We've just returned from one of our favorite towns in Italy...Lucca. We have been here before but this is the first time we have stayed at this lovely 18-room boutique hotel within the ancient walls.
It is a family owned and run hotel. Mario Maraviglia and his son Gabriele along with their top-notch staff made our 10 day stay fabulous.
From the moment we arrived, we were treated with the utmost in care and attention.
Our room was on the second floor and was quite spacious. So unlike many hotels in the states where you can feel jammed into a box. There were two large windows, high ceilings, a sofa and an upholstered chair along with the bed and a desk which all made for a comfortable experience.
What I love about hotels and homes in Italy is that the windows often come complete with shutters. My husband and I are both light sleepers in general but at night, closing up those wooden shutters, all noise and light were blocked out. I can't tell you the last time I slept so deeply and so soundly. We had to set an alarm lest we sleep the day away. In the morning, there was nothing like opening the shutters, pulling open the curtains and letting the blue sky and almost ever-present Tuscan sunlight stream in the room.
I did not realize when I booked the hotel that there are a few rooms with balconies. Had I known this I would have tried to get one of them. That said, we were not in our room that much as it was but it would have been a nice addition.
Breakfast comes with the price of your room and is held in the pretty dining room off to the side of the lobby. The breakfast offerings were typical but delicious Italian breakfast options like a selection of salamis, ham, mortadella, cheese along with scrambled eggs and bacon. There was a selection of extraordinarily delicious yogurts, croissants, breads, usually two types of breakfast cakes, fruit, juice and your choice of American coffee or cappuccino. Some mornings there were also baked apples. This was a gathering place where we met some of the other guests who were staying at the hotel at the same time.
Because we have traveled to Italy many times...including to this area, we were not looking to hit up the usual tourist sites. We've seen them. At this point we like to have experiences off the beaten path. Toward that end, Mario set us up with a number of different driving routes that he recommended.
These routes he plotted out for us were really amazing and took us into some of the most gorgeous Tuscan environments and small villages.
The day we took the coastal route he recommended up north, we stopped in a beach town called Forte dei Marmi. All the beach resorts were closed for the season and despite the fact the temperature was close to 80 degrees we had much of the gorgeous beach to ourselves. As we were walking along the beach, I saw two men on horseback approach us.
I was excited to see them thinking I could ask them where we too might rent horses to ride on the beach. They slowed as they approached us and as it turned out, Andrea Boccelli was one of the riders. I learned that despite his blindness his is an accomplished equestrian and owns a villa in the town. I am a huge Boccelli fan so this low-key, non-celebrity madness driven, non-paparazzi filled experience was amazing.
Another drive Mario plotted out for us was through the beautiful Apuan Alps. This drive is not for the faint of heart. The roads are narrow, people drive fast and you have to be on your toes. But the view of the Alps on one side and the verdant Apennine mountains on the other, should not be missed.
Although this hotel is within the walled-city of Lucca which is not meant to be driven around in but rather walked or biked through, we do recommend that you rent a car so you can see what the larger Lucca countryside has to offer which is quite a lot.
The hotel has a coveted outdoor parking field hidden behind a locked gate, just around the corner. For a modest daily fee you can easily and safely park your car within a moment of the hotel.
The next time we return to Lucca we plan to rent a house in the countryside but should we want to stay in town again we would most definitely come back to this hotel. Don't miss it. read more