Luna Hotel Baglioni Manager Gianmatteo Zampieri (left), Rob Clabbers of Q

His friends teasingly joke that Gianmatteo Zampieri is not a true Venetian because he was born in Mestre, just across the causeway from Venice. But few hotel managers share their love for their city and their property as passionately as Mr. Zampieri, the amiable hotel manager of the beautiful (one of our Virtuoso Best of the Best preferred hotels and a member of Leading Hotels of the World). In fact, Mr. Zampieri lived amongst the canals, churches and palazzos of Venice for most of his life. And nowadays, his commute beats getting stuck in traffic in a city like Chicago: a beautiful boat ride from his home on the Lido island that separates the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea, into the heart of Venice, every day.

Just around the corner of St. Mark’s Square, next to the Royal Gardens and the apartments built by Napoleon, the Hotel Luna is a gem, perfect for those who like their hotels historical. The aristocratic palazzo was built for the Knights Templar in the 12^th century and therefore truly one of the oldest hotels in Venice. Of course, now, guests are more likely to want to explore Venice (yes, of course there is a private dock for water taxis) or slip out the convenient pedestrian entrance leading to the many shops on Salita San Moise.

A sumptuous suite at the Luna Hotel Baglioni Venice

A tour of his property with Mr. Zampieri soon turns into an enjoyable cultural and historical lesson about Venice and the role his hotel has played throughout the centuries. Where others would boast about the museum-quality furniture, Mr. Zampieri rather matter-of-factly explains how the hotel’s owners simply find pleasure in collecting antiques, such as the massive French (not Murano glass) mirror that graces one of the landings; the antique chairs dotted around the property and the wide range of curio displayed in rooms and public areas. No cookie-cutter blueprints here: every room varies in size and design, with elegant fabric-covered walls and some wit private terraces overlooking St. Mark’s Basin. Mr. Zampieri points out the historical fire place in the hotel’s lobby (formerly a chapel) and shrugs his shoulders when he explains that – contrary to city regulations – yes, it is a real, working fire place and yes, they do occasionally light it, as others have done for centuries in this very spot.

The terrace of the San Giorgio Suite overlooks the St. Mark’s Basin.

It is not hard to understand why clients love the Hotel Luna. Stay here and you feel part of the rich history of Venice. Your breakfast is served in a beautiful ballroom decorated with frescoes that give more insight into the history of the city. And at night, when the cruise ship passengers and day trippers have left, a quiet exploration of the beauty of St. Mark’s Square is just a few steps away. Like the amiable Mr. Zampieri, the hotel staff are friendly, yet always professional. And unlike some gleaming, modern, chain hotels, the Luna feels welcoming and comfortable, a bit like staying at the city home of a (very) rich uncle who obviously adores his house and who realizes that there is always another thing to touch up in a home that has lasted through generations. We can’t wait until our next visit to Venice!

ĐÓ°É´«Ă˝ clients receive daily buffet breakfast for two; a complimentary room upgrade, early check-in and late check-out subject to availability and EUR 85 per stay to spend on food and beverage – such as a dinner in the wonderful Canova Restaurant. Want to learn more? Just give us a call.

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Without Emy and her four colleagues, the family owned farm in the Drome department of the Rhone-Alpes region of Southern France would likely perish.  Fortunately, the lovable Emy adores digging for the costly “diamond of the kitchen” as she happily showed us during our visit to Serge and Corrine’s farm.

Our foray into the world of truffles on this excursion (during our France river cruise on the S.S. Catherine, one of Uniworld Boutique River Cruise’s newest river cruise ships to ply the Rhone and Saone rivers through Burgundy and Provence) started with a warm welcome by Serge.  He gladly accepted translation help offered by our guide, Janet, and enthusiastically introduced us to the world of truffles. With generous arm gestures he explained the difference between the summer and winter truffle, both in sensory experience and cost, how his farm operates and how truffle thieves are a problem.  No surprise if you know that a kilo of summer truffles is valued at EUR 100 or more – and the more fragrant winter truffles many times that amount!

Contrary to popular belief, pigs and ducks are no longer the preferred “truffle finders”.  Have you ever tried to get a pig in a car to travel to a distant truffle field?  Instead, friendly and – mostly – obedient dogs like our friend Emy are now trained from birth to like and look for truffles.  I won’t tell you how they do it – that is better coming straight from Serge – but let’s just say it involves milk, cookies and truffles.  Emy is a Lagotta Romagnolo, a loving and loyal Italian dog breed with a highly developed nose – ideal for truffle searching.

Serge and Emy are happy to demonstrate: Serge walks us to a field covered with trees. Full disclosure: in preparation of our visit, he buried several truffles on that field.  It takes Emy about 10 seconds to find the first one. Enthusiastically she digs and digs.  Dust and sand fly everywhere – but in seconds she picks up the baseball sized truffle, brings it to Serge and, at his command, drops it on the floor in front of him.  But not after taking a tiny little bite of the truffle first! This process repeats itself a few times – resulting in a sigh from Serge that Emy may need some recurrent training, as each bite costs him about 10 Euros!

Of course, every culinary excursion includes a moment to sample the goods: Corinne has prepared brioche slices spread with truffle oil and olive tapenade.  And this wouldn’t be France if we wouldn’t be offered a glass of wine too!

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