Tuscany recommendation?
 

We're headed to Italy in April. We're spending the first 5 nights in Florence (SPG redemption). Then we want to spend about 2 nights in Tuscan countryside before heading to Rome (IC redemption).

Any recommendations for the Tuscany portion? We plan to rent a car for this portion, and we want it to be relaxing, in the 200-300 US range. Thanks!

Since you mention a price range, I assume you are only looking for a hotel recommendation. Do you have a particular area in mind?

Are you looking to stay in one of the popular towns like Siena, San Gimignano, or Lucca? Or, are you planning a driving itinerary where you explore the rural countryside and stop at whatever picturesque towns you come across along the way and need a recommendation for each night? Or, do you prefer to visit wineries and stay in a town like Chianti, Montalcino, or Montepulciano? When you say relaxing do you want to stay at an agriturismo, in one of Tuscany's thermal bath towns, or by the seaside in the Maremma?

It's hard to recommend a hotel in 200-300 US range without knowing what you are interested in, what you plan to do, or where you plan to be in Tuscany.

Sorry for not being more specific! Yes, looking for one hotel in the countryside, near good wine and good food and relaxation. Not in a city - kind of a vacation within the vacation, between time in Florence and Rome. We plan to rent a car for this part of the journey. As an example, we were thinking about Il Borro, but looking for other ideas.

An agriturismo might be nice, or one of the thermal spas too, but probably not a coastal location. We're not sure exactly what we want to do yet - seeking ideas! Hope this is more specific, but it's not too because we're still considering ideas.

I wouldn't go to Il Borro, at least if it was me who was traveling. It looks like a large american resort with a driving range, archery, morning yoga classes, etc. It's part of a large group of over 100 independently owned, but affiliated high-end hotels around the world called the Luxury Link, with management based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They were recently bought by the Dunhill Travel group.

The Luxury Link has hotels in the Caribbean, South America, New York City, Africa, Mexico, Asia, Australia, Canada, Germany, Thailand, the South Pacific, etc. They have 49 hotels in Tuscany. The one Il Burro doesn't look as if it is in a a particularly scenic part of Tuscany. I suspect they'll be little Italian spoken there.

Go to this link:
http://www.luxurylink.com
On the home page there's the Surrey Hotel in NYC, the Gansevoort in Caicos, the Reserve in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. There are dozens of dozens their hotels around the world. On the upper left where it says, "where would you like to go, type in Tuscany. Choose a dummy date of arrival and departure, and let it search. Scroll down and you'll see Il Borro is, one 49 hotels in the Luxury Link Group located in Tuscany. In sum, I don't think you'll have a very relaxing Tuscan experience staying at an international corporate mega-hotel. I'd keep looking.

I found Il Borro on Tablet Hotels, which tends to be more unique/boutique type properties, though not exclusively. I've stayed at many Tablet Hotels and been very happy every time. But I appreciate your comments and will take that into account. If you have alternative suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

When I saw that picture of it, it made me think, "that doesn't look like a relaxing villa in a picturesque, medieval, Tuscan village. It looks more like a resort," at least in my opinion.
http://www.ilborro.it/wp-content/upl...il-borro-7.jpg

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it but looking at the entrance, it's obviously a large resort.
http://i0.wp.com/duespaghetti.com/wp..._estate_15.jpg

It's on an estate owned by the designer Ferragamo, and it's also only 35 miles from Florence just off of a toll highway, so I doubt you'd be seeing much Tuscan countryside driving there.

It doesn't look like authentic Tuscan medieval villages like Certaldo,
http://mytravelintuscany.com/wp-cont...2-1024x683.jpg

Anghiari,
http://mytravelintuscany.com/wp-cont...2-1024x683.jpg

Pitilgiano,
http://mytravelintuscany.com/wp-cont...y-1024x683.jpg

or even Montepulciano, or the farm/hotel Lupaia that looks out at it from a 5 minute drive away.
http://mytravelintuscany.com/wp-cont...1-1024x683.jpg
http://www.lupaia.com/photogallery/

Personally, I think of relaxing Tuscan countryside experiences as staying in small, medieval town or farms, not at a large resort that is part of an international chain. Some people like that, and there's nothing wrong with that, but to me part of the experience is getting to know the people. Not other tourists, but the Italian people.

This can only be done in more intimate settings such as a farm or country villa like Fortunaro, with luxury accommodations, where you'll help to cook what you eat with the family who owns it, drink fine wine and olive oil grown and bottled on the property, be in the countryside far away from in crowds, yet be a 10 minute walk to Paciano, one of the most quaint medieval villages in Italy. http://www.vacanzepaciano.it/en/umbrian-tuscany/

I've heard good things about Castiglion del Bosco in Siena. I can't vouch for it personally, but it's on my list of places to stay in the future. It is resort-like, has a golf course and is part of Rosewood Hotels. American Express FHR is affiliated, so you can book through there for some added benefits. That's to say it's not going to be like an agriturismo or living in a small family inn or B&B. It's not massive, 23 suites plus 10 villas. The area's scenic, though.

You mentioned going in April - this place is fairly booked up unless you're in it for a 3300 EUR/night villa. I'd jump on a reservation if you want one. Suites are in the ~500 euro range. Not cheap, probably why I haven't gotten to stay there yet :D

I agree with this. I can spend as much time as I like with tourists here in San Francisco. Lupaia looks interesting, though maybe a bit overdone for my tastes. Thanks for the suggestion.

Yep, only villas available on our schedule. Out of my price range.

I would suggest that as a rule of thumb if the place advertises that they hold huge weddings, you are not going to a place that offers a peaceful, authentic, unique, Tuscan countryside experience.

If you are looking for a resort experience or to hold a wedding for 150 people, a big Tuscan chain hotel is fine. If you are looking for a restful place and the unique experience that the Tuscan countryside offers, you won't find it there. You can go to a similar resort, play golf, tennis, and speak to the same people by driving an hour and a half north from San Francisco to Napa or Sonoma.

Yup, and most places will list their room count somewhere on their webpage - look for an About link, a fact sheet, or something similar. Your odds of quiet relaxation are inversely proportional to the room count.

If you don't necessarily need people to look after you like in a hotel, you could also consider a private villa or apartment rental. There are some very nice ones out there if what I'm seeing on VRBO and AirBNB is any indicator.

I realize not everyone has my same tastes, but I like to feel like I'm living somewhere else when I go abroad on vacation. So I prefer apartment rentals over hotels.

I don't disagree with anything any of you are saying, but I'm curious about the hostility toward Il Borro. It's Relais and Chateaux, and only has about 20 rooms. Has anyone stayed there?

I haven't said anything bad about it, I'm just writing more generally about large resorts vs small. I'm more of a city person, so I don't have a ton of experience with the countryside (although I should since my small side venture has clients asking about it now).

Il Borro is another Amex FHR affiliate (new in 2016), and I've found their selections in Italy to be pretty reliable. The room prices are reasonable - the restaurant prices are on the high side. That's pretty much how it goes outside of the city, though. If you have a car, it's close enough to Arezzo to venture out. Castiglion Fiorentino is about an hour away and has some cool Etruscan archaeology.

I can't vouch for it first hand since I haven't stayed, but I wouldn't tell you not to stay there if it looks good to you. It passes my eye test for sure.

There's no hostility at all. I mentioned that there is nothing wrong with staying there. There are many different travel styles, and I'm open to that.

I agree with what PWMTrav said. When I travel I like to feel like I'm in a foreign country and experience the local culture. There are some places where you can't help but experience the local culture by going to a supermarket, a bar (coffee shop), the bakery, going to the piazza to watch the people and see how their life is different from the life of someone who lives in the USA. I think that travel is most rewarding when it helps us to connect with others, and to their culture. That's just my own personal feeling.

Some people travel and like to make it as close as possible to as if they never left home. I'd rather stay in a small but luxurious place in a village that hasn't changed much since medieval times than to stay at a cookie-cutter resort where I can golf, take a hot air balloon ride, and get up for morning yoga class, all things I can do in the USA.

It's a matter of taste, which is why I asked for a better idea of what you really want. People can tell you the place that they went to, but you are not them, you can't relive their memories, and your taste may be different. I don't think it's so much about whether or not someone has stayed there, because what pleases them and what you want may be entirely different.

A vacation in the Tuscan countryside is one of the best vacations you can have, if it's not peak season. While doing it at a fancy resort is nice, I think it can distract from the reason we travel, to connect with the surroundings and the local culture. I don't think the best travel strategy is to try to find the fanciest place that one can afford.

There are dozens of small hilltop towns with breathtaking views, like Montepulciano and Cortona. You will be pulled back in time because they haven't changed much in the last few centuries. You can go to the Val d'Orcia, the typical Tuscan countryside with the rolling hills, and stay at a relaxing place in Montalcino and drink their famous Brunello, while soaking up enough of the Tuscan experience that it will change your perspective on life.

You can stay at a picturesque village in Chianti like Greve or Radda and walk around the city in the afternoon, stop at a pastry shop, have a coffee at the bar, and watch the sunset. You can go to forest villages in northern Tuscany like Poppi, or a mountain village like Arcidosso, or to Pitigliano in what used to be the heart of the Etruscan empire, a village that was already old by the time the Romans got there.

I don't see the point of going all the way to Italy to stay at a tourist resort on the estate of shoe designer Ferrucio Ferragamo, but I wouldn't criticize someone who wanted to do that.

I mentioned Lupaia not as a specific place, but as an example of how you can be in a quiet countryside place, look out your window, and see a beautiful town like Montepulciano, and drive there in 5 minutes. I mentioned Fontanaro, not because I've been there, but because I have an American friend who has lived in Rome for 8 years, works as a tour guide, and who goes there 2-3 times per year, whenever she starts to feel too much stress. It's culturally immersive, and fun to go down to the kitchen and learn how to cook, then go back home and invite your friends over and have them marvel at your new culinary skills.

Since you said relax, I just of focused on that. I think it's hard to decompress from the bustle of Florence and prepare for the bustle of Rome with only two nights in the countryside, but if you really want to relax, I would think of doing something like renting the Casina di Rosa in Civitella Marittima. It's a single house that you would have to yourself for 3 days and 2 nights. It's perfectly situated for you to use the car and visit any number of unspoiled Tuscan hill towns a short distance a way that few tourists have ever seen.

Or, you can walk into the town itself (10-15 minutes). There are only a few restaurants, bakeries, bars, and markets, but the restaurant is run by someone who was the chef at one of London's premier Italian restaurants who got homesick, and went back to his hometown of Civitella Maritime and opened his own restaurant. Or, you can bring stuff home from the market and have it with a bottle of wine on your private patio while watching the sun go down. You will definitely be feeling relaxed when you leave.
http://www.casinadirosa.it/southern-...lla-marittima/
http://www.casinadirosa.it

If you want a resort there is nothing wrong with Il Borro. But if you want to experience the Tuscan countryside, that's not what Il Borro is about. Il Borro is the name of a town that used to be there, but isn't there anymore. It vanished a long time ago. The resort was basically built in 1993 as an investment property by Ferragamo. There is no medieval village there, as they claim, just a few old farmhouses and a castle remnant that they spruced up and call a village. I'm pretty sure that the nearest real medieval village is Arezzo, a half an hour drive away. On a weekend during wedding season Il Borro typically hosts three weddings at a time at the three different wedding venues they have on site.

Take their claim to only having 20 rooms with a huge grain of salt. It's a super luxury resort. One of the villas you can rent there is the Villa il Borro. This villa alone has 10 bedrooms and 20 beds spread out over 4 stories. This villa is one rental unit, for one client at a time. It also has 10 bathrooms, 2 private heated pools (one indoors and one outdoors), and four kitchens, including one with its own dining room where their chef comes to cook for you. This is just one rental unit.

Another villa, also available to one client at a time, is 2 stories tall and has 5 bedrooms, 10 beds, 5 full bathrooms, 2 kitchens, a gym, and its own heated pool.

Il Borro is not there for you to experience the Tuscan countryside but to shelter you from it, which is why they have four different restaurants on the premises, so that you don't have to leave. I will bet that the language that you will hear will overwhelmingly hear being used by guests and staff will be english. It may be a great resort, but for sure that you won't be experiencing the rolling country hillside and unique culture that Tuscany is famous for at Il Borro.

I don't have any animosity towards it because I'm sure it's perfect for some. In your original post you just said that you wanted a place to relax. To me, that means going to the authentic Tuscan country side, as far away from the tourist places as possible, and not to a resort. If Il Borro is the type of place you want, then by all means, there is nothing wrong with that.

Perche makes a lot of good points that I agree with, but he and I have a lot in common on the way we like to travel, so I won't add anything there. I think he's hit it on the style of resort and the experience, so its up to you to decide if you're after that.

My wife would love Il Borro, whereas I lean toward places with minimal staff and on-site amenities. I like apartments and basic hotels so that I can get right out of my room and into the local life, she likes resorts with anything you could want to do right there on site.

It's a matter of what you like and what you want to experience. I'd say your next step is to think about that and plan accordingly. Let me see if I can prompt you further - are you interested in food? wine? art? What would you list as your primary interest? What's your pace of travel - are you ok sitting and taking in the landscape or people watching; or do you have a faster pace and want to see lots of things?

I just want to say that I really appreciate the thoughtfulness that you are both putting into my question and your suggestions have been helpful. And since you're still willing to make recommendations, I can try to be more specific.

And so you know more about me, I have travelled a pretty good amount and I can be happy with accomodations that range from $10/night is southeast Asia, to Oberoi or St. Regis level luxury. I'm game for anything (as long as it's clean and safe), but I also understand the limitations of any given trip. I don't necessarily prefer one or the other - it is dependent on where I am going. In Italy, I'm not looking to spend all day on the property, but I do want it to be comfortable and if we decide we need some down time, we can relax at the hotel.

So for the time in the Tuscan countryside -
I'm less interested in a home rental situation because I don't want to feel like I should be cooking or anything like that, which is how I feel when there is a kitchen. A comfortable place to sleep, not too frou-frou. It doesn't have to have a restaurant on site but places to eat and drink within walking distance would be a plus.

As far as activities - they would be limited to good food and wine and enjoying the view. We plan to be more active with museums, a bicycle tour, maybe a food or cooking tour/class while in Florence.

In reading about the different towns in the guide books and looking at the various lodging options, we're finding it a bit overwhelming to narrow it down - hence this post!