Locanda La Raia, a 12-room stylish pastoral retreat located in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy, announces its official reopening for the Spring/Summer 2021 season. Located on the lush 180-hectare La Raia Estate in Italy’s verdant Gavi Hills, the expansive property comprises Locanda La Raia, Fondazione La Raia, and the expansive Demeter-certified biodynamic winery and farm. Following the lifting of travel restrictions by the Italian Ministry of Health, the property reopens with new packages and experiences that highlight the best of the estate’s picturesque and relaxing facilities, wine experiences and gardens, hyper-local culinary offerings, and rich cultural heritage.
Locanda La Raia
In 2017, the Rossi Cairo Family transformed a former post station on the estate into a chic countryside retreat for the luxury traveler. The space was reimagined as a 12-room luxury boutique hotel, including ten unique guest rooms, two apartments, an estate-to-table restaurant, an indoor and outdoor pool, a spa, and a tennis court.
The ‘green mansion in the Gavi hills' was restored by the Milanese firm, demicisarchitetti, driven by the vision to create a dialogue between the inside and outside world. The firm preserved the building's original features accentuating the stunning vaulted ceilings, exposed brickwork, and large windows that offer sweeping views of the vineyards and welcome natural sunlight from the hills. Paired with sophisticated contemporary design pieces from iconic Italian brands such as Driade chairs and FontaraArte light fixtures, the hotel’s eclectic interiors feature furniture collected from Giorgio Rossi Cairo’s visits to towns across the Piedmont region. Guest rooms throughout the hotel feature vintage chests and armoires from the 17th-19th centuries, along with Korean watercolor paintings and Japanese photography.
The hotel features an in-house restaurant led by Tommaso Arrigoni, founder of the one Michelin-starred and Milan-based “Innocenti Evasioni Gourmet Factory,” serving an ample and diversified menu including beef, honey, herbs, and cereals grown on the estate, complemented by pours of biodynamic wine from La Raia's vineyards.
In addition, Locanda La Raia boasts a “Life Path” lined with flowers indigenous to the region that connects the hotel to the property’s wine cellars. The path was designed by Parisian studio Coloco in collaboration with landscape architect Gilles Clément and offers a contemporary interpretation of a traditional Italian garden. Full of aromatic herbs and shaped like a giant leaf, the garden connects La Raia's biodynamic vineyards and is composed only of indigenous species that help promote biodiversity in the farming world. Guests can explore the property and surrounding Gavi Hills on foot or by complimentary electric and standard bicycles. Guided bicycle tours or horseback riding excursions in the nearby valleys are also available.
In honor of the property’s reopening, Locanda La Raia has put together several new packages for guests to enjoy this upcoming season. In addition to the amenities outlined below, each package offers complimentary Wi-Fi and parking, and access to the spa with Hammam, sauna, and indoor heated and outdoor swimming pool, as well as access to the gym and outdoor gardens.
Packages highlights include:
"Workation" Package • Complimentary breakfast, light lunch, aperitif, or snack at the Locanda • Dedicated space for work and secretarial service • 15% discount on dinner service
Rates for this package start at €640 (approx US$783), for four nights in a single or double room.
"Among the hills of Gavi" Package • Complimentary breakfast, light lunch, aperitif, and snack at the Locanda • Dinner with a tasting menu “Across Gavi & Langhe” (beverages excluded) • Guided e-bike excursion with aperitif among the estate’s vineyards
Rates for this package start at €210 per person (approx US$257), for two nights in a large double room.
#Pause Package • Complimentary breakfast, light lunch, aperitif or snack at the Locanda restaurant, helmed by Chef Tommaso Arrigoni, and an à la carte dinner with the choice of three courses (beverages excluded) • Two spa treatments per person
Rates for this package start at €450 per person (approx US$551), for two nights in a large double room.
For more information about the different packages offer at Locanda, please visit: www.la-raia.it/en/locanda/experience/premium-deals
La Raia Estate
The Rossi Cairo family purchased La Raia in 2002, intending to recover and give value to the original ecosystem through a massive biodynamic intervention and project. Currently, the farm and winery extend across 180 hectares of vineyards, pastures, and forest and combine biodynamic methods with artistic experimentation and locavore cuisine. Today, La Raia produces three kinds of multi-awarded Gavi D.O.C.G. - Gavi, Gavi Riserva Vigna della Madonnina and Gavi Pisé - and two kinds of Piemonte D.O.C. Barbera.
With Piero Rossi Cairo at the helm, an entrepreneur responsible for managing the biodynamic farm La Raia in Novi Ligure and Tenuta Cucco in Serralunga d’Alba since 2016, the approach to biodynamic and sustainable farming methods was coherent with the desire of creating a balanced and harmonious place considering the property’s agricultural, landscape, architectural, social, and cultural components. The cellar was built with an ancient environmentally friendly construction technique called pisé to harmonize with the gentle hills surrounding La Raia. To do so, the family collaborated with one of the world’s foremost experts on this particular technique, Austrian architect Martin Rauch.
Fondazione La Raia
The estate's most eye-catching project is the Fondazione La Raia, established in 2013 by Giorgio Rossi Cairo and his wife, Irene Crocco, who runs Milan's contemporary art gallery, Viasaterna. The goal was to launch a project to encourage artists of different disciplines to create unique site-specific works and exhibitions to spotlight the local landscape. One standout piece is an inverted pyramid made from local granite that rises out of the ground and is lined with hundreds of tiny openings, serving as a fanciful bee hotel. Dreamt by French artist Adrien Missika, this homage to the landscape and one of nature's key players is ideally in tune with Rossi Cairo's commitment to biodynamic principles and protecting fragile ecosystems. Additional site-specific land artworks line the property along "The Art Path."
For more information about Locanda La Raia and to book your stay, visit www.locandalaraia.it.
