B&B Cascina Mondella

The place itself was lovely, which is why we went ahead with the expensive rental for my daughter's graduation party. We were told a few days later that the kitchen and bathroom wouldn't be available, and accepted that. Dinner ran until 12:30, so my daughter politely asked if she could stay until 3:00 with her friends, which is pretty normal for people aged 23 to 30. The owner was rude and showed no understanding of the issues we'd already accommodated. We spent 30 minutes cleaning and had to leave, disappointing 35 people who'd traveled a long way for the party. A restaurant would have cost less, and we'd have had a better celebration.

Dinner went on longer than expected, and we had to leave before the graduation party could even start. We politely asked the winery's owner for one extra hour, but he refused, saying he needed to clean early the next morning. That wasn't the case, since we would have tidied up ourselves before leaving, and did so despite how he'd treated us. He was rude and inflexible about the timing even though everyone had been respectful.

The place is beautiful, but the owner's intrusive, rude behavior spoiled my daughter's graduation party. Even though the rental was expensive and her friends were polite, he insisted they all leave at 1:30 PM that evening, saying they'd had enough time to party. We'd thought he was a different sort of person, which is a shame.

The cellar is stunning, and the old building is lovely, with its original floors, comfortable rooms, and beautiful bathrooms. The owner is an odd fit, though: she speaks about the place with a bit of disdain, dislikes the old floors, and apparently would have shut the cellar in the past. For dinner suggestions, she points people to the Egyptian in Biella for fish. Breakfast was just acceptable, and cash only, of course.