Italy has long been an inspiration for themed resorts, malls, and even restaurants in Thailand. There is the Rome restaurant in Bangkok and Palio village in Khao Yai. Now, there is a resort in Prachinburi province called Verona at Tublan. Yes, our very own Verona in Thailand.

Surrounded by mountains of Kabinburi and in the shadow of Thap Lan national park, Verona at Tublan is a 300-rai resort town that is inspired by the city of Verona in Italy.

At Verona at Tublan, there are plenty of appropriated elements that make Verona famous such as the story of Romeo and Juliet, medieval-looking architectures and landmarks and even a pseudo-Lake Garda that cuts through the resort.

It’s a nice place to visit with family, friends or as a couple. A place to unwind and relax with nothing to worry.

We decided to visit recently and spent a good 24 hours there and here’s what we experienced.

Verona Boutique Hotel

Just like the entire resort town, the hotel rooms are also designed with the Verona village in mind. Two-story pastel buildings with spacious rooms are dotted around the lake. It really feels like you’re living in a foreign town, whether you’ve ever heard of Verona or not.

The view from every room is just beautiful, especially if you get the lake view. There’s even an outdoor patio to enjoy a cup of coffee or have conversations with the loved ones.

If you get the garden side rooms, it is an equally lovely view as you can see mountains and meadows in the distance.

Exploring the community mall

Separated by a lake and connected by a bridge from the resort, Verona has an indoor/outdoor community mall that has everything from food outlets and a 7/11 to a souvenir shop. They have other shops as well but they were either closed or their lease was up. We’re not so sure.

ted by a lake and connected by a bridge from the resort, Verona has an indoor/outdoor community mall that has everything from food outlets and a 7/11 to a souvenir shop. They have other shops as well but they were either closed or their lease was up. We’re not so sure.

The community mall is also where everyone hangs whether they are guests of the hotel or the locals of the area. You can see people taking photos, taking strolls or just enjoying the ambiance of it all. There are some cute and interesting landmarks around here, in particular, a tower you can climb to get a 360-degree view of the entire 300-rai property and beyond.

The view from up here is gorgeous and the ambiance, quite peaceful. The resort itself is quite relaxing as it is but being up here had its own heightened sense of tranquility.

Having fun at the Adventure Zone

If you’re an adventurer and thrill-seeker like me, then you would definitely enjoy your visit to Verona at Tublan as they have an entire zone dedicated to fun and exciting activities. Here they have rock climbing, an abseiling wall, ziplines, rope swing, an obstacle course, and even a giant roller ball.

What is a giant rollerball? Well, it is a big synthetic ball that you get in before rolling down a slope. Sounds crazy fun, right?

If these activities are too physically challenging for you, then you can also opt for riding a bicycle or an ATV.   No? how about a romantic gondola ride in the lake or a ride on of their beautiful horses?

Unfortunately, we only got to try the ATV and the rope swing as we were short on time. Also, the lake was being renovated so we couldn’t go on a gondola ride either.

Strolling around the Cowboy Zone & Verona Farm

Unlike everything in the theme of Verona, they also have an animal farm and Texan cowboy area that you can explore. It comes right before the adventure zone; you can’t miss it.

At the cowboy zone, you can partake in activities such as dart-throwing, gun-shooting or firing an arrow from a bow.

If you love animals, feel free to feed horses, cows or goats.

Oh, and if you get the chance, don’t miss out on checking out this cow. Or is it an Ox? All I know, it was massive! It’s even bigger than a horse!!!

Taking lots and lots of Photos

I think what really attracts people here is how picturesque it really is. It is quite literally an Instagram-paradise.

For those who love creating a colorful theme with moody or pastel tones, then Verona at Tublan is the perfect place.

There are so many opportunities for photoshoots here, whether in front of pastel yellow/pink houses, rustic brick walls or interesting landmarks. There are so many scattered around the resort area and at the attached community mall.

For a change of scenery, there are plenty of natural backdrops such as undulating hills, gardens, meadows and even a lake to take photos [in front] of.

You could also take photos with animals such as goats, cows, ponies or even on top of a horse as you gallop around Verona farm.

For some action in your photography or videography, head over to the cowboy or adventure zone and try out some photoshoots there. I believe you can even rent cowboy outfits when you take your photos.

One could easily spend an entire day just taking photos around the property. In fact, we even saw a couple doing their prewedding photoshoot here.

Places to eat

You might be thinking, what about food? Well lucky for you, Verona has a few food outlets. Their resident restaurant and bar, Blackwood serves Italian Fusion. It’s located right opposite the check-in lobby and overlooks the lake. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try anything here as it was closed by 6 pm. Normally it shuts at 10 pm. We did have breakfast here though.

At the community mall area, Verona has 3 distinct cuisine restaurants – Japanese Shabu, steak joint and northeastern Thai. We opted for Thai food and ordered our staple dishes – basil fried with chicken, tom yum and fermented sausage.

What’s missing?

While Verona at Tublan is a lovely resort with all the reasons we mentioned earlier, there are some things missing that most other places have. While sitting in our room at night, these were some of the facilities or activities we thought would be cool if they had.

A swimming pool (or two)

Such a big property and not a single pool? It’s a big opportunity of cost of not having one. I could imagine being in the pool after a long day, sweating out at the adventure park. They could even add water slides to go along with the adventure and activity theme they have going on here.

A bar (or two)

While they do have restaurants that serve drinks, they all close at 8 pm. This was very strange to us. I understand it is not a party or night-life resort but still. I don’t think anyone sleeps so early. We would like an option to be able to do something until at least midnight. They could easily add a cowboy-themed bar in the cowboy zone that doesn’t disturb other guests. Alternatively, they could just extend the hours of Blackwood as it seemed to have a very nice ambiance. However, as we mentioned before, it closed earlier than usual so we can’t really comment much on it.

“Find the picture spots” game

Verona at Tublan has plenty of Instagram-worthy or photogenic spots. They even have a laminated sheet listing them all. They can take advantage of this by offering guests a game of sort. Here is how we imagine it:

Upon checking in, guests are given the list of images of these spots. They are then given the option to Instagram all of these spots by using hashtags or geotag. Once completed, the guests show their pictures to reception and if they are all correct, the guests receive vouchers for either a complimentary drink or an activity at the adventure zone. We leave it up to marketing to be more creative with it.

Having said all of this, we really enjoyed our stay at Verona. It was quite and relaxing, the staff were friendly and we had a great time, especially with all the acitivities. If we were to ever visit again, we would definitely take more people with us.