OUR GUESTS

Reviews for this holiday villa rental in Asti, Italy

Emilia K.

Holiday in Piedmont.
Review Submitted: December 16, 2011Date of Stay: July 2011
We spent a relaxing week at Villa Mattia. The house is located on a beautiful and remote hill about 2km from the center of the Santo Stefano Belbo, so you don't have to worry about the neighbors. Because of the location a car is required.

This house offers you a great surroundings for a independent holiday. You can find everything you need from the house and there is a lot to see within a one hour range by car from Santo Stefano Belbo. Basic super market items can be found from Santo Stefano Belbo and Canelli (about 7 km from the house).

There is plenty of room in the house for a large family and the place suits for everyone who's interested to spend a holiday close to the nature. I highly recommended this one! I will definitely return to Villa Mattia in the future.

Guildford, UK

Stunning hilltop views
Review Submitted: March 14, 2011Date of Stay: August 2010
After a week staying in various campsites en route, it was such a delight to arrive at Villa Mattia and enjoy complete peace and quiet! The panoramic views of rolling vineyards from the back garden were quite breathtaking and it was such a pleasure to drink them in, whether first thing in the morning, in the lazy warmth of the afternoon or last thing at night.

This two-bedroom house was furnished to a high standard and was comfortable but not too fussy (which was great for us, as we stayed with our three children and pet dog and did not want too many valuable antiques to worry about damaging!). We drove to the coast on my daughter’s birthday, which took about an hour, and the girls thoroughly enjoyed swimming in the warm Mediterranean and eating delicious seafood.

Public transport was non-existent and we were unable to rent a car, as the area shuts down for its annual holiday when we were staying, so we relied on bicycle and our campervan to get around. This did limit us a bit, but we still managed to see some delightful local spots, including Acqui Terme (where we swam in the most enormous swimming pool we have ever seen!).

Christina was a very attentive hostess, despite the fact she was bed-ridden with a bad back the whole time we were there! She very conscientiously tried to answer our enquiries and kept in regular contact over the phone. We look forward to finally meeting her when we return this year!

From a California Inn to Piemonte's Villa Mattia
Review Submitted: February 14, 2011Date of Stay: December 2009
In November of 2009 my partner and I sold a 19 room Inn with a Michelin starred restaurant which we had owned and operated in the Sonoma County Wine Region of Northern California and retired to Italy. We had searched online for a house to rent while we searched for a property to buy in Piemonte and luckily stumbled across Villa Mattia.

The villa was ideally located for visiting the charming nearby hillside towns (two can be seen, floating in front of the distant Alps, from the lovely covered terrace overlooking the property' vineyards) as well as the larger towns of Alba, Asti and Acqui Terme.

Nearby dining options are plentiful with Santo Stefano's stylish "Momenti di Vino", and "La Bella Estate" (an agriturismo with vineyards adjacent to Villa Mattia) springing quickly to mind. The nearby town of Canelli is home to several large wine houses with beautiful historic wine cantinas/cellars known as "Underground Cathedrals" open to the public by reservation. Canelli also has a Regional Enoteca with an excellent restaurant located in a romantic underground cantina with brick vaulted ceilings.

We stayed at Villa Mattia for a little over six months eventually moving into a home of our own in early July of 2010. By the time we had left we felt like family with the three closest neighbors to Villa Mattia and good friends to Cristina and Massimo - the villa's charming young proprietors.

Not to be missed by anyone visiting this charming region in Italy and/or staying at the Villa Mattia are Canelli's historic "Assedio" in June, Alba's "Truffle Festival" in October, the "White Night" evenings that take place in almost all the towns on varoius weekends over the summer months, Canelli's "La città del Vino" in September, Nizza Monferrato's "Corsa delle Botti" - a hotly contested wine barrel rolling race taking place in June and Asti's colorful September Palio - actually older than Siena's more famous horse race.

London

Idyllic holiday for food and wine lovers
Review Submitted: March 14, 2010Date of Stay: September 2009
We visited in September and the weather was still warm enough for t-shirts, but cool at night. We enjoyed watching the  end of the day with the sun going down, sitting on the terrace with a glass of wine made by the owners, very lovely Barbera D'Asti and having a relaxing BBQ. The setting is so peaceful, but a short drive away we visited a wine festival in Canelli, where there are plenty of restaurants and bars. The accommodation was very comfortable and we even managed to have an Italian lesson, as the owner also has a language school. Would definitely go back again, maybe to do the cookery classes that they also can organize.

We had a fantastic time in the renovated wine museum. “ Il Babbo” gave us a complete explanation of his museum. Now we know how difficult  it was in those days to make wine and we will ever enjoy tasting wine more.

02/06/2011 Belgian

A wonderful idea, very well presented and we really enjoyed having tales of the family and times gone by. Good week in a beautiful place.

Brian and Diane
3/06/2011

A very interesting experience , a step back in time!! Very friendly and wonderful wine.

England

Fantastic to see how things were done all those years ago and how well all has been kept in such good condition, Very interesting tour especially the records of the floods in Canelli.
Thank you very much for your time.

Andrew

Franco took us on the town of the Museo, he had lots of stories to tell us about life all of those years ago.  He even entertained us with a song. We look forward to returning to see the family.

Carol, Robin, Victoria and Rebecca

Thank you for showing us your familiar heritage and staying with us. It was a real privilege!!!

Anna, Evie