Palazzo Di Varignana Resort & Spa

“Resort complex in the hills of Emilia Romana”

Huge, luxurious hotel complex in the hills of Emilia Romana, a good 30 minutes from Bologna. The resort has countless buildings, various restaurants, a golf course, numerous pools and a spacious spa area, all neatly and thoughtfully integrated into the landscape. It is all very modern, even though … more

Huge, luxurious hotel complex in the hills of Emilia Romana, a good 30 minutes from Bologna. The resort has countless buildings, various restaurants, a golf course, numerous pools and a spacious spa area, all neatly and thoughtfully integrated into the landscape. It is all very modern, even though an attempt has been made to create a historical charm. Especially at breakfast you realize that you are in a large hotel complex, otherwise you have enough space (at least outside the high season). The spa area is spacious, and the private spa in particular is worth a visit. The combined wine and olive oil tasting in the adjoining vineyard is a must-do, and the restaurant “Le Marzoline” is definitely worth a visit. A great base for exploring the surrounding area for a few days.

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“Linda from California”

Palazzo di Varignana is a vast property (over 600 acres) with private villas to rent along with individual rooms. It is in a remote area, with no access to a town where your could walk for incidentals or to shop or eat out. I was battling a terrible cough when we arrived. The property does not hav… more

Palazzo di Varignana is a vast property (over 600 acres) with private villas to rent along with individual rooms. It is in a remote area, with no access to a town where your could walk for incidentals or to shop or eat out. I was battling a terrible cough when we arrived. The property does not have a concierge to help with all our questions as the staff is not knowledgeable. There is no small store to purchase needed supplies like cough drops/headache medicine/water/sodas/snacks. Having a car is a MUST. Unfortunately we did not but hired a driver to take us each day for wine tasting, balsamic tasting, etc. The spa area is very nice, having been October we did not use any outdoor pools. Indoor spa/pool was very nicely done. I would rank my Swedish massage I would rate as a 5 but the sauna area, cold shower area was top notch. Now to our room....At check-in (as most have said in these reviews) the staff was extremely vague about how to maneuver around this vast property. they advised us to download their App and we would see better detail....well this App was absolutely useless...just showing the trails to walk. The television in our room had highlights of the spa/restaurants/trails but again no detail on how to get to each place. We asked for a map and they gave us an 8-1/2" x 11" piece of paper with the entire property shown in a font size that needed a magnifying glass to read. We laughed and said we needed a bigger map but were told that was all they had!!! About all you could make out on this map was the immense walking trails...any details of the rooms/spa/restaurants were impossible to read. When the staff tried to show us, on this microscopic map, how to get to our room we gave up and said we would need help....Wow was that a good choice. These corridors of 8 rooms each are tiered down a hillside. From the front desk we ventured outside, headed across the street to an elevator that was not attached to any building. We got inside, pressed #5 and down we headed to what seemed like a bunker when the doors opened, with a long sterile hallway made from concrete, (soundproof inside) with steel and marble staircases that went up to more floors with NO people on them (we never passed a human in 3 days down there). It became our joke that no one would find us down here for days, until a housekeeper arrived. Spooky! Now our room was amazing, a bit cold feeling but huge, modern, with a expansive deck looking out to the beautiful scenery. Nice large bathroom. This resort really emphasizes wellness and the environment however my first shock was in the shower. There were no environmental friendly soap dispensers on the wall....all the hotels we visited throughout Italy all had the re-fillable containers with body wash/shampoo/conditioner...but this "environmentally conscience" property is still using 1 ounce, plastic bottles of these three products! I was very upset to see such a huge property behind the times. All I could think on our 4 days here was all the plastic wasted on hundreds of rooms. Restaurants, II Grifone (located inside Vila at top of property) was a 5 star dinner. Our Maître d' was fabulous as was his young assistant. He shared his history of working in some of the finest restaurants around the world. Excellent service, excellent food. Treno Reale is a train car from the 1800's. Beautifully decorated with velvet curtains, painted ceilings.... a step back in time to the Orient Express. Our dinner began at 8:30pm and ended at midnight! Much, much too late to be eating at that hour. Many guests felt the same way. Each dish was a work of art, but not a menu I enjoyed. Too many fish dishes with no other options since it is a fixed price. Would not recommend. The staff has to prepare the food in another building away from the train car and drinks are made in a bar far from the train...we were told it would take 10-15 minutes to receive an alcohol drink other then wine. It took 15-18 minuets. Le Marzoline...this restaurant is more on the casual side, but located far away from the main part of the property. We decided to walk (we could have had the lobby bring us in a golf cart). Our dinner was very good but our waitress made the evening. She was from Hungary and had a wonderful, funny and playful personality. The signage on the roads would name a restaurant but didn't show you which direction to go. Finding the the 1800's train car was impossible! We finally had the front desk shuttle us to it. Also Le Marzoline restaurant is a good 20-30 minute walk and you might think twice about walking back in the dark if you have been drinking. Again, do not stay here without your own transportation unless you do not plan on leaving.

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