This post is the last of a long travel series that documented our road trip from Lausanne to Tuscany. We made many stops on the way in Turin, Genoa, La Spezie, Pisa and Florence, a journey of 15 days. We turned around in Mensanello in Tuscany and spent two days to drive back to Switzerland. If you like to join us on this epic road trip from the beginning in Switzerland, click here for the first post of the series.
We mostly used the Autostrada northbound and stayed overnight on the way at Relais Villa Pomela in Novi Ligure. If we did not stop, it would have taken 8 hours. This hotel was chosen partly because it is situated roughly half way, it is very close to the designer outlet mall at Serravalle, and this hotel seemed interesting.
While we are not big shoppers, we went to this designer outlet mall first. It has 200+ stores (the largest in Italy) and is owned by McArthurGlen, a European chain operator. Like all outlet malls in Northern America, the mall’s location is about an hour away from a big city. So it is not taking any business away and yet it is manageable for residents and tourists from Milan to visit in a day. In terms of the shopping, all the usual suspects were there – Gucci, Versace, etc.
By the time we reached the hotel, the sun was setting. We were a bit surprised by the size of the property as we drove around the main building in the dark to find parking.
The villa’s reception was modest and the person behind the counter spoke English but he sounded like a student moonlighting as a receptionist.
A long corridor extended from the reception towards an elevator located at the far end. On the walls of the corridor were old paintings and ornaments. These pieces would all qualify as antiques.
On either side of the corridor, there were rooms for meeting, reading and probably smoking in the old days. The sofas and armchairs are in very good conditions, giving us the impression that the majority of the furnishings were acquired originally for the hotel many years ago.
One of the rooms had a pool table. While everything was old, it was well maintained. Old world charm and hospitality !
A conspicuous and considerably large statue of a rooster was displayed on the counter at the restaurant reception. Another similar sculpture was also seen lurking in one of the sitting rooms, as in a photo above. The dining room was unoccupied as the guests were enjoying their meals outdoors.
Guests were dining on a patio that has a view of a large fountain, a statue and manicured lawn with flowerbeds and trees. It was unexpected to see the fountain and magnificent jets of water at night. But the statue of a lady with a red dress was definitely creepy enough to be used as a prop in a Dario Argento horror flick.
Our room was at a corner of the building and overlooking the parking area. Breakfast buffet was served at the outdoor patio of the restaurant.
In the morning, we had the chance to see the entire hotel. Its appearance and layout suggest that it was originally designed as a hotel, rather than a building that had been repurposed.
The hotel boasts an inviting pool but there was no umbrella. Vines cover parts of the nearby Gavi hillside that overlooks Novi Ligure. If you are visiting the outlet mall and need an overnight stay, this hotel is perfect.
We left the hotel after breakfast around 10am. Retracing our route through the Alps via the Grand St Bernard tunnel, and without stopping, we reached Lausanne in late afternoon.
This kind of road trip is really one of the best ways to explore Italy, traveling at our own pace in our car, hanging out with friends for part of the way. We are thankful that the whole trip was safe and comfortable.
We will take a break from writing about this 2-week trip in Italy (30 posts since March 2023), but there are a few posts about the Tuscan villages we visited which will be uploaded later. If you are interested in reading more about this trip, use keywords on our search page, or click on the tag for Italy. If you like to start on this epic road trip from the beginning, click here for the first post of the series.