Hotel LA’ di Moret

Everything about this hotel and restaurant is pleasantly eccentric. The décor. The layout. The breakfast… let’s start with breakfast.
This is a spa and wellness hotel. So the breakfast buffet reflects it. You will find vitamins on the buffet. Their muffins are steamed in mason jars rather than baked, and come in many varieties including a «herbal purifying muffin». You scoop honey straight from the comb. A plain croissant is labelled as «empty». It’s a little heavy on the baked goods and light on the full-​English breakfast style stuff, but the wide selection of trad Friulian cakes makes up for it. By the way, you can have dessert for breakfast, too – the buffet includes the likes of a crème brûlée.
The restaurant, though, is where the lovable oddness of the place really takes off. The family who owns the hotel support every kind of programme that celebrates regional and seasonal Italian food. They’re part of the Unione Buoon Ricordo, which means that if you order the local special main course, you’ll be given a souvenir ceramic plate to take home. (I did. The dish was a rabbit croquette, and it was great). But my husband got he piece de resistance. He ordered the steak tartare and it arrived on a glass box containing hay. Earphones were attached, and the soundtrack to accompany his meal played cowbells and mooing. A splendid bit of theatre.
But one item busts the La di Moret from a five star to a four. When my husband and I checked in, we needed to be very firm with the desk staff. Yes, we we’re two men in the same room. Yes, we booked a double bed. No, we don’t want to change rooms. The desk clerk consulted with her colleague who asked us the same questions over again. They looked distinctly uncomfortable, and if we had not been a long-​married gay couple who are unselfconscious about such things, they would embarrassed us.
I know that Italy does not share the same commitment to gay rights that the rest of Europe does. But this is the 2014. I’m happy to discuss these matters with La di Moret staff on our next visit – staff who were, otherwise, welcoming and gracious.