Casa Nine

First a small note of warning. The free parking available onsite is actually street-parking-take-your-chances. And on the day of our arrival the square was packed. But Mariella moved her car for us, and gave us a spot right in front of the very substantial front door. As it turns out, people do some pretty inventive parking in this town anyway (as in much of Italy), and so the ad is not really deceiving. You won't have trouble parking once Mariella or Sebastian show you. Call them a little before you arrive if you can. As for the rest – wow! On the wall of the common area is an award from booking.com, 9.8 for excellence. I believe this is wrong. I would give it a perfect 10 any day! The building dates back to 800AD, meaning it is almost 1,300 years old. Inside there is quaintness and quirkiness everywhere, from the statues in the high-ceilinged foyer, through the ancient stone staircases, to the mismatched heavy wooden doors off each landing as you tread your way upstairs. You open a massive (modern) steel door to enter the specific apartments, and it brings you into the shared space, whereupon there is a very modern and well-equipped kitchen, a well-stocked fridge, and three small dining tables, each designed for two. The décor is fresh, the accessories quirky and interesting, including numerous flower arrangements, and the high ceiling adds to the feeling of spaciousness. The French doors leading to the Juliette balcony top it off nicely. Off this room are two doors and an alcove. Each of the doors lead to an apartment. In the alcove is another door, to the third apartment, along with a staircase leading upwards. And up here is a delightful surprise – a very usable rooftop terrace that looks across the town in all directions, including down into the main square. On the day we arrived the square was bustling with preparations for a festival. We only saw inside one apartment of course, so I can only assume it is representative of them all. Our bedroom was similar in size and proportion to the common space, long and wide and with the very high curved ceiling. The same fresh décor and quirky artworks etc, and a super-sized bed. At 196cm tall, this was a very welcome (and quite rare) sight for me. It proved to be very comfortable. The bathroom is equally good. Breakfast was as good as we have enjoyed any place in the world, and set us up for our busy day. We could never eat it all at a sitting, and we ended up every day taking some of the pastries with us as we travelled around. But by far the best thing about Casa Nine is the incredibly warm welcome you get from Mariella and Sebastian, two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and who will do anything practical they can to make your stay as good as it can be. It wasn’t the cheapest stay on our trip through Italy and France this time, nor was it the most expensive, but it certainly was the best. I recommend it highly.