Mioni Royal San ★★★★

We had chosen the Mioni Royal San for our holiday to recover from our touring because it is a modern multi-purpose hotel with the emphasis on wellness and restoration – just what we needed! Outside there is a serene flower-shaped pool surrounded by cool tiles, comfortable loungers and mature trees. The evening we arrived, the lighting reflecting on the water cast a gentle glow on the impassive marble statues looking calmly over the scene. You enter a bright and airy building with modern décor and an air of confident know-how amongst the staff.

We were shown to our room and found it to be bigger than we expected, as well as clean and comfortable, with a lovely welcoming bunch of flowers and all the modern conveniences we needed, including a good desk space for the odd bit of correspondence. There were bath robes and slippers awaiting us and a huge mosaic tiled bathroom. We were starting to feel refreshed already!

We had taken half board, mainly be to able to relax completely and only go out exploring when the spirit moved us, and we were so pleased that we had. The dining room was airy, bright and fresh-feeling with blue and white décor and the odd flash of bright colour from the modern artworks on the walls. We were given a table that was ‘ours’ for the duration of our stay. We started with a salad bar where there was a great choice; I especially enjoyed the marinated artichokes. We took our choices of starters and main courses, again with a great choice and always with a fish, meat and vegetarian option. A tempting dessert station was laden with an assortment of fresh fruit, pies and pastries and cakes. We would need to go to the gym as well as relax on this holiday!

The spa was the main event of the next day. It was lovely to swim in the hot thermal pool, where the water comes directly from the Lessinian Mountains in the foothills of the Alps. They say it derives its beneficial properties from seeping through many kilometres of calcareous rocks, enriching it with trace elements before it comes to the surface at a temperature of 87°C. We certainly enjoyed the experience, and were there every evening before dinner for the rest of our stay. That was only the beginning of our revitalising programme, which went on to include mud baths using mud from Abano and Montegrotto, relaxing massages, a little light lunch in the pool-side café, and not forgetting the outdoor pool too, which also had a lovely relaxing feel, created in part by the majestic ancient trees all around.

The surrounding countryside is stunning, and we borrowed bikes from the hotel and explored some of the pretty and well-marked trails that thread their way through the picturesque Montegrotto Terme region. Towards the end of our stay we felt so much better that we even took to the road again and took a little tour to Verona and around the Dolomite cities. What a wonderful way to recover from the stresses and strains of a road trip! Relaxed and rejuvenated, we agreed when we left that next time we would need to find a different excuse to return to the restorative magic of the Mioni Royal San!