Cavaliere Palace Hotel

Date of stay: Nov 1-3, 2008

Spoleto is an Umbrian Hill town that is interesting in its own right and provides a good base for visiting other towns, including Asissi. My wife and I are experienced DIY travellers from Oregon who want every place we stay to be special in some way, as well as safe and comfortable. We were very pleased with Cavaliere Palace Hotel.

Location: The building is on a pedestrian-only street at the lower (west) side of the old part of Spoleto. Arround the hotel are shops and a couple cafe's. You get a permit for free parking a (level) five-minute walk from the hotel entrance. On the Saturday and Sunday nights we stayed there, the street was bustling with pedestrians until about 9:00 p.m. and very quiet afterwards.

It's a 15-20 minute walk to the top of Spoleto (for strong walkers). You can easily explore the castle and aqueduct, as well as other parts of the old sections on foot. The Cavaliere Palace Hotel isn't right in the middle of the old section, however, if that's what you desire. You also don't have views out over the valley since the hotel is roughly the same elevation as the valley floor.

From your parking spot, it's about a five minute drive to the main highway which provides access to the other towns. Asissi is about 45 minutes drive north. Note that driving to one of the hotels high up in the old part of town would be time-consuming and a bit of a hassle with the _very_ narrow streets.

Rooms: Our room was large by European standards with a king bed (two singles pushed together, as is typical). The bed and linens were high quality. The bathroom was large, attractive, well maintained, and had a tub with shower and good water pressure. There was ample storage for clothing. We had asked for a very quiet room and so had an interior room looking over the courtyard. The windows and shutters provided complete sound proofing and darkness.

Our room's design was plain, but attractive. The hotel advertises two top-floor rooms that have frescoes, but we didn't examine them.

Public areas: There is an interior court yard, open to the sky. This is nothing special and has a fire-escape stairway (nicely-designed, but still a bit intrusive visually). There's a nice, small sitting room (and maybe bar service, I can't remember) next to reception. We had coffee and tea there one morning when we slept past breakfast and it was very pleasant. The dining room is beautiful with frescoes as shown on the hotel's Web site.

Staff: The staff were extraordinarily friendly and helpful. They spoke excellent English. They did several things that made our stay feel like we were "guests" -- someting too many hotels have lost sight of.

Breakfast: A very good and ample breakfast was provided. Pastries, meats, cheese, fruits cereal, yoghurt, etc. Excellent coffee (of course).

Internet: Wi-fi service is available for a reasonable fee.

Additional notes: We booked a special of two nights plus dinner at a local restaurant. The total cost (including taxes and breakfasts) was 294 euro (USD $383 at the time).

The restaurant they booked was La Cantina de Corvi. We had our best meal of the entire time in Italy here. The prices are incredibly reasonable. This is a "must visit" restaurant if you stay in Spoleto. Web site is: www.cantinadecorvi.it

All-in-all, this was one of our favorite hotels during our trip.