of Barbaresco and Barolo. I realize that there are several other properties in the area that can make the same claim; but what sets Villa d’Amelia apart, at least for me, is its design and the fact that the property is housed in a historic villa. The property perfectly blends into the terrain of rolling hills topped by medieval villages and vineyards. The best part is you can take in this beautiful view from the Villa’s own courtyard while reclining in one of their comfortable couches with a glass of locally produced wine.
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After a long day of touring the local wineries and castles it’s a pleasure to return to the Villa for some more rest and relaxation in the pool, napping / reading a book in one of the sun chairs, or making good use of the wellness area. All the while Pietro, or another member of the team will be checking-up on you to see if there is anything the can do to make your stay more enjoyable.
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Dinner at Villa d’Amelia is a real pleasure. It starts with an aperitif in the quiet courtyard while watching the sun descend over the rolling hills. The night we stayed the chef specially designed a theme menu of seafood dishes paired with champagnes. If you’re going to book a reservation for dinner, ask for one the tables located next to the panoramic windows. This way you can take in beautiful landscape while enjoying your meal.
Overview:
Our visit to Villa d’Amelia began several weeks before we even arrived, when we started corresponding with the concierge. Valentina was very helpful in suggesting wineries and nearby castles to visit during our stay. With the tastings booked in advance I could now dedicate some time reading-up on the region and learning more about the grapes, producers, etc.
When we finally arrived it was everything we had come to expect from the SLH directory and website. Unfortunately we had some ‘car trouble’ on the drive down from Geneva we missed our scheduled tastings for the first day. However Bartomo went out of his way to make us comfortable after a longer then expected morning – even upgrading us to a nicer room with a beautiful view out onto the valleys. To make-up for the fact that we missed wineries, the hotel manager had a bottle of Barbera d’Asti waiting for us in the room (as per my preferences in my SLH account). Since we were not too excited about the prospect of getting back in the car to explore the area we decided to change into bathing suits and relax by the pool (which seems to be the customary way to spend an afternoon in the Piedmont region while on vacation). A member of the staff was always close by to see if there was anything we needed to be more comfortable (i.e. towels, a snack, something to drink). When we had enough of the pool, we could literally swim into the relaxation area and enjoy some more de-stressing in the way of a steam room, Jacuzzi, sauna and complimentary herbal teas.
Later, it was time to get ready for dinner. As usual, I grabbed my book and made my way down to the lounge (in this case a beautiful courtyard) to enjoy an aperitif while my wife needed ‘a little bit longer to get ready’. The courtyard is really a charming place full of couples enjoying a glass of wine together as the sun sets over the valley and locals from the village coming together (dressed to impress) for conversation and laughter.
After a great dinner it was time to retire to our room and get an early start the next day. Breakfast was taken the next morning outside on the Villa’s lovely patio and afterwards we strolled the grounds and helped ourselves to some fresh cherries from their cherry tree (I hope they didn’t mind). In general the management was very gracious – allowing us to have a ‘very late check-out’ (basically until we were finished with a day of sightseeing) and full use of the facilities well past our departure time.