Hotel Castello di Guarene

The historic, 18th-century Castello di Guarene is a stunning affair, with high vaulted ceilings covered in intricate and richly colored frescoes, crystal chandeliers, and ornate antique furniture throughout. Big windows and furnished terraces provide beautiful panoramic views of the Piedmontese countryside. While the hotel’s breakfast room is a palatial Rococo affair, the more formal restaurant is set in the palace’s old kitchen, which still has the original fireplace, blackened by years of use to prove it. Outside are two manicured formal gardens, their hornbeam trees sculpted into all sorts of fantastical shapes.

There’s been a castle up in the hills above Guarene since medieval times, and the hotel’s spa is set in the old fortress’s vaulted brick tunnels, with its indoor swimming pool in a roughly hewn cave that has been sculpted out of the bedrock on which the palace sits. A bank of glass doors leads out to a terrace with views over the town’s red clay roof tiles. The Castello di Guarene attracts guests looking for absolute seclusion and utter luxury.

At the far end of a private driveway that winds up above Guarene, the Castello is an isolated place. Its high setting affords commanding views over the medieval town and the rolling countryside beyond. While there are some restaurants and bars in Guarene, more dining options, plus museums and sights, can be found in Alba, a town known for white truffles and a 15-minute drive from the hotel. The nearest large town is Asti, a half-hour drive away, and it takes an hour to get to Turin by car. Expect car transfers to Turin Airport to take between 70 and 85 minutes, while it’s a 90- to 120-minute journey to Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport.  

The 12 rooms at the Castello di Guarene are all individually decorated, and every bit as luxurious as the common areas. Every room has a canopied king-sized bed, antique furniture made of rich wood -- chests of drawers, small writing desks, and heavy dining tables  -- and seating consisting of couches and armchairs. All rooms have their walls adorned with painted details, frescoes, and/or bold damask wallpaper, plus sumptuous fabrics, chandeliers, gold headboards, and wood or tile floors topped with antique rugs. Some rooms have large private terraces with chairs and stunning countryside views. Suites have separate bedrooms and living rooms. Bathrooms are large and clad in sleek marble, equipped with rainfall showers, deep soaking tubs, bathrobes and slippers, and hairdryers, plus upmarket toiletries. Antique as their decor may be, amenities are modern, including LED flat-screen TVs, safes, minibars, and fast, free Wi-Fi.

Easily the stand-out feature of the Castello di Guarene is its spa, located in a maze of vaulted brick tunnels and caves below the palace building. In addition to treatment rooms for massages and wellness treatments, there are a sauna, steam room, hot tub, vast chromotherapy shower, and salt caves. The spa can also offer beauty treatments and hairdressing, if booked in advance. In addition to all this, there is a dramatic lap pool in a cave hewn out of the bedrock, and French doors lead from this cave onto an outdoor terrace with sweeping views. A pool table is set in a brick-walled, vaulted room with a medieval-style chandelier and leather sofas.

In a fabulously ornate palace room, the hotel serves a free buffet breakfast with fresh fruits, cheeses and charcuteries, breads and pastries, and hot items cooked-to-order. The hotel’s more formal Italian restaurant, set in the medieval kitchens, serves elaborate set menus with fresh local ingredients that includes the area's famous white truffles. Note that there's a dress code required. There is also a bar, which serves less-formal meals. Outside, the hotel has two beautifully laid-out and well-manicured formal gardens, their lawns a vivid green against the red-clay rooftops of Guarene. The hotel has fast and free Wi-Fi throughout.