B&B Douce Maison

We stayed in the Duomo Room, which was large and had a sofa, dining table, chairs, refrigerator, mini bar, coffee pot, balcony, and two single beds pushed together as a king. The mini-split unit above the bed let us control heating and cooling ourselves instead of waiting for the hotel to switch between “summer” and “winter.” The bathroom was huge, with two sinks, a toilet, hair dryer, and bidet. The shower, though, was microscopic and impractical. My wife and I are both under 6 feet, but it was too small to bend down and wash our feet, and it leaked water everywhere. It had body jets, a hand-held wand, and a rain-shower, but the hot water kept shifting from cold to hot with little in between. The balcony looks onto the Piazza, and the cafés outside can stay open late on weekends, so it can get loud. We're light sleepers, and even with our waterfall white-noise app, we could hear the commotion below, though it didn't keep us awake. Ear plugs might help, or maybe a second bottle of wine. Church bells across the street start ringing every morning at 7:45. There's no sound insulation, but we loved the bells and already miss them. WiFi was good but not great, since we had to log in repeatedly. The cell signal in the room wasn't great either, but both were good enough for maps, Facebook, and some videos. Breakfast is served at the back of the café when it's open, and upstairs in the front room on Mondays when the café is closed. We never saw a menu, but it seemed they could make whatever they had, including meats, cheese, juice, pastry, cappuccino, and omelettes. It's not a typical hotel buffet. Check-in was quick and easy. Just go into the café and ask the cashier. We'd spotted the parking lot behind the hotel on Google Maps and found a space there. The gate may be closed, but they give you several keys for the building's locks. Otherwise, you can park out front at the café while you get settled. There's no front desk or 24-hour reception, except when the café is open. All the rooms are upstairs, and we didn't see an elevator. The staff spoke better English than we spoke Italian, and gave us a cup of cappuccino. The B&B is above a café, which is handy for breakfast, lunch, cappuccino, gelato, and drinks. The people working there are great, and we'll stay again when we return to Alba.