This holiday, after a week in Galicia enjoying the food and the weather, we spent 3 very hot days dragging the kids through Florence’s most prominent museums. Needless to say we needed a break after all the nagging!
Resort La Mola was our next planned 3 day stop; it is conveniently located for easy access to Verona, Venice, Lake Garda, etc. The idea was to use it as base camp and do daily exploration excursions, but we found ourselves in an excellent place to unwind, rest and eat gorgeous food ... and it was hard to leave!
When we arrived, what a pleasant surprise, so much more than expected! Lovely friendly welcome by the owners, Luigi and Lorella, and their beloved Pina, a very friendly and loyal 15 year old german Shepherd. This is a family run hotel and it shows. Excellent value for money, both for the rooms and the food. In fact the food is excellent!
The setting is off a little road, surrounded by the Italian green, lush countryside, with endless vineyards and mature trees. The building seems to be a large, old farmhouse, perfectly restored, now housing comfortable hotel rooms, a great restaurant and a pizzeria, surrounded by green lush gardens and beautiful serene countryside.
The rooms are very comfortable and ample, with a great en-suite shower room (with great towels!), air con, and a window with beautiful views over the endless vineyards and mature trees. We had the best sleep ever. The beds are large, super king in our case, with very comfortable mattresses, pillows and very soft cotton sheets. The room was perfectly cleaned each day.
There is a fabulous restaurant with great choice of high quality dishes, excellent wines, and superb service, with both an indoor formal dining room and an ‘al fresco’ terrace, very stylish and decorated with beautiful taste. For those less peckish, there is also a fantastic pizzeria (all fresh made) which is also where the delicious breakfast is served in the mornings. Fresh fruits, eggs cooked to taste, amaizing cakes and pastries, juices, cereals, freshly baked bread, and coffee or tea to taste. A great start of the day.
To top it all, there’s a huge garden with a pool, jacuzzi and plenty of sun loungers and parasols. The pool itself is neither too large nor deep but great to cool down after lying in the sun for a while.
The air, the place and the whole ambience forces you to relax and unwind. We decided to skip Venice, dreading the heat and crowds at this time of the year; we did nip out to Verona, only 20 km away, saw the magnificent Roman amphitheater and came back at lunch to chill out by the pool at La Mola, followed by a great dinner. On our last day we treated the boys to Cavour, a great new water park only a few kms away. We had fun there but it was great to go back to La Mola and enjoy a fabulous dinner and a glass of wine in the terrace afterwards. The day we left, it was hard to do so, I honestly felt very much at home. There was no fuss, no rushing; instead a friendly goodbye and well wishes. La Mola must not be missed. It’s family run by lovely people, it shows and you certainly feel it. I already miss it. Thank you Luigi and Lorella!!