We were met by Irena on arrival with wine, Cheese and Ham. A fantastic host who was invisable but there whenever you wanted information. We left 2 weeks later after a wonderful relaxing holiday. The initial plan was to use the villa as a base with a party of 6. However the villa was enchanting with a fantastic swimming pool and sunbathing area which kept my 15 year old daughter and friend happy, my 22 year old son and his girlfriend happy and most importantly my wife happy. This place is an absolute gem of a find. This combined with the trips out to the local vin yards ( which again are fantastic) drinking Asti in Asti and having some of the best Pizza I have ever had. Made it a holiday of a lifetime where I did not have to put a lot of effort in. My son and his girlfriend went of to Florence for one of the weekends by train from Asti (15 min drive) My sister flew in for a few days, landing in Turin or rather as I found out Torino airport. (Less than an hour drive). Torino is a must visit with the architecture, shops and cafes. The Mole for the lift experience. Within an hour there is a very large outlet which also has Gucci ( much to the misfortune of my bank account). Closer to the villa we have Bra, Asti and Alba with the surrounding villages inc Barolo ( best red in Italy). To be honest there was loads more to explore but the Villa and pool made days out not so appealing. The local town has two supermarkets for the essentials and some lovely places to eat. The place to go for pizza is the Blue Rose. Packed every night with the local populous and others from further a field. The Local vin yard do a great meal on Fridays especially with a large buffet type spread as well as meals. But I am forgetting the villa. We had the bedroom with the balcony. We sat out and had tea every morning and sundowners at night. The bathrooms are all superb. I noticed that there were radiators in all rooms for winter visitors, but more importantly A/C in the bedrooms for the summer. The kitchen is well set up for self catering. The dining room is large but we mostly eat outside. The whole villa is decorated luxury, quircky and even a little decedant and will suit all tastes. The swimming pool used salt rather than Chorine so no dry skin or sore eyes. In fact I can say the best pool water I have ever been in and lit up in the night was a great experience. The jacuzzi was used once and the kids loved it but the pool always won. Irena it was a pleasure xxxxxxx
