I got some great information with a previous question about these areas. Now I'm trying to finalize our hotel plans.
We will be in the Veneto for 2 days (following 3 days in Venice). We're planning to visit some wineries and see some of the Palladian architecture. At this point I've narrowed our hotel choices to Villa Brocchi Colonna near Bassano del Grappa and Ca de Memi in Piombino Dese. If anyone has stayed in either of these, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Ca de Memi is quite a bit less expensive but Villa Brocchi Colonna is still in our budget. My original choice, Albergo Asolo is out of our budget with the exchange rate.
For the Piedmont area I'm thinking either Orso Bevitore or Castello di Razzano. The 2 Fodors favorites Villa Sampaguita and Bauer B & B both have a 3 night minimum and we'll only have 2 nights in the area.
I'd love to hear if anyone has stayed in any of these places and also any suggested wineries and places to eat.
Thanks!

Sounds like a wonderful trip! I haven't seen any of the Palladian villas, though I researched them for a trip to the area in 2007 - as it ended up, we weren't in the area at the time of year and days of the week that any of them were open. But someday!

On Piedmont, when we visited, we stayed at a B&B in Monforte d'Alba. In addition to being a fantastic and unique B&B (Le Case della Saracca), the area was ideal for us, as DH and I and the other couple with us are very much interested in Barolo wine, and Monforte is one of the Barolo-producing villages. If that kind of thing is important to you, you might want to reconsider your lodging choices - Orso Bevitore is near the Barolo area (maybe in it; I don't know all the Barolo vilalge), but Castello di Razzano seems a bit far from the Barolo (or even Barbera or Barbaresco) areas.

We visited only two wineries, but they were both great experiences. The owner of the B&B set up both visits: Podere Rocche dei Manzoni and Podere Ruggeri Corsini. I especially enjoyed the latter; it's a very small place owned and primarily run by a woman (along with her husband).

There is no lack of fabulous places to eat. The one that I liked the most was La Ciau del Tornavento, located in Treiso, just east of Alba. Trattoria della Posta, just outside Monforte, was also a great experience.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the info. I had previously looked at Le Case della Saracca's website but it doesn't give much information. I'm glad to hear you liked it and will look into it further.

I will not be in the area until April, but I did do LOTS of reading and asking around about B&Bs in Piemonte. I decided to stay at Villa Favorita, just outside Alba..as far as I know, there is no minimum and the reviews I've read are excellent. There are a couple of posters here who gave it high marks, too:



http://www.villalafavorita.it/home_uk.html

I thought Le Case was very special (see my review on tripadvisor), but it's not a place for everyone - for example, while fruit and other snack items and drinks are provided, for morning cappuccino and cornetti, you have to walk down to the bar in the main piazza.

Villa Favorita and Le Case both are more centrally located for the Barolo area.

Thanks. I sent an inquiry to Villa la Favorita but haven't heard back. I think I'll try again.