Bologna, Italy

Elizabeth Country House

Price per night from$321.54

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR282.80), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Elizabeth Country House Photos

Style

Made-for-idling idyll

Setting

A beat from Bologna

Explore

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Just outside Bologna, Elizabeth Country House sews a stylish thread through the fabric of Minerbio’s mediaeval landscapes. This haute home was once owned by the Les Copains family, laced with one-off furnishings, artwork and intricate murals. More-recent alternations have hemmed a vegetable garden, barrel sauna, sunloungers and hammocks at the edge of the pool, and layered on a cosy communal space for breakfasts, ceramics lessons and cookery classes. This piece is one for the capsule.

Smith Extra

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A welcome drink each; GoldSmiths also get a cookery class

Facilities

Photos Elizabeth Country House facilities

Need to know

Rooms

11, including two suites.

Check–Out

Noon, and check-in is at 3pm. Both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

More details

Rates include an à la carte breakfast.

Also

Unfortunately, the rural terrain and historic architecture of this hotel means it isn’t practical for guests with limited mobility.

Please note

The hotel’s national identification code (CIN) is IT037038B4TW5RGGPC

Hotel closed

Elizabeth Country House closes annually between November and March.

At the hotel

Vegetable gardens, lounge areas, bikes and umbrellas to borrow, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: tea- and coffee-making kit, hairdryer and straightener, and Italian-made bath products.

Our favourite rooms

There’s a hint of history in every room at Elizabeth Country House, whether it’s from original arched entryways, wonky beamed ceilings, the characterfully creaky floor or the family’s collection of curated furnishings. But there’s a stand-out beauty to Room VI (one of the Initiale rooms), and all the suites, courtesy of their artisanal, frescoed walls and splashes of colour.

Poolside

Set between the hotel’s duo of buildings, the outdoor swimming pool is fringed with plush day-beds, sunloungers and a barrel sauna.

Spa

There isn’t a spa, but staff can arrange for treatments to be set up in your room, and the alfresco sauna is sure to entice you from your lounger.

Packing tips

Switching off is encouraged here, so a willingness to keep notifications silenced and reconnect with nature is all that’s asked.

Also

Each bespoke mural at Elizabeth Country House was handpainted during a three-month period by a trio of Provençal artists, whom the original owner had met on his travels.

Pet‐friendly

Pups are welcome to join you for €30 a night. See more pet-friendly hotels in Bologna.

Children

Welcome; there aren’t any specific facilities on-site, but babysitting can be arranged with three days' notice, and the Premium Deluxe, Suite and Grand Suite all sleep up to four.

Food and Drink

Photos Elizabeth Country House food and drink

Top Table

The fireside sofas are particularly inviting, but during the summer, we’d bask at one of the alfresco tables, looking across the gardens.

Dress Code

It has to be Les Copains, of course.

Hotel restaurant

There’s no formal restaurant here, but a traditional breakfast (expect plenty of prosciutto crudo and mortadella) and light lunch is served daily at the main dining table, flanked by the lobby’s roaring fireplaces and low-slung sofas. There’s also an honesty bar with snacks, tea and coffee that you’re welcome to help yourself to throughout the day.

Last orders

Breakfast is available between 8am and 2pm, and lunch is served from 2.30pm to 3pm.

Location

Photos Elizabeth Country House location
Address
Elizabeth Country House
Via Savena Superiore 28
Minerbio
40061
Italy

Cocooned by the rolling hills of northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region and around 30 minutes north-east of Bologna, you’ll find Elizabeth Country House sitting in the small mediaeval town of Minerbio.

Planes

Bologna’s Guglielmo Marconi Airport is around 25 minutes from the hotel by car and your closest international option. Private transfers can be arranged for €70 each way.

Trains

Minerbio has a small train station — around a 10-minute drive from the hotel — with direct routes to Bologna Centrale, where you can catch high-speed connections to Florence, Pisa and Milan. Staff can organise transers for €70 each way.

Automobiles

Minerbio’s high street is around a 20-minute walk away and trains to neighbouring cities means a car isn’t essential. But if you’re planning on exploring further afield, we’d suggest bringing a set of wheels; there’s free parking on-site.

Worth getting out of bed for

Start at a slow pace, steps from your bed, with yoga and meditation classes that greet mornings gradually; or, restore with a sauna session and ask staff to arrange an in-room massage. Ceramics classes and traditional Emilian cookery lessons — that teach the art of making (and sampling) sfoglia pasta — are held on-site, too. 

Satisfy the senses further and venture out to see the sights of Minerbio: the Piazza del Popolo is the town’s locus, and its Church of St John the Baptist is worth a marvel for its ornate baroque style. Hiking and cycling routes follow the Reno Canal, and you’re welcome to borrow one of the hotel’s bikes for free. The larger cities of Bologna and Ferrara are around 35 minutes away by car, or a 20-minute train ride, if you’re looking to spend a day exploring their piazzas, admiring storied architecture and sampling salama da sugo at the local markets.

Local restaurants

In the small town of Minerbio, everything is fairly traditional, so most restaurants stick to regional classics — and do them exceptionally well. In Cantina da Me serves hearty portions of tagliatelle al ragù, as well as a carousel of seasonal plates. Creamy pasta dishes are paired with local cheeses and cured meats at Trattoria della Volta, and the soul-soothing special at Osteria del Malo is Emilia-Romagna’s signature tortellini in a chicken broth.

Local bars

Coffees are served with cream-filled cannoncini pastries at the locally loved Pasticceria Caffetteria, and Gelateria Gabbiano Di Natalini Roberto is the place to satisfy your gelato cravings.

Reviews

Photos Elizabeth Country House reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this home-like hotel in northern Italy and unpacked their tortellini and tagliatelle, a full account of their idyllic break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Elizabeth Country House in Bologna…

There’s a wealth of history woven into the walls of Elizabeth Country House — an away-from-it-all abode half an hour outside of Bologna. It was the early 2000s when Mario Bandiera — the Italian designer behind Les Copains — happened upon the quiet town of Minerbio and spied the potential in a duo of derelict houses. He spent years tailoring their halls with centuries-old furnishings from his travels, and even brought three artists from France to handpaint murals across the villa’s interior. 

Today, those paintings and vintage finds are collaged with subtly modern materials to give each of the 11 individual designed rooms their distinct character. The family’s living room has been customised to host classic Emilian breakfasts into the early afternoon, and screen-free spaces encourage ‘do not disturb’ days, replacing scrolling with cooking and ceramics classes, poolside sauna sessions and yoga classes in the shade of ancient oaks. Much like a Les Copains knit, this restful retreat is set to stay in style...

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Price per night from $321.54