Bed and Blessings
Bed and Blessings was a popular book but is now both out of print and out of date.
The up to date, trusted booking service is now Monastery Stays.
Bed & Blessings
Bed & Blessings
Life within the mysterious monastic walls can still be a journey into another time, another place -- very much in the real world, yet one step removed. In this modern age when monasteries and convents rely on hospitality to earn resources for their good works, all are open to people of any faith, or none at all, whether alone, as a couple or with a family. Many of the houses are former palaces and villas, filled with exquisite antiques and religious artwork.
In the Jubilee year 2000 the Catholic Church provided substantial sums to modernize many convents and monasteries to accommodate the huge number of visitors. So most monasteries in the larger cities have modern facilities.
Hitherto, people have known about this style of accommodation mainly through word-of-mouth. Bed and Blessings offered travelers a real insider's guide to some of Italy's hidden treasures.
Bed and Blessings was an imaginative and well-researched guide featuring 131 convents and monasteries in some of Italy's finest areas. Mother-daughter team June and Anne Walsh spent two years researching the places in their book, traversing 13 regions of Italy and visiting more than 300 sites.
For each entry, the book gave a description of both the physical place and the atmosphere, as well as an address, fax and phone numbers, price, number of rooms, availability of meals, languages spoken, directions. The book is illustrated with more than 50 detailed maps and color photos of some of the picturesque houses.
As you'd expect things change and a good deal of the information had become out of date. Monasteries close, change function e.g. become old people's homes, phone numbers were incorrect and the prices were given in lira!
If you want to see a complete range of available monasteries and convent across Italy with up to date information then you are at the right place. Click to search: Bed and Blessings information enhanced for 2011
Recently the Pauline Press (the original publishers) have produced and updated version (May 2010) of the original book under the title Beds and Blessings in Italy
It is larger and has greater numbers of places to stay but in the words of one reviewer
"This book has a lot of places listed, which is great, but there's not enough detail... listings do not show prices, nor do they all tell you how to get there by public transport or car or how far from city centers or historical areas. If you find one you like, you'll have to do more research on your own..."
You do not have to read the book or struggle to find the right information, fax a request, cross your fingers and wait for days. We've solved all those problems and more. We work with the monasteries and convents, we have visited and reviewed each guest house - so their prices are up to date, descriptions and facitites are detailed, there are maps to locate each place together with lots of photos so you can see what suits you before you go. Just click here to start your search and use our booking service - it's fast, secure and reliable