La Palazzetta del Vescovo Relais

Only the bells from a nearby convent will disturb you. Paola and Stefano love to pamper their guests and there’s a massage room in the cellar. Widely travelled and from the corporate world, they decided in 2000 to hang up their business suits and do something different. They bought this 18th-century hilltop palazzetta – once a summer residence for bishops, utterly abandoned in the 1960s – and restored it to its former glory. An informal elegance prevails. The four sitting rooms are cool, elegant and inviting; the bedrooms, each individual, each lovely, are composed in subtle, muted colours: pale walls, fine rugs, muslin’d four-posters, antique Neapolitan beds. What they have in common is a matchless view over steeply falling vineyards and the Tiber valley. On a clear day you can see as far as Perugia. The luxurious gardens and the heated pool make the most of the outlook, too – as does the terrace, where you can enjoy a complimentary aperitif before Paola’s Umbrian cuisine. She, like her house, is a delight – serene, smiling and friendly.