We rented La Villa Hotel for 1 week in late September this year for our hands-on cooking course and culinary tour of Piemonte. After much villa searching, we found La Villa and although they had not yet completed construction of the kitchen or dining room, we agreed to book the villa anyway since we had a wonderful first impression of Chris and Nicola, the owners.

We arrived with 20 Americans ready to tour, cook, eat and drink. Upon our arrival, we had a wonderful Prosecco welcome by Chris and Nicola, and they had organized a fantastic dinner for all of the jet-lagged travelers, paired with wines from a local azienda. It was the wonderful start to a week of winemaker dinners and other events at the villa that were organized by Chris and Nicola - based on their wonderful relationships with producers from the local area. In addition to wine producers who presented and poured their wines at each of our dinners, they also organized for a local chocolatier and artisan amaretti producer to join for dessert. Each of the events were great learning experiences and all of our special guests were intriguing and had wonderful stories to tell about their families, traditions, and products.

The cooking classes were held in the brand new professional kitchen which is outfitted with everything you could imagine and all 20 people did manage to work together around the island and spacious work areas as well as at the very large stove. We ate in the adjacent dining room that was the center of many delicious dinners we prepared during the week. Everyone loved the decor throughout La Villa - it's casual chic that is not contrived nor stuffy or formal. It almost seems as if it was achieved without effort - and yet it is all Nicola's touch with wonderful details in each room - like cookbooks in ours, wonderful large bathrooms, and the lovely handmade olive-oil soaps that appeared on our beds the 3rd night, wrapped in straw on a fresh bay laurel leaf. Little details everywhere that add up to a wonderful experience.

And while the rooms could be beautiful and the villa gorgeous, it is Chris and Nicola who make La Villa Hotel such a special place. Each night many of us spent in the bar sipping grappa, playing cards, listening to music, and chatting with Chris at the helm - who kept us laughing and entertained into the wee hours. And Nicola tirelessly shopped for the perfect ingredients, cooked a beautiful meal for us the first night, and decorated the dining room and outdoor tables with such natural style. Both are such a pleasure to be with (as are their graceful daughters) - and we dined with them each night like family.

We have already booked the villa for a week next year!

Stayed here over easter 2006. Been lazy about posting about it, but only because every weekend we keep thinking of going back. As a bed and breakfast, this hotel is more than outstanding. Chris and Nicola have put together an excellent property in a beautiful setting. Rooms are quite comfortable and elegantly furnished. The proprietors are so friendly that you can forget that they are trying to run a hotel and sit and chat all day with them. For relaxing and enjoying Asti or the other hill towns around here, this is a charming place to stay. Its a bit of a drive over to Alba and Barolo, especially if you are going to do some tasting, but arranging a driver wasn't difficult. But in the end, for us, the quality and friendliness of this hotel will bring us back to stay here whenever we come down to explore Piemonte....hopefully this weekend...

Our family of 4 stayed here in mid-august and promptly fell head over heels for La Villa. From the moment we arrived and were given a warm welcome by Chris (and a little something to wash away the travel dust). To the moment we departed with heavy hearts and a promise to return as soon as we could. This is just a magnificent Hotel positioned in what i would safely describe as the most beautiful setting in Europe. Wandering out onto our terrace in the early morning from the outstanding Moroccan room was almost dream-like. With some proven local knowledge from the hosts, Nicola being the other party, we were directed all over Monferrato and discovered parts of Italy that we though no longer existed. And when we'd had our fill of this we just flopped around the pool that has vistas over the vineyards, contently supping on drinks and tuning in to the buzz of honey bees on the Jasmin. Sound Idyllic? It truly is. Chris asked us on arriving what we expected from the trip to which we answered rest and relaxation. well after 7 days here we were all fully charged and ready to face real life again in the certain knowledge we have a haven to retreat to whenever the need arises. We REALLY cannot recommend La Villa enough.

We, a family of 4, stayed at La Villa Hotel for 5 nights at the end of July. Our stay was utterly perfect in every way - Chris & Nicola the most genial and convivial of hosts, splendid breakfasts on the terrace, a spacious swimming pool with stunning views over the local vineyards, the excellent local restaurants and vinetasting recommendations, the impromptu barbeques with fellow guests and the endless nightcaps.
We stayed in the beautifully decorated Stables Suite, ideal for a family stay.
Our stay made us feel that we were Chris & Nicola's house guests not hotel guest s which was really special. We will definitely go back and hopefully with the same other families that we met as children and adult alike had a great time.
Our daughter told us it was her best holiday ever. Our son enjoyed the games with all the children. We really relaxed - definitely to be recommended. And wonderful value to boot!!