Some time ago in La Stampa we introduced the concept of “widespread hotel”; it is not that we have a particular knowledge of it, on the contrary we had to quote Wikipedia: a widespread hotel is “a hotel accommodation company located in a village, made up of several houses, pre-existing and close to each other, with unitary management and able to provide services hotels for all guests “.
In other words, it is a small town transformed into a large hotel, and usually a luxury hotel. It is a relatively new but developing tourism sector, to be discovered.
The example we gave was related to the Canton of Ticino, and in fact there are “scattered hotels” here and there in Europe, but Italy is probably the country that is most suitable for this type of resort, thanks the availability of towns and castles, in many cases abandoned or semi-abandoned and awaiting redevelopment to be born to a new life. Among these experiences we point out Borgo Petroro, near Todi (Umbria): it is a fortified medieval town, which has become a hotel with a few rooms, only twelve (including suites), some with Jacuzzi (for the others there is a wellness area common) and all furnished with period furniture and pieces of craftsmanship.
Another attraction is the Locanda Petreja restaurant, entrusted to chef Oliver Glowig, already two Michelin stars at the Capri Palace in Anacapri and the Aldovrandi in Rome. Example of dishes: “Crispy egg with peas, candied kumquat and Norcia truffle”, “Spaghetti with chicory, liver sausage and garlic croutons”, “Mixed pasta with mussels, roveja, candied tomatoes and fried rosemary” (la roveja it is an ancient legume typical of Cascia, also known as field pea, today a slow food presidium).
To dispose of, after eating, you can rent an e-bike or a mountain bike and discover the surrounding countryside (which is full of other food and wine temptations) or you can take the car and use Borgo Petroro as a starting point to explore Umbria .
