Relais San Maurizio lies in a unique and enchanting place, the ancient XVII century monastery, where people and nature have always lived together in peace and harmony.
We’ll accompany you on a journey in search for the roots and origins, you’ll admire the slow flow of time and enjoy the experience that will caress your mind for a long time.
THE HISTORY
1619 It all begins, as in any self-respecting story, with a symbolic date. 1619, a group of Cistercian monks go up the old Salt Road and decided to build a monastery on the ruins of a chapel built a century before their arrival.
A shelter, a new land, a place of work, of prayer, of hours marked by the tolling of bells, of seasons which follow the same change of the earth’s cycles. Nature here reigns supreme.
During the centuries the hill of San Maurizio became a place particularly fertile for more varied crops, from the vines to the ancient cereal grains, officinal herbs and spices from the nearby Mediterranean.
The centuries respected the clever work of first inhabitants of the hill; today everything is still alive and is our pride, of which we are the keepers and of which you are the privileged recipients..
1862 The most fascinating places are those which resist the passage of time and that are reinvented whilst remaining faithful to their origins. In 1862, the monastery was bought by the Incisa Counts – a noble family of the surrounding valleysand transformed as a private house.
Now a second anthology begins for San Maurizio: the dining hall becomes a jubilation of paintings, trompe l’oeil, hidden anecdotes and landscapes on the limits of reality.
Nature becomes an ornament and the cloister is transformed in an Italian garden which fades over the belvedere on the horizon of the hills to the sea. Austerity is a memory softened by the colours of the fabrics, the warmth of the furnishings, from the fireplaces and by a more gentle nature.
San Maurizio becomes a home for the first time, an oasis of privacy. 2002 After four years of conservative restoration that preserved to the best the patrimony left over the previous centuries, Relais San Maurizio comes to life.
In 2002, the antique monastery and the noble house become a single soul under the five-star hospitality. The first Relais&Châteaux of Piedmont is born, a true partnership between the art of hospitality, eno-gastronomic excellence and the search of well-being.
All this takes shape thanks to an investment banker native of the Langhe, who wanted to give back, to the territory a precious page of history with passion and dedication.
San Maurizio opens its doors to the world after four centuries of history and stories, and in ten years it becomes the reference point for refined hospitality, centre of culinary experimentation and guardian, at the same time, of ancient traditions. It opens the era of the good living.
MONASTERY ROOMS
The experience of a wisely restored ancient 15th century monastery is ready to welcome you in our rooms and suites.
In each of them, original architectural elements meet the elegance of the nobles who lived there in the 1800s making each room unique, while the beauty of the Langhe that surrounds the building is the same that the monks admired over four centuries ago.
In a harmonious union between comfort and tradition, the rooms are housed in the ancient cells, in the original sacristy and in the historic stables. Antique marble fireplaces, visible beams or inlaid floors blend with the attention to detail and the charm of the outdoor panorama.
BRIDESMAIDS SUITE
The women of the ancient noble family are depicted in 19th century prints that characterize this Superior Room in which the natural design fabrics blend with the vaulted ceilings and the original terracotta floors. Exposed to south, it has an enchanting view of the green hills.
STABLES SUITE
This large double Suite is in the converted ancient stables, from which you can enjoy the peace of the Langhe directly from the private garden. The terracotta floor and the masonry have remained the original ones.
SAN LUIGI SUITE
On the highest point of the hill of San Maurizio stands the Villa San Luigi. Ancient eighteenth-century farmhouse recently restored, today it houses our Luxury and Presidential Suites in a small oasis of privacy and tranquility with an incomparable view of the greenery of the Langhe.
The Suites are a combination of the highest technology and ancient tradition, each designed with a unique decor, where the locations combine design, like the ceramics of Patricia Urquiola, with details of craftsmanship and works of contemporary art.
GUIDO DA CASTIGLIOLE RESTAURANT
In the 1950 decade, Guido e Lidia Alciati made a new model of restaurant where years before the slow food time, they cook their products in a tasting way.
The same tradition you can find now at the Michelin starred restaurant “Guido da Costigliole”, located in the ancient walls of a monastery where you can live an unique tasting experience with the amazing view on the Alps and vineyards.
ORIGINI BISTROT
We have travelled through our local gastronomic tradition and returned to our origins to rediscover original recipes, authentic ones that we can present again today exactly as they were invented.
Going back to our origins means going back to the essential, it means slowing down and enjoying: detoxifying oneself from contamination and bringing real values back to light.
Origins Bistrot is a precious treasure chest where each of us can draw on our own memories and emotions, soon realising that we don’t need to go too far to feel at home.
THE SPA
Surrounded by lush green hills and the magnificent century-old park, our Spa seems to be set in a timeless space, where the mind regenerates.
The salt caves with salts from the Dead Sea that look onto the hills, the grape-based treatments and the bio-sauna with herbs from our botanic garden create a perfect synergy with the surrounding nature.
It’s easy to abandon yourself in this aura of serenity and peace, and to let yourself get pampered with personalized treatments and wellness rituals.
Relax in our pool, rest your eyes on the vineyards from our panoramic terrace, detox in the salt caves with Kneipp path o discover the saunas and hammam: every moment in our Spa is a true pleasure for body and mind.
WINE THERAPY
Wine has a relaxing and calming effect, while the grapes help in the purification of the body, in weight loss and generally help cell regeneration. Bacchus nectar is divine well-being for our skin, vinotherapy rejuvenates the epidermis, improves its tone, hydrates it and performs tonic action on the muscles.
Wine, grapes, pomace and grapeseed are used as a beauty elixir to give freshness, tone and vitality, contrasting aging skin and giving a general sense of well-being to the body and spirit by stimulating the five senses.
The Divine Path hosts two large barrels from the early 1900s in which a biosauna has been created, where it is still possible to appreciate the Barolo fragrances that have been preserved for decades in an environment of total relaxation on a bed composed of grape seeds that release heat to the body combined with the aroma of Barbera, giving you a feeling of total relaxation.
THALASSOTHERAPY
Thalassotherapy is based on hydrotherapy that uses the healing power of water to give our body a feeling of well-being. The Via del Sale uses immersion in two tanks with differing saline density.
The Dead Sea salts dissolved in the cave tanks are composed of sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride and bromine in high quantities (50 times above that found in the oceans).
Before dipping into the tanks, let your body warm up and enjoy the benefits of the biosauna with aromatic herbs from our garden, filling the air with the aromas of the Langhe.
From the Greek thalassa (sea) and tearapia (treatment), it is based on the curative action of the marine climate and sea water that can be considered the most complete mineral water, because it contains almost all the elements existing in nature.
Used in combination with the marine climate, it can cure various disorders and perform a revitalizing, cleansing and antibacterial action.
TENNIS & GYM
Even from our fitness facilities you will not miss out on the San Maurizio views on the gorgeous hills. Gym lovers will find it hard not to feel energized in the fitness room, which is set in the heart of the century-old park and is entirely made of glass.
The new tennis court on top of the hills makes every match an incredible experience, letting you play surrounded by nature with a 360’ view on the surrounding vineyards.
SKINFOOD COLLECTION
Our line promotes the concept of nutricosmetics: an innovative program that combines the functionality of the active ingredients with the quality of natural ingredients.
At the base of SkinFood is the Mediterranean diet, Unesco intangible heritage, the active ingredients of fruit, vegetables and aromatic herbs implement the effectiveness of cleansing, hydration, skin nutrition and cell regeneration processes.
THE SWIMMING POOL
Relais San Maurizio has a heated, scenic outdoor swimming pool. With a 360° view of the Moscato vineyards and the Langa hills, this pool opens on an unforgettable, suggestive scene.
During the summer, the swimming pool is the ideal place for events and cocktails. Bar and snacks available. The swimming pool is open from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM in June, July, August and a part of September.
PARK & BOTANIC GARDEN
The centuries-old park in which San Maurizio is immersed is located on the top of the hill, surmounted by a magnificent specimen of cedar of Lebanon, and enjoys a special microclimate that makes hundred-year-old fir trees, larches and majestic beech trees coexist with local elms.
The luxuriant protection that surrounds the monastery has in its interior a heart dedicated to the care of the medicinal garden and the organic vegetable garden, a precious legacy of the monks.
These two oases of authenticity are a source of inspiration for the eco-compatible philosophy of our kitchen and raw materials based on the recipes we can find in our menus, in detoxifying herbal teas and in our San Maurizio 1619 Skinfood® line.
Perpetuate the rigor of nature and guarantee the ingredients that have not been subjected to interpolation: this is our mission. From the earth to the table: the only truly “green therapy”.
DISCOVER THE LANGHE
A window on nature, the woods, the waterways, the top of the hills windswept by the Mediterranean.
“I saw the August moon among alders and reeds/on the gravels of the Belbo river being filled up with silver/every thread of that stream./I knew that the big hills were standing around/all around…”
(Cesare Pavese)
Here the countryside is gentle, drawn from the most precious vineyards of Italy, cradles of the great wines famous throughout the world and kept in the historic cellars. And then the old roads, already traversed in the Middle Ages, the hilltop villages, the castles, the eno-gastronomic tradition, the sinuous horizons.
These are the Langhe, UNESCO World Heritage; lands which breathe at a different rate during the changing seasons, destination for a getaway in the hills embraced by the Alps and the nearby Ligurian Sea.