The hotel is a converted monastery, so right away you know you are going to get cloisters, long corridors, lots of atmosphere and a fair degree of austerity. And that is exactly what we did get. The rooms are adequately fitted and equipped, clean and comfortable but they did have the no frills feel of a monk's room. This did not hinder us from having a really good night's sleep though - despite an intial blood chilling moment of waiting for a ghost to appear through the walls.

The old chapel is still in use - apparently popular for weddings - and still has some of the original paintings. There is also an interesting Last Supper fresco in the refectory which is now used as a coffee station and relaxation area.

The restaurant is excellent and the service superb. We had a really good dinner with some spot-on recommendations by the friendly waiter who, busy though he was, suffered our bad Italian with good humour and grace.

If guests have any problems, the manager of the hotel, whose name I have forgotten, could not have been more helpful. He was always around and available. His English was excellent, which was a relief for those of us whose Italian borders on the Hello, How are you level of competency.

Because this hotel is so unusual, and you can get a really good meal there, I would recommend it to travellers. You are going to need a car though as it is on top of a hill a fair distance away from public transportation. Definitely worth making the effort, as it is well off the tourist track