I’d been keen to visit L’Albereta for quite some time – the hotel is quite well-known and, ever since it was home to Marchesi’s three-star restaurant, has had a reputation as a gourmet destination. The restaurant held a Michelin star for a long time, but hasn’t had one for quite a while now.
It just so happened that a voucher for the hotel was practically given away on Harper; it was really cheap. The standard rate for two nights in the junior suite on offer was around €1,000 per night in October, which isn’t exactly a bargain.
I was even more delighted when I asked about the option of paying extra for a suite and was promised a free upgrade to a suite subject to availability, which was confirmed in the booking confirmation. Great – I was then really and honestly looking forward to the stay.
When we arrived, it was raining and the weather was really cold. Well, it was further north, so what can you do? From the outside, it’s a house covered in ivy.


The welcome at reception was rather lukewarm. It wasn’t particularly friendly or warm, so I didn’t really feel at ease.

It was 6.40 pm and I was then told that my table, which I’d booked for 8 pm at the pizzeria, was actually scheduled for 7 pm and that there were only two sittings at 7 pm and 9 pm. It was all delivered rather brusquely – how could I have been so stupid as to think you could eat whenever you wanted here? That would be too good to be true – where would that lead? Perhaps we could move our table to 9 pm if, by some surprise, there was still a table free. So I decided against it; my travel clothes would do for the pizzeria, even if I’d swapped the polo shirt for a long-sleeved one because of the temperature.
We were then told we’d be given a junior suite, which was surprising because, according to the website, all the suites were available. However – and this did bug me later on – I didn’t feel like arguing and just put up with it.