Sky Uno, 14 July 2022
Four bike hotels between the Marche and Romagna
In 4 Hotel four hoteliers from the same area sleep in one another's hotels and judge one another. Bruno Barbieri goes with them, tries each property as a guest and has his say at the end. The third episode of the 2022 season aired on Thursday 14 July at 21:15 on Sky Uno.
The theme was the bike hotel: not a hotel with a few bike racks, but a house reshaped around people who travel with their bicycle. Between Romagna and the Marche this has become a category of its own, and Barbieri crossed the area in the saddle to find out who interprets it best.
The contest is a Sky Original production made by Banijay Italia. The episode is still available on demand and streaming on NOW.
A clip from the episode
The room, judged by fellow hoteliers
A tour of a room with the comments of the competing hoteliers: what they look at when they sleep in someone else's house.
The competitors
Who competed
Four properties far apart in size, history and location: three hotels on the coast, one country house in the hills.
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Lungomare Hotel
CesenaticoSilvia's hotel, in her family for three generations: 53 modern rooms with sea views, a bike room, a wash area and a repair area. It was the first bike hotel in Cesenatico and has been hosting cyclists from all over the world for forty years.
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Hotel Dory
RiccioneOpened in 1954 by Stefano's parents as a family hotel, and turned by him into a bike hotel to keep it open for many more months a year. Thirty-eight family-run rooms, a bike room, rental, a wash corner and a repair station.
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Hotel Marinella
Gabicce MareFederica runs it together with her brother, overlooking its own private beach. The lobby is built like a town square, with the balconies looking down onto the hall.
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Ca' Virginia
Borgo Massano (PU)Our house, represented by Giacomo Rossi: a rural building in the Marche countryside a stone's throw from the border with Romagna, opened as a country house in the early 2000s. A nineteenth-century part and a more recent one, the zero-km restaurant and the wellness centre.
The format
How an episode is won
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A day and a night in each hotel
The four hoteliers take turns as each other's guests. They check in as customers and try the welcome, style, cleanliness and services the way someone who books experiences them.
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The scores at breakfast
After check-out each of them scores the others from 0 to 10 on five items: location, room, breakfast, services, price. It is a judgement between colleagues, and nobody goes easy.
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The green seal
Where he finds a concrete eco-friendly choice, Barbieri leaves his green seal. It is the commitment he added to the contest: showing that hospitality and care for the environment go together.
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The last word
At the end come Bruno Barbieri's scores, which can confirm or overturn the hoteliers' ranking.
The verdict
First by one point, then the highest total
In the partial ranking Ca' Virginia was in the lead, but by just one point over the second: four properties very close together. The win came at the final comparison, with the highest total score given by the fellow hoteliers.
“For our Country House, competing with our colleagues' long-established bike hotels was a great challenge, a difficult one, but also a beautiful and exciting one,” Giacomo Rossi told Sky TG24 the day after the broadcast. “Receiving the highest total score from them gave me an incredible emotion.”
Asked what had won Barbieri over, he answered the countryside and the conservative restoration of the rural house, together with the commitment to sustainability: photovoltaics, geothermal energy, solar thermal, zero-km products and charging points. “A bike hotel worthy of the name has to be green,” he concluded, “in line with the philosophy of the bicycle as a way to discover the area with zero emissions.”
Sky TG24's coverage
Where to watch the episode again
The episode is on NOW, on demand. Sky TG24 dedicated three pages to it, still online.
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The interview with the winner
Giacomo Rossi talks about the contest the day after the broadcast: the bike hotel challenge, the moment of the comparison, what convinced Barbieri.
Read the interview -
The episode in 18 photos
The Sky TG24 photo gallery: the four competing properties, the hoteliers and Barbieri's journey along the Adriatic coast.
View the photo gallery -
The preview
The page published on the day of the broadcast: the four properties, the rules of the game and the five scoring items.
Read the preview
What he found
What lies behind that win
The things Barbieri saw in our house in 2022 are the same ones you find today, with no stage set.
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The farmhouse and the green choice
A fifteenth-century house restored since 2004, keeping its brick, vaulted arches and exposed beams. Since 2008 we have been a Green Energy Hotel: a 200 kWp photovoltaic system, a 213 kW geothermal field and solar thermal power the entire estate.
Our story -
The bike hotel
An AMI guide since 2011, a video-monitored bike room with a workshop corner, road, gravel and e-bike rental, guided rides and the Cippo di Carpegna within pedalling distance.
Discover the bike hotel -
The zero-km kitchen
The restaurant that Barbieri's guests enjoyed: traditional cooking between the Marche and Romagna, seasonal ingredients chosen at zero kilometres and a full-electric kitchen with no flame.
Go to the restaurant -
The SPA Il Fienile
Four hundred and fifty square metres of sauna, steam room, hydromassage, Kneipp path and treatments: the place where a day in the saddle ends.
Go to the SPA
The episode at Ca' Virginia
Frequently asked questions about 4 Hotel at Ca' Virginia
When did the 4 Hotel episode with Ca' Virginia air?
On Thursday 14 July 2022 at 21:15 on Sky Uno. It is the third episode of the 2022 season of Bruno Barbieri 4 Hotel, dedicated to bike hotels between the Marche and Romagna.
Where can I watch the episode again?
On demand and streaming on NOW. On Sky TG24 the preview, the photo gallery of the episode in 18 photos and the interview with the winner are still online.
Which other hotels competed?
The Lungomare Hotel in Cesenatico with Silvia, the Hotel Dory in Riccione with Stefano and the Hotel Marinella in Gabicce Mare with Federica. Ca' Virginia was represented by Giacomo Rossi.
What are the hotels judged on?
Each hotelier scores the others from 0 to 10 on five items: location, room, breakfast, services and price. Bruno Barbieri then gives his own scores and can award the green seal where he finds concrete eco-friendly choices.
Is Ca' Virginia still a bike hotel?
Yes, it is our identity. Giacomo Rossi has been a certified AMI guide since 2011, the bike room is video-monitored with a workshop corner and charging sockets for e-bikes, and the rental covers road, gravel and e-bikes. We are a partner of Italy Bike Hotels.
