As usual, I’ll be honest and tell you that, of course (but unfortunately), we didn’t try all the hotels and the restaurants in San Marino… But I can recommend, or advise against, what I’ve tried.
Sleeping in San Marino
We stayed at Hotel Silvana, fifteen minute walk from the center, with a private parking lot reserved to those who – smartly – prefer to leave the car and to walk around. I’ll warn you, the street to the center is all uphill, but it is done pretty easily!
The rooms are tiny, there’s just enough space, and lighting is low (and red), but overall it’s fine. The bed is comfortable (and by now you should know about my obsession for the beds!), large, and the room is well heated, not like those places where they set the heater to 46°C degrees, and then the temperature excursion makes you go home with pneumonia.
Breakfast is served in a very impressive tavern indeed. Most importantly, it is a varied breakfast with homemade cakes all served still warm from the oven.
The “icing on the cake”? Friendliness, and kindness of the staff, which is nothing but the family that runs it: it was a pleasure to talk to them and get to know some stories on the hotel and its customers. In short, if I go back to San Marino I would definitely go sleep there again, despite the small room!
Eating in San Marino
Let’s start from the restaurant to avoid: the Miramonti. Medium prices with the tourist menu, but the portions are quite scarce, and let’s not talk about the taste (lasagna was still frozen inside…). The only good “dish” was the lemon sorbet, but it takes skills to mess that up…
The environment is well prepared, the staff coldly cordial. In short, to avoid.
Let’s talk about the good things now.
A place that I highly recommend is “Il Ritrovo dei Lavoratori”.
An elegant restaurant, suitable for ceremonies or work-lunches, but here the food speaks for itself. And it definitely speaks well, from appetizer to dessert.
There are three fixed menus: 16, 24 and 28 Euros, and also, obviously, “A-la-carte” menu.
Of all of the three “set” menus, the last one is the most complete (and the one we chose). It starts with an appetizer of sliced meats and cheeses so abundant that it can be divided among four people. As Main Course a hearty dish of meat ravioli with black truffles, and it continues with beef slices with salt and rosemary, accompanied by a nice side dish of mixed vegetables. Eventually, we got a “Creme Brulèe” among the best I’ve ever tasted (so far).
The main dish is meat, intensely flavored, well-seasoned and cooked to perfection… worth the whole meal, which is already very good on its own! You simply can’t miss it!
