Need to know
Rooms
12, of which six are suites.
Check–Out
Noon. Check-in is at 4pm. Both are flexible when availability allows.
More details
Late risers, rejoice: the included à la carte breakfast is served all day long, so you can pitch up and order your coffee and eggs with a cocktail once the sun is well over the yardarm, should you so desire.
Also
Theoretically, some of the hotel has been adapted; but sadly in reality not quite enough to recommend a stay here if you have accessibility needs. Ground-floor suites in the old monastery are wheelchair accessible and there’s an elevator in the building for access to the upper levels. The landscaping around the grounds, however, is pebbly and often uneven.
Please note
The hotel’s national identification code (CIN) is IT054056B902016121
Hotel closed
The hotel closes every year for the months of January and February.
At the hotel
Free WiFi throughout. In rooms: portable Sonos Roam Bluetooth speaker, air-conditioning, underfloor heating, espresso coffee machine, free bottled water, yoga mat, bathrobes, slippers, and L:A Bruket bath products.
Our favourite rooms
There’s no such thing as a disappointing room or suite at Vocabolo Moscatelli. All come with ultra-photogenic character features such as exposed stone walls, time-worn beams and painted shutters juxtaposed with luxury modern touches including colourful Cotto Etrusco bathroom tiles, hemp linens and portable Sonos Bluetooth speakers. Ramp up the romance in the annex’s divine Spa Room, which comes with a private sauna and a garden Jacuzzi, or go large in the main villa’s Terrace Junior Suite, where highlights include an eye-catching brick-red colour scheme (including handmade Lispi four-poster bed) and a giant egg-shaped bath tub on the terrace.
Poolside
It’s an all-Italian affair at the travertine pool flanked with designer sunloungers and furniture by Lispi and Paola Lenti. Take the plunge from 7am–11pm but beware: the pool is warmed by the sun’s rays, so morning dips in March may feel… refreshing.
Packing tips
Its status as Italy’s only landlocked region has left Umbria a little off the tourist map. The result? English isn’t widely spoken, especially in its more rural areas. A good phrase book should therefore be considered essential for successfully conjuring up lunch (with ice-cold vino, natch) in all those cute hilltop villages. Locals will love you for it and you’re way less likely to accidentally order French grape juice when you could have had a cheaper, and (whisper it) more delicious Umbrian wine instead.
Also
Owners Frederik Kubierschky and Catharina Lütjens are alumni of some of the top hotels in Zurich, including the Widder and the Park Hyatt, so it’s fair to say they know their way around the hospitality business.
Pet‐friendly
Furry fashionistas receive a Poldo Dog Couture accessory on stays at Vocabolo Moscatelli. But it’s doggos only here, darling, so cool cats and trendsetting tortoises will have to sit this one out. A nightly fee of €30 applies. See more pet-friendly hotels in Umbria.
Children
Vocabolo Moscatelli is designed with grown-ups in mind, meaning there are no specific facilities for Little Smiths. Kids aged 14 and over can stay, but rooms sleep a maximum of two people and there’s no adjoining accommodation.
Sustainability efforts
Sensitive modernisation of this mediaeval Umbrian monastery has seen ancient stonework and rustic wooden beams complemented by art, furniture and ceramics sourced exclusively from local studios like Lispi, Cotto Etrusco and Endiadi Ceramics. The restaurant uses local seasonal ingredients, with fragrant herbs and vegetables plucked straight from the hotel’s own gardens, and velvety olive oils and fat juicy figs sourced from neighbouring groves and farms; young saplings in the hotel’s once-forgotten orchard will also one day bear fruit. A composting programme fertilises gardens designed to bloom year round, and the travertine pool is heated naturally beneath the warm Umbrian sun.
