Stay where you eat

We have a new guideline for accomodation when traveling: stay where you eat. This differs from “eat where you stay” in a clever inversion that fully excludes the dreaded hotel restaurant.

A few months ago we were in Maremma for the weekend at the beach, and wished to find a new restaurant as we’d tired of our old one. After checking out a few small towns we came across Tirli and my husband smelled… Steak! So we followed his nose and ended up at Locanda la Luna, a lovely restaurant that serves upscale Tuscan fare. The owner mentioned that they had rooms; subsequently we have stayed here numerous nights and enjoyed rolling upstairs after large, delicious meals (I am writing this from our iphone in the hotel room).

The Locanda is a concept that exists all over Italy and France and offers excellent food with often reasonable lodging prices. Slow Food Italia sells a guide to them which you can buy at bookstores throughout Italy.