Podere della Collina

Antonella the hostess is such a lovely and helpful woman! Her and her family are running this lovely peaceful place with the most stunning view. We booked a week, and rented a car at Milano Linate airport. The house is in the middle of the country with approx 1,5 hour to Pisa and Firenze. It is necessary to have a car to buy groceries. In the annex where we lived there is two bedrooms(one double bed and one room with two separate beds), a living room with a sofa where you can sleep and kitchen and eating place. Toilet and bath - small but good. In front of the annex there is a bench where you can enjoy every meal with the best view and the smell of lavender and the big pool. There is only internet in front of "the reception" building where you can sit on a bench and go online - but the connection is very bad. We had a lovely stay and can without a doubt recommend a long stay at podere Della collina.

It's hard to describe our stay at the Podere Delle Collina. When we arrived at the hotel, the apartment that we had booked and payed in advance had been given to someone else leaving the 6 of us in Italy without a place to stay. To make up for this, the owner tried to get us to accept a 1 room apartment instead of the 3 room that we had payed for. (She insisted we sleep 6 people in 1 bedroom with 3 beds.) We tried desperately to get Hotels/Expedia to help us but they really dident care. With nowhere to go and the day used talking to Hotels we agreed with Hotels that we could stay in the 1 room for the night (on the floor), while they tried to find us something else. -But no, the owner changed her mind, we could sleep in our car unless we payed her an extra 480 EUR cash! Throughout the day we talked back and fourth with the owner who constantly changed her mind and whose behavior was erratic and threatening. To sum it up. The apartment sold to others. Offered apartment under half the size without any comp and they tried to blackmail us. The place itself seemed dirty and unkept. Miserably looking dogs wandering in/out. After wandering around for 2½ days Hotels had still not found us a replacement place to stay and their customer service told us to stop bothering them. – Luckily my father in-law works for Novasol and they were able to find us something right away. My family and I will forever remember Podere DC and Hotels. And hate them.

The best agriturismo I have ever been to. It is just perfect in every way. The owner Antonella is an incredible host, so friendly and helpful, and always ready to help. The nearby village, Forcoli, a 5 minute drive away, has an excellent pizzeria, a few shops and a supermarket. There are many excellent reasonable restaurants in the nearby village Montaione, Antonella will recommend. The farm is organic and produces the most delicious olive oil. You can taste it there, and buy some to take home, if you wish, the olive oil is of the highest standard. I felt welcome and comfortable here and was able to really relax, and do as much or as little as I liked. Everyone respects your privacy, they are friendly and warm, but not overbearing. The farmhouse is set on a hill with amazing views. When it is hot one can spent a lot of time relaxing round the pool, which has a wonderful view, and on cooler days it is lovely chilling out on a lounger in the tranquility of the garden. The Apartments are spacious, very well done, they are stylish, traditional, impeccably clean, comfortable, and well equipped, I have stayed twice in very cold weather, and the apartments temperature was comfortable on both occasions. I never go back anywhere twice, so that's how good it is! In my opinion this is one of the best areas to stay in Tuscany due to its location, it's close to many interesting places to visit, you could stay here for months and visit a different place of interest every day. The nearest airport is Pisa, only 30min away. Firenze is only 1hr drive as well as Siena. Bologna would probably be 2 hrs drive. I strongly recommend Podere Della Collina di francalanci Antonella