Last year I celebrated my 40th birthday and I wanted to mark the occasion but wasn’t really sure how to do it.
I knew I wanted to go to Italy and I thought perhaps a boutique hotel in Rome, but I’d spent my birthday there a few years before, so had to throw the net out a bit further for something different. I got onto booking.com and just popped in my dates, Italy and put it in the hands of the internet!
As I was scrolling through (I’m a visual person, so the main pic really has to capture me) I saw a photo and I thought “No.., can’t be”. There was a glorious photo of a place called Castello Orsini and I immediately thought it had to be a mistake for the cheeky price range I had popped in, there was no way, it had to be a trick, I would click on it and find we would be sleeping in the cleaning cupboard! But no… the rooms themselves were fantastic and the castle was just gorgeous. I sent it to Martin and said “that’s where I want to go for my birthday”, he had a quick look through and noticed that the turret suite, located within the castle wasn’t all that much more expensive than the one I had been looking at and that just sealed the deal.
We flew to Rome, which is about 40km away from the castle, spent a night there and then hopped on the train, then a bus and we ended up in Nerola, walking up the hill to the castle. It was everything and more than we could have asked for. The blue sky, the magnificent castle itself, said to date back to around the 10th century, the panoramic views, it was perfect!
Check in was very easy and we were in our room exploring within 10 minutes of arriving! We had the Suite Tower East which had its very own private turret, with ladder leading up to the roof with stunning views (we watched the sunrise and a few sunsets from that vantage point and it’s something that will stay with me forever). The whole place is like something out of a fairytale.
In the morning there is a buffet breakfast and you feast in a lovely dining hall, there is also a restaurant if you want to stay in and eat on an evening. We didn’t on this visit so can’t comment, but many non residents where very keen on it!
You have access to pretty much everywhere, there are many communal spaces within the hotel, further enhancing the castle stay, there is a large terrace where you can take your drinks out on to and enjoy the views, or take a walk around the gardens.
There is an outdoor pool (not open when we went in May, too cold!), there are suits of armour, stunning furniture that looks like it is straight from a museum and there’s also an onsite Spa if you fancy pampering yourself!
At night, the castle is all lit up and it’s very atmospheric and a photographer’s dream come true! I got to try out my travel tri-pod and have my first go at night photography.
So, if you are looking for somewhere that little bit special to celebrate a special birthday, get married, or even as a romantic getaway, then this will tick all your boxes without breaking the bank!
