L8 Boutique: Apartment-Style Hotel in Bologna, Italy

I hadn’t left Rome since October. And there is nothing wrong with Rome, but six months might be the longest I have ever gone without so much as a day trip. After a winter of snow (!) and never-ending rain, we were itching to get out of the city.

Bologna is my favorite eating city in Italy. So Bologna it was. We packed up the baby, brought a giant suitcase of STUFF because that is what babies have, and got on a train.

This was one our first times traveling as a family of three, and if you have a little one then you know that sleep is at a serious premium when they are this small.

Basically, we know that Giacomo is going to be getting up in the middle of the night and if we stay in a traditional hotel room, that means that no one is sleeping when the inevitable 3 am wake up rolls around. We were already partial to apartment style stays pre-baby but knew we really wanted that now.

L’8 Boutique has the best of both worlds: a super helpful check-in desk manned by owners Francesca and Federica. The two super cool ladies have an obvious eye for design.

Each of the eight apartments has such a cool style that mixes modern elements with vintage furniture.

And these women know a thing or two about the history of those period pieces – most of them belonged to their grandmother.

Francesca and Federica are cousins, and L’8 Boutique is located inside the palazzo that their grandmother owned. They had it converted into eight apartments, and have fond memories of gathering here for lunches and holidays their entire lives.

The palazzo is a short walk from both the Bologna train station and the center of town, so they thought it was perfectly placed for visitors.

Every apartment is uniquely decorated, and each has a small kitchen and a separate living room and bedroom (which was key for us).

We used our kitchen, but one of my favorite things about staying here was that Francesca and Federica had amazing suggestions on where to eat in Bologna – and like I said, that is my priority when I am in town. I always eat well here, but this was another level thanks to their local favorites.

Cool design, family-owned, a great personal history, convenient location. Check, check, check, check.

There is no elevator, so keep that in mind if you are looking at different apartments on higher floors. Since we were traveling with a stroller, we appreciated being able to stay on the main floor (which came with the bonus of a small interior patio).

We’ll be back. And more posts on what to do, see and eat in Bologna are coming soon.

Disclosure: We were guests of L’8 Boutique Apartments but will be booking in the future as paying guests because we really did think it was great. You can read more about the blog policy here because transparency matters.

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