Lusiana | La Scuola Guesthouse

In the shadow of the Eastern Alps and overlooking the Vicenza plain is the village of Lusiana. With barely 3000 souls, clean air and breath-taking scenery in every direction, it’s the perfect place for a mountain sojourn. And it happens to have the perfect place to stay: La Scuola Guesthouse. It’s a tiny theme hotel for which the theme suggested itself: the building was, until the 1960s, the village school. And when owners Valeria and Marco stumbled on it while roaming these lovely parts in search of dream fulfillment, well, they instantly knew they’d found it. They restored rather than renovated the building using funding from local banks, the skills of local craftsmen and, not least, their own considerable artistry.

The result is an utterly charming 5-room locanda on three floors, where Valeria and Marco personally ensure their guests a unique, slowexperience, down to the last detail. Four of the rooms are named and themed after subjects taught in the schoolroom, while the fifth is the more romantic Camera della Maestra, the teacher’s room up in the attic where you can soak up the views while soaking in the clawfoot bathtub. The décor, harking back to the building’s heyday, is perfectly at home with an unhurried mood of times past.

If La Scuola opened only last year, Valeria’s breakfasts are already the stuff of legend: fresh, home-made, sweet and savoury, and served until late morning – out in the courtyard when the sun shines. Valeria and Marco are awash in enthusiasm for all things natural and traditional on the Asiago plateau: they’re the experts on all the local beauty spots, the walking and cycling itineraries, the foods and wines, the culture and events. And if Lusiana and surroundings are certainly arcadian, bear in mind that they’re only an hour and a half from both Verona and Venezia, closer still to Padova and Vicenza, and less than 30 minutes from all those pretty little towns on the plain.