24 Hours at the Albergo Al Sole, Asolo
Can you imagine a day touring the outlets of Veneto (Armani, Moncler and the Noventa di Piave Outlet near Venice), then heading to Conegliano to buy some boxes of upscale Prosecco, before continuing to Asolo via Valdobbiadene? Well, you might be impressed by the scenery en-route but Asolo will definitely catch your last breath. After driving through completely unspectacular small towns, we finally arrived in the middle of one of the most amazing towns I have ever seen. Located on top of a hill, this town is really super-romatic and a place to see before you die. There are currently just two hotels to stay in the whole surrounding: the famous Villa Cipriani (where we had the pleasure to dine) and Albergo Al Sole (the only five star hotel in the area and a SLH member).
What made me choose the Albergo Al Sole instead of Villa Cipriani was pure institution. While the other hotel has great views, the other looks more elegant, one has a pool, the other one an excellent location and so on. Finally I decided to stay at Albergo Al Sole because of Silvia, the Manager of this picturesque gem. When we arrived in front of the hotel, a lady was already unpacking our car and helped us with the luggage - a great plus after a full back. Yes, my colleague Lukas was overdoing it and shopped little too much, well I wasn't better to be honest ;). Silvia was waiting at the front desk and copied our documents before we had to find the room. It would have been nice to be accompanied but we did find our Junior Suite quite fast!
Upon opening the door, we immediately knew that Albergo Al Sole seems to be a good choice. An upgrade is always nice (and as a member of Small Luxury Hotel's Club not as difficult as winning the lottery) but this seemed to be the best view of our short Italian Getaway. One could easily see 50 kilometers or more. While our suite was perfectly nice with a wonderful bed, living area and antique furniture, I really missed a seperated shower. The bathroom was nice, tough a free standing antique tube without a mounting for the shower head is a no-go! I was sitting in the tub trying to shower me, unfortunately without the backwall to be completely wet and the floor full of water. Don't get me wrong, this is nice, but when I have such a wonderful bathtub, there is an urgent need for a shower! Toiletries by Vrai, a brand of Fragonard were nice (tough we used our Acqua di Parma) and there was also a toothbrush on-site.
While the bed was super-comfy, the pillow was a bit unfomfortable and slightly hard. However there was no noise during the night. Before we were heading towards home, we explored the breakfast. Served on the first floor with a picturesque view of the old town square and the castello, the restaurant is perfectly situated. The buffet is being presented on a round table in the middle of the restaurant and was not the biggest we have seen, tough the bread was nice and they also had a wonderful fruit presentation. I was a little bit shoked that there is an extra charge for egg dishes (since this is normally the cheapest of all products) and there is just regular orange juice at the buffet while a freshly squeezed one costs extra - really not what we expected of a Small Luxury Hotel. There comes also the fact that the cappuccino is not as good as at other Italian bars and hotels, so try an Espresso or Macchiato.
To summarize the whole stay, it is said that for the price of around 200 euros per night and room, Albergo Al Sole is a truly lovely place to stay, has an excellent location, nice views, well maintained rooms and lovely suites. The personal service by the manager Silvia makes this hotel a little bit extra special and we simply loved the view from the Special Junior Suite, by the way the one and only room to book for the true Asolo feeling!
We were guests of Albergo Al Sole and our review has not been influenced.
