Maison Farinet

Maison Farinet is a late nineteenth-century stone house in the hamlet of Cerisey, part of Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses in the Great St Bernard valley. Once owned by the Farinet family, it has recently been restored with care for its original features: the all-stone façade, the tufa vault of the former stable, the high ceilings of the old hayloft and the wooden balconies looking out over the larch woods.

There are four guest rooms, each panelled and furnished in a different wood that gives it its name. Breakfast is served in the former hayloft, with exposed beams and a wood fire; outside there is a garden, a terrace and free private parking. Aosta is about 20 km away, and the Great St Bernard Pass and the Swiss border around twenty minutes by car.

Maison Farinet is run by its owners, Nicole and François, who welcome guests personally and are glad to suggest walks, slopes and routes around the valley. Check-in and check-out are quick and can also be self-service; there is a ski room in the house.

Pets are welcome on request, with a supplement for final cleaning. The whole property is non-smoking.

Suite Larix, finished in larch, is a spacious studio set beneath the tufa vault of the old stable, with a fitted kitchenette, dining and sitting areas, a bathtub and a shower. Castaneis is a light, uncluttered double room in chestnut; Pinus Cembro is a smaller double lined with Swiss stone pine, the fragrant Alpine wood, with a French window only; Abies, in fir, has a double bed and a bunk bed and suits families or groups of four.

All rooms have a private bathroom with toiletries and hairdryer, a flat-screen TV with satellite channels, a safe, an electric kettle, heating and free Wi-Fi; bed linen and towels are provided.

Breakfast is included and served upstairs in the old hayloft, by the open fire: home-made cakes, coffee and produce from the Aosta Valley.

There is no restaurant on site. For lunch and dinner there are trattorias and restaurants serving Aosta Valley cooking in Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, Étroubles and along the valley, as well as mountain huts on the Crévacol slopes; Suite Larix has its own kitchen.

Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses is the last Italian village on the road to the Great St Bernard, on the Via Francigena, known for the Castle of Bosses and for Jambon de Bosses PDO, a raw ham cured under mountain hay. In winter there is skiing at Crévacol, about 5 km away, on some twenty kilometres of slopes, and cross-country skiing at Flassin; trails and ski-touring routes lead from Cerisey towards the Vallon de Citrin and Mont Flassin.

The Great St Bernard Pass, with its hospice and famous dogs, is about 20 minutes away in summer; Aosta, with its Roman theatre and old town, is around 25 minutes by car, and Courmayeur and Mont Blanc about an hour. Through the Great St Bernard tunnel, Martigny and the Swiss Valais are around 45 minutes away.