In the wee hours of Sunday morning I was looking online at things around Perugia and stumbled across a new one – the Chocohotel. Perugia apparently is as well known here for chocolate as Hershey, PA is in the U.S. They even have a huge chocolate factory that offfers tours and tastings. I don’t know whether they have anything to do with the Chocohotel, but it certainly highlights Perugia and European chocolate. You can stay overnight in chocolate themed rooms and even have a chocolate massage. https://www.chocohotel.it/en/
While we were not interested in that, they offered another option – a Chocolate Breakfast Buffet!! Who has ever heard of anything so absurd? And who could pass that up?!
I communicated with the hotel who said we had to make reservations and pay in advance, so we stopped by on our way to Spello on Sunday. It was only 15 Euros per person which included beverages, a deal for any breakfast! The great news was that it was literally just down the street from the Hertz car rental and Perugia train station where we would be returning the car and catching the train to Assisi. And there was an Esso station right across the street for the final fill-up. We were obviously destined to be there, and who am I to mess with destiny??
We packed up the car in the early morning coolness and said goodbye to our delightful Airbnb and took our final ride in our Fiat 500 between Italian towns.
The drive was just under an hour and we arrived hungry and ready for adventure. We did not want to leave bags visible in the car, so packed smaller things in the boot and put the two carry-on bags in the back seat. We hoped anyone who might see us would think they wouldn’t fit in the trunk and would believe the car was empty. The hotel held them for us behind the front desk.
The hotel lobby is decorated in a chocolate theme with a “Chocoreception” for check-in, a bathtub full of chocolate chunks, and chocolate sculptures strategically placed. It appeared that some chunks had been chipped out from the one in front of the check-in!
Counters were filled with chocolate for sale in many forms and flavors from bars to bite-size and dark to lite. Some were filled with liqueurs, some with cream, there were fruit flavored and hot peppers. There was even chocolate pasta. It was all in Italian, totally overwhelming, and we didn’t buy a thing.
We were given our tickets and directed to an elevator to go up to the first floor. Upon arrival we were greeted and led past the chocolate buffet to a table that had been preset with a chocolate themed tablecloth, a fondue pot of melting chocolate and fruit, and certificates in each of our names with a folder in which to save them. Crazy!!! Ingenious!!
Across from us was a couple sitting under “chocolate headphones” with a chocolate lamp and other specialty items on their table. They set up a tripod and focused on taking pictures of every bite. We, on the other hand, focused on the bites.
There was a special stand built for people to step up and get a picture of the ” Isola dei Golosi” – The Glutton Island. I think I’ll just stick with calling it “The Chocolate Buffet”.
In addition to the central island of chocolate in multiple forms from pastries to pumps to pots to pieces, there were side tables with savory items, fruits, nuts, yogurts, juices, and even boiled eggs. Those were good too, but it was obvious why we were all there. I’ll attach pictures but try not to drool on your phone.
Having eaten a reasonable amount (whatever that is) of chocolate – as well as some healthier items – we decided it was time to leave the Island, turn in the car, and take the train to our last stop, the town of Assisi, which we will do in the next post.
Now go wipe off your phone and have some chocolate!
On my! I would have thought I d’idée and went to heaven! And Gloria would have hated it. Chocolate – the nectar of the gods!