Hotel Villino Della Flanella

We stayed as the second “lockdown” began. It’s right off the motorway, so getting there was easy, and there’s plenty of space for a dog to run around. Definitely an unusual place to stay. The lady at reception was miserable and not helpful at all.

It was a little cold, but the historic feel and lovely rural setting, with lime trees around the garden, made for a cozy stay. The manager was so friendly, and her little dog Flanella had been found wandering around the neighborhood and given a home. Right next door, La Piola serves fresh, rustic food and fantastic wine made by Claudio Camola himself. I enthusiastically recommend the hotel!

Our second night was better in one respect: the room itself was okay. But the staff were sour, and breakfast was laughable. I can’t believe a place in Italy would serve what was basically Wonder Bread and Corn Flakes with a straight face. We only stayed that night because we’d already paid and they refused to refund us. The first night was a disaster before we even arrived. We were told they could accommodate a late check-in and to send an estimated arrival time when we got closer, so we booked two nights. Once we had an estimate, the innkeeper changed their mind and said they wouldn’t wait for us or offer any way to access the hotel we’d paid for. They also refused to refund either night. At 11:30 pm, on the first night of our vacation, we had to find another room in a city ten hours from home. Modena is beautiful, with plenty of lovely places to stay and lovely people. Stay away from this place. I travel a lot, and this is one of the few truly terrible reviews I’ve left. I know from my own experience that reviews can make a difference, and I don’t like doing this, but the experience was so bad and so easily avoidable by the hotel that I feel I have little choice but to warn people away.

It was an excellent experience, and La Piola nearby was a big part of it. The restaurant serves old-style food prepared the way peasants used to make it, and Enzio Ferrari used to eat there. The hotel itself is an interesting place too. It was a brothel in the early 20th century, and everything has been left as it was. There are plenty of explicit pictures around, so it feels like sleeping in a museum of sex.