Palazzo Seneca

This hotel is housed in a sprawling palazzo right next to the castello in the center of town. Perfect location. The staff is extremely welcoming and helpful, and the property itself has many amenities, including a spa and wellness center, multiple cute common rooms, and a michelin-rated restaurant onsite. (They also have an osteria too, which, because of the 2016/17 earthquake restoration, is housed outside the town walls.) They feature an international breakfast buffet in the restaurant every morning. ||For one night, this was a nice experience, although our room was a little small for the price we paid. Even so, we were happy to stay in town and do what we could to help the local economy. These areas are still recovering from earthquakes, and need our help.||Norcia itself is a cute town with friendly and very resilient people. The town is a gem, even if it clearly will have years of restoration ahead to bring it back to pre-2016 normality. Easily walkable, and also easily walkable to the outside retail center, which was developed while the earthquake damage in centro storico gets repaired. Norcia itself is a great base for exploring southern Umbria and southwest Le Marche, including parco nazionale Monti Sibillini, right over the nearest range of hills.

The Palazzo Seneca is everything you would expect in a Relais & Chateau, and much more. Family owned and operated since 1850, the Bianconis have mastered the art of hospitaltiy in Norcia with this premier signature hotel, an upgraded and beautiful B&B, and three amazing restaurants. The craftsmanship by Umbrian masters is reflected in every piece of furniture, fireplace, ceiling beam and headboard. The rooms are generous in size and the baths are luxurious. The public areas are comfortable and warming. The service is impeccable. I will get into the restaurant reviews in another post. The hotel staff was amazingly accomodating, from Martina and Estefano to Mohamed and Argent, all very kind and generoous. The only sllight complaint was spotty wi-fi in room 200. The spa had very nice amenities, but the jacuzzi could have been a bit warmer. No complaints however and we will be back for an even longer stay.

We spent a night in this beautiful hotel as part of an Italian road trip, and we could not have been happier with it! The bed and linens were extremely comfortable, the spa was a lovely treat after a long day, and there are not enough words to express how perfect our dinner was at Vespasia. The staff at the hotel were very kind and attentive and really made our stay special. Particular thanks to Martina (I believe that was her name!) for helping us to navigate the streets around the hotel (beware your gps/Google map directions - they do not reflect some construction-related street closures or pedestrian-only zones!), and for the chefs and wait staff at Vespasia as well as Momo who took care of us at breakfast (which was also absolutely perfect, and with a stunning view from our table!). It was absolutely worth visiting this enchanting place. Grazie mille!

Our stay at Palazzo Seneca was spur of the moment, and, wow, are we glad that we made that decision! Incredible hotel in Norcia, minutes away from some of the most beautiful scenery Italy has to offer. The rooms were fantastic; and shout out to MoMo, who is such a friendly, hospitable member of the staff. He really elevated our experience with suggestions around the area, general conversation, and level of service.

It was just perfect. First amazing staff, super smart, super friendly but more importantly super knowledgeable. Second the food - delicious, innovative and surprising. The wines were also great but that you would expect. Finally the general atmosphere is special and charming. All stars are aligned here, they probably deserve a second one actually!

This was our third stay at the Palazzo Seneca and we could not have been happier with the accommodations. You can feel the passion in the staff as they do everything possible to make your stay memorable. And, having been there before, the staff remembered us and gave us a great welcome. Norcia is a unique destination, still under re-construction from a previous earthquake. However, many of the local businesses are back in operations and there are a number of good restaurants on offer throughout the town. We dined one night at the Palazzo Seneca and had an amazing Michelin star meal with many wonderful courses from start to finish. We travel with our dog and she was as happy at the hotel as we were. We believe that this hotel is exceptional and we hope that others will feel as we do. Thank you.

you can never (in my experience) go wrong with an R & C hotel and Palazzo Seneca was no different. it was truly excellent from our first arrival to our departure. we stayed three nights in june and ate at their amazing restaurant on one of the nights. this is a very interesting and (sadly) hard hit part of italy. i had not been there before but the location and surrounding scenery are well worth a trip off the beaten track.||when we arrived in our (way too big) jeep rental (i didn't choose it-i'm not stupid-i know italian roads having lived there for 2+ years!) our gps took us in exactly the wrong way to get to the hotel. we were only across the piazza but there was no way to get there with the earthquake reconstruction and blockages. i walked to the hotel and told them where we were and they said "no problem, we will come and get your bags and one of our people will take care of your car". so we had our bags walked across the piazza and checked in and left them with the car keys. ||when we got to the room-a beautiful 2 room suite with two bathrooms- there were some artisanal beers (really good one's) and cured meats/cheeses waiting for us. check in was seamless and we loved the large room. ||we did have dinner at their restaurant on our second night. a magnificent meal. the woman who headed up the staff at the restaurant (she was originally from salerno and i had lived there for a couple of years so we were able to talk about that in italian towards the end of our meal) was excellent, and i think she may have been training one of her young staff that night as she supervised our service. anyway the food was outstanding and the risotto cinghiale is to die for. we don't normally eat red meat and got the vegetarian and fish option but i substituted the wild boar in for one of mine. the service, explanation, and pacing was perfect.||breakfast were excellent as was the service and we loved momo from tunisia, and a couple of the other young servers who were there in the morning. also, sitting out on the back terrace and enjoying some wine or an aperol spritz is a great way to pass the time.||thanks for a great stay.

It was a pleasure to be back at ‘one of our favourite hotels’ after 10 years’ absence (Norcia is rather tucked away in the eastern part of Umbria). It was wonderful to see the building and charming spaces as we remembered them, to find very high standards of maintenace and housekeeping, highly caring and professional service from the small team and Vespasia restaurant producing superb meals and dining experiences. We only hope that the hotel may one day include a swimming-pool!|It was moving and interesting for us to witness the ongoing restoration process in Norcia and to see Palazzo Seneca’s role in the rejuvenation of the town and region.|We look forward to returning one day soon to help celebrate the completion of all these projects!