Locanda del Bel Sorriso -- Mattarello, Trento

Dwight Peck's personal website

Trento and Brescia, December 2013

A week's sightseeing in the Trentino-Alto Adige autonomous region and Brescia in Lombardy

You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

Locanda del Bel Sorriso -- Mattarello, Trento

We've been over the Simplon Pass, braved the horrific truck traffic on the Milan-Venezia autostrada, made our way up along the river Adige to Trento, and finally found the Locanda del Bel Sorriso, perched on the hillside above the Trentine southern suburb of Mattarello.

A family-run hotel and venue for special events of many kinds, the Locanda is part of 17th century Villa Bertagnolli

The rustic and intriguing Locanda del Bel Sorriso

Reception

An upstairs hallway

Everything is old, and a bit creaky, but all the modern conveniences are there (including WiFi in the rooms)

There are paintings everywhere, many worth looking at, some not so much.

Our room

With balcony

And kitchen

And persimmons

And vineyards

The balcony

Our room, next to our own drainpipe off the eaves

Kristin going into the breakfast building across the driveway

The driveway, breakfast room on the left, main building on the right

The breakfast room

Inside the breakfast room -- breakfast was the usual bread and cold cuts, with all sorts of optional sweetie things

Kristin sampling the breakfast options. The family also makes and sells its own wines and several varieties of grappa, some of which got past Swiss customs (within the limit).

The breakfast layout

All over the buildings there are venues for a range of social events

Persimmons and the front of the locanda (which is the back of the Villa Bertagnolli). The prices during our stay were extremely reasonable.

The other side of the building, facing onto the road winding up into the mountains