Relais San Maurizio

We adored Relais San Maurizio. The location is beautiful, surrounded by the glorious vineyards, close to Asti and the famous winemakers of the region. The hotel is in a former Cistercian monastery and is a magical place where there is a feeling of harmony and happiness. The gardens are a most enjoyable place to walk and explore, to see the beautiful old trees and visit the monks' herb garden and meditation place. We really enjoyed the peacefulness. The rooms are lovely and light, and characterful. The two restaurants, the Guido Michelin starred restaurant and the bistro, were both excellent and you could enjoy the magnificent view of the Swiss mountain Monte Rosa in the distance from the restaurant terrace. The breakfast is fantastic and is served in the garden with the buffet in the old chapel, a beautiful building where there is the added interest of the contemporary wall art by artist David Tremlett - it look absolutely splendid. We had a very enjoyable and informative wine tasting in the bar with the somelière which we really enjoyed. All the staff in the restaurants and the bar were fabulous, as were all the staff at the reception and the pools/wellness centre and throughout the hotel. The gym is very usable and has good equipment, and it is housed in a pleasant space with lovely view. The hotel's wellness centre is quite special - we loved the salt cave with various salt baths and temperature contrast bath, and we made the most of this by using these wonderful facilities every day of our stay. The reception staff were very helpful, made some excellent recommendations and made sure we had everything we needed. The hotel is superbly run and everyone is efficient, friendly and quite charming. We couldn't fault anything. At San Maurizio everything comes together in a most magical and serene atmosphere. What a wonderful holiday! I would love to visit again, maybe next time with more of my family, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.