Piedmont, Italy

Vigne di Fagnano 1709

Price per night from$239.16

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 (EUR206.01), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Reborn residenza

Setting

Piedmont’s pastoral patchwork

Celebrated local author Cesare Pavese’s legacy looms large at Vigne di Fagnano 1709, a rural estate once home to Italian nobility. Spacious rooms and suites — part timepiece, part contemporary art showcase — bear the names of Pavese’s novels, and in-room libraries feature several of his works. Lose yourself in his prose in the shade of the courtyard’s majestic maritime pine, sprawled on the lounge’s limo-sized leather chesterfield, or out by the pool where widescreen panoramas of Piedmont’s hills unfurl to the horizon.

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A bottle of wine

Facilities

Photos Vigne di Fagnano 1709 facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Seven, including five suites.

Check–Out

11am. Check-in is from 2pm, but flexible up to 10pm (please let the owners know if you expect to arrive after 6pm). If you’re arriving early or departing late, you can make use of the garden, pool and lounges. Access to rooms will depend on availability.

More details

Rates include breakfast served in the dining room or garden. Eggs (courtesy of the resident hens) are cooked to order, and there’s a large selection of local hams and cheeses, plus homemade bread, pastries, jams and more.

Also

Unfortunately, Vigne di Fagnano is not adapted for guests with mobility needs.

Please note

The hotel’s national identification code (CIN) is IT004213B9JT9FD2PI

At the hotel

Free WiFi in rooms and the courtyard. In rooms: Dyson fan, mini Nespresso coffee machine with compostable pods, Smeg kettle, free bottled water, Dyson hairdryer, pool towels, slippers and CO Bigelow bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Every room at Vigne di Fagnano has its own charming quirk — a statement canopy bed here, a frescoed ceiling there — and all come with lovingly curated libraries and eyecatching black-and-white photographs. But it's the fiery Italian passion of Il Diavolo Sulle Colline (King Suite with Bathtub), with its luscious reds, botanical frescoes and decadent roll-top bath tub, that has set our hearts aflutter. There’s a gorgeous sun trap of a terrace with vineyard and valley views, to boot.

Poolside

Vine-clad pergolas flank the outdoor pool’s impossibly scenic stone terrace, from where views of the surrounding vineyards and rolling hills are among the best on the estate. The pool is open daily from 8.30am until 7pm.

Spa

The estate's wellness area is set in evocative 17th-century caves, and features a sauna, Turkish bath, hydromassage tub and a Kneipp walking path.

Packing tips

The Langhe’s undulating landscapes (and heavenly produce) might inspire even the most creatively challenged to great art. Pack a travel set of watercolours and a sketch pad for when inspiration hits. Or take your cue from local hero Cesare Pavese, whose literary heritage is so deeply rooted in the hotel’s philosophy, and carry a pocket book to jot notes when the muse strikes. Ballad of the Barolo, perhaps. Or a verse in praise of grappa.

Also

There’s a small cabin-style gym near the pool, with a wooden roof, Techongym kit and open sides that afford views of the gardens and pergola.

Children

The hotel welcomes over-14s only.

Sustainability efforts

Chickens cluck contentedly as they strut their stuff around the grounds of Vigne de Fagnano 1709, where the organic kitchen garden and lavender field yield seasonal flavours and scents across the year, as well as providing natural havens for bees and butterflies. The estate’s substantial eco credentials are further bolstered by the (almost exclusive) use of sustainable local producers and solar energy, plus a zero-plastics policy and recycled rainwater for irrigation. Heck, they even micro-filter their own water on site to avoid unnecessary transportation of glass bottles. Natural stone walls and an open design that maximises the valley breezes has also eliminated the need for energy-zapping air-conditioning systems.

Food and Drink

Photos Vigne di Fagnano 1709 food and drink

Hotel restaurant

Breakfast is served in the dining room or garden, and light lunches can be arranged. Owners Carlo and Manila are fonts of knowledge about places to dine locally.

Hotel bar

There's no formal bar, but you can help yourself to a selection of grappa on an honesty basis. Staff are on hand for aperitivo and wines by the glass, or Carlo and Manila can advise on where to find the best Piedmont wines in Santo Stefano Belbo’s watering holes, as well as pointing you in the direction of tasting tours at local vineyards.

Room service

Light snacks and aperitivi are available to order to your room (or wherever you happen to be relaxing in the grounds) between 9.30am and 9pm. Orders require two hours’ advance notice.

Location

Photos Vigne di Fagnano 1709 location
Address
Vigne di Fagnano 1709
Via Fontanette 33
Santo Stefano Belbo
12058
Italy

A restored 18th-century residenza set deep in the Piedmont countryside near the mediaeval village of Santo Stefano Belbo, Vigne di Fagnano promises verdant vineyard views and lavender-scented breezes from its lofty hilltop location.

Planes

Turin Airport is around 90 minutes from the hotel and Milan's airports are under two hours away by road. Private transfers can be arranged on request.

Trains

A regular service connects Turin’s Porta Nuova station with nearby Asti, from where transfers to the hotel cost €30 and take around 30 minutes.

Automobiles

Vigne di Fagnano’s remote rural setting makes having your own set of wheels all but essential. You can rent from the usual suspects at Turin Airport, opening up a world of frozen-in-time Piedmont hilltop villages, rolling vineyards, and lazy cheese- and Barolo-fuelled lunches. There’s free parking just outside the estate entrance.

Worth getting out of bed for

Piedmont is one of Italy’s best wine-producing regions, so it stands to reason you’ll be eager to explore the (ahem) grape outdoors while you’re here. Several nearby estates run vineyard and cellar tours and tastings, among them the Carussin, specialising in organic Moscato, and Scarpa for full-bodied Barbera bottles. You can forage for yet more of Piedmont’s natural bounty (between September and December) on a woodland hunt for prized white truffles. Follow your nose (and the trifolau’s highly trained dog) to unearth these aromatic subterranean treasures.

The hilltop village of Santo Stefano Belbo, all cobbled lanes, red roof tiles and fairytale castles and convents, is also well worth a few hours of your time. If you’ve been reeled in by Vigne di Fagnano’s Pavese stanning, Santo Stefano Belbo is also where you’ll find his birthplace, grave, and the Pavese Museum, which charts the period in between. Pavese’s final (and some say best) novel, La Luna e i Falò (The Moon and the Bonfires) is set in the village.

A number of scenic hiking routes criss-cross the hills and valleys that surround the Vigne di Fagnano estate and you can rent bikes to weave through the vineyards and fruit orchards that quilt the Piedmont landscape. Or snag the best humblebrag selfies on a gentle hot-air balloon ride high over the fields.

Local restaurants

Simple, seasonal Piedmontese cuisine is the order of the day at Del Belbo Da Bardone, where truffle-topped pasta and locally sourced meat pair well with an extensive wine list. Michelin-starred Guido da Costigliole puts a playful spin on regional classics, and its selection of tasting menus celebrate local suppliers.

Reviews

Photos Vigne di Fagnano 1709 reviews

Anonymous review

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 regal residence in rural Italy and unpacked (and uncorked) their sizable stash of Barbarescos and Barolos, a full account of their grape escape will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Vigne di Fagnano 1709 in Piedmont…

Despite its somewhat telling moniker, there’s something ageless about storied mansion stay, Vigne di Fagnano 1709. Rust-red tiles dance across the rooftops, an ancient maritime pine soars over the courtyard, and time-worn stone steps descend to wine cellars that bear more than a passing resemblance to the extraordinary Underground Cathedrals in nearby Canelli. 

Yet, in an extensive 21st-century glow-up, owners Carlo and Manila have thrown playful modern design elements and quirky one-offs into this already-heady mix. Original features — austere red-brick floors, lavish ceiling frescoes and ornate rusted railings — share space with striking canopy beds, outsize mirrors, and (Carlo’s own photography) a collection of artful monochrome nudes. And the result is more luxury private residence than traditional hotel.

Analogue pursuits are encouraged here. Instead of a TV, your room has a curated library featuring novels by local legend Cesare Pavese. Refined lounges, garden yoga sessions, and a courtyard custom-made for quiet contemplation only add to the sense that time passes a little more slowly on the Vigne di Fagnano estate.

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Price per night from $235.68