Umbria bed & breakfast accommodation, Italy

A holiday in a farmhouse can be a total experience of body and soul, we expect people who choose it to look for something different than a hotel, so rooms and common spaces are furnished in order to give the idea and the feel of a private house and meals are cooked and served respecting this philosophy, so the atmosphere recalls dinner amongst friends rather than a formal restaurant. Of course the ingredients we use are home grown or come from selected nearby farms.

Our first aim is to preserve the environment so we have chosen organic farming, which means not only that we use no chemical products, but also that we cultivate land using methods that don’t pollute the surrounding environment (such as picking olives manually, or hoeing fields instead of using herbicides).

Also our major effort at the moment is concentrated on using alternative forms of energy, so we have installed solar panels, and we are now having installed photovoltaic panels in order to produce electricity. The house is being heated through the use of geothermal energy.

We make all sort of efforts to avoid waste of water and electricity; we use energy saving bulbs and have programmed the garden to go off at a certain time, in some common parts lights turn on and off automatically, we have provided our taps and showers with a special device to reduce the amount of water used. Towels and sheets are changed upon request or every three/four days, we explain our guests that this reduces water waste and pollution and they are happy to cooperate, we show them where to hang towels to dry in the sun; we have no tumble dryer. We use either natural detergents such as vinegar, soap, sodium bicarbonate or environmental friendly cleaning product and try to reduce amounts. Also we like to encourage our guests to leave cars and walk, or cycle or ride a horse instead.

We separate glass, plastic, paper, cartoons, tins, and compost all food and garden waste, we also collect rain water and use it for the garden. We don’t print brochures, instead make the most of advertising via Internet, we send e-mails to our clients instead of writing Christmas Cards, and try to answer to letters and faxes using electronic post; when we need to print something we do it on both sides, we use the blank side of sheets for personal notes; we ask our guests to give us back maps and leaflets, so other people can use them.

As we imagine people to come here in order to find peace and silence rooms are deliberately without many electronic equipments. TVs are available upon request but we prefer to encourage guests to talk to each other or admire the colours of nature rather than staying in their room watching television.

We care about the environment and have chosen a way of living in accordance with this. We recycle, avoid waste, use alternative energies and farm organically as part of our daily life. We try to involve guests in caring for nature too, and make them think about sustainability. For people who come from crowded and noisy towns staying here makes a big difference, we try to encourage them to think about nature and how important it is to preserve it. Most of the time when they go back home they change some little habits and become more conscious about pollution or energy saving, we couldn’t ask for more!

We try to make the local community aware of the importance of sustainability, by giving examples on how to recycle materials, avoid waste and live in harmony with nature instead of just exploiting it.

We are part of an association of different local companies such as farmhouses, restaurants, trekking guides, wine producers, artisans and artists created in order to promote tourism in our territory and send clients to each other. Also we cooperate actively with the local tourist board sending newsletters to our registered customers to inform them about particular events and activities (e.g. grape and saffron harvest, traditional village feasts).

In everyday life we try to buy all we need and don’t produce directly (such as wine, meat from bigger animals like cows and pork, saffron, mushrooms, snails) from local producers in order to promote quality and help the local economy, we encourage people who come on holiday to do the same, using local services and buying from traditional artisans.

We have seasonal employees who all come from the village or the nearby ones. When restoring the houses we only employed local people such as builders, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, various artisans, and for the maintenance of the buildings and the garden we depend entirely on local firms.

We are making a serious effort to make people appreciate the little area where we live whose beauty is unknown to most people. We always encourage our guests to explore this area, suggesting routes off the beaten track and pointing out little restaurants, shops and interesting places to visit, we also invite them to visit farms with various production and try or buy the products they sell.