Just arriving at the Relais San Maurizio hotel and spa makes you feel less stressed. Perched on a verdant hilltop in Piedmont, northern Italy, the former 17th century monastery has an impossibly picturesque location. It overlooks acres of green muscatel vineyards that carve up the landscape like corn-rowed hair, and which are dotted with terracotta-hued villages.
The Relais is full of charm — bedrooms carved out of the monks' cells, pastel-hued Murano glass chandeliers, open fireplaces, antique furniture, 18th century frescoes and original parquet flooring. But it is the new opening of the La Via del Sale medical spa that elevates the hotel from a character-ful bolthole to an idyllic, get-away- from-it-all retreat.
Named after the ancient salt route upon which the hotel is set and which was the main thoroughfare for transporting goods across Italy, all of the spa's treatments are all based around the therapeutic properties of salt. Most impressive is the thermal salt cave with its two thallasotherapy pools. There's a glam outdoor swimming pool with cabanas and a sun deck overlooking the medieval towers and vineyards that stretch out below.
A must is the signature salt and honey massage, which detoxes the body as well as exfoliating and toning. The spa is a medical one, popular across Europe but less so in the UK, and the approach is no-nonsense, results driven. Where it lacks in the pampering, whale-music vibe, it makes up for with its knowledgeable therapists and huge choice of treatments, as well as its serene surroundings.
Foodies will be in their element here, too. The Michelin starred Di Guido restaurant, which is housed in the hotel's cellars with its exposed stonework and barrel vaults, offers home-made regional cuisine. A must is the restaurant's Agnolotti del Pin, a wild mushroom fresh pasta dish in hazelnut sage butter, a simple regional dish but oozing with flavour. This Langhe area of Piedmont is home to cellars of many well-known vineyards, and it is from here that Barolos, Barbarescos and Muscatels originate, as well as white truffles and wild mushrooms. All this makes Relais San Maurizio the perfect place to come for food for the body as well as the soul.
Relais San Maurizio, Località San Maurizio, 39, 12058 - Santo Stefano Belbo, Piemonte, Italy (relaissanmaurizio.it). Room rates from £165, per room, per night.
