Agriturismo La Roccia

Breakfast came after such a long wait that it felt like a punishment, and the dining rooms had cobwebs everywhere. The room was awful, old and post-war in feel, and cold enough that I had to ask for a duvet. What they brought was worn out, while the bed had only a thin, shabby coverlet. The boiler wasn't working, and the mattress sagged like a hole. I spent the night awake with the cold and back pain. I can't comment on the cooking because I wouldn't have tried it. Seeing the dogs shut in a pen in the rain and cold was the last straw. Never again.

We'd be glad to come back. The staff made us feel welcome and the service was spot on. The food was rooted in local cooking, with typical ingredients put together skillfully. Surrounded by greenery, the place has a calm, peaceful feel.

We left and luckily found somewhere clean, dependable, and quiet where we could finally unwind. The reason was a string of problems after arriving for a full-board booking I'd made by phone a few months earlier. I had offered to pay in advance by bank transfer, but the owner asked me to pay cash the following day and said not to worry. When we got there, I offered again to pay right away, and she still said it could wait until tomorrow. She showed us a room with cobwebs, a bad smell, and very poor sanitation. It was freezing too. At 3:00 PM we were told nobody could turn on the radiators until 6:00 PM because they didn't know how. They put us in a dingy little sitting room to warm up, but no one came at six. We went back to our room to rest, and ten minutes later the owner called us downstairs urgently. She said she'd forgotten the room had already been assigned to someone else. When we asked what could be done, she called a friend with a B&B about a 15-minute drive away. The friend wouldn't get there until 8:00 PM, and we'd have to pay extra for that room. So we ran off. Being kicked out because the same room had been booked twice sounds unbelievable, but that's what happened. Go ahead if you want a nightmare; otherwise, stay elsewhere.

The woman who greeted us was warm and professional, and I felt right at home. The dessert was excellent too. Most memorable of all was the food: the best pappardella with wild boar I've ever had, plus great cheeses and cured meats. The homemade liqueurs were amazing, especially the blackthorn one. A special spot out in nature. Ten out of ten.