Villa di Montelopio - Montelopio, Provincia di Pisa

Karen S.

Villa Di Montelopio far exceeded our expectations. We were a group of 9 family & friends sharing the Villa.||Included in the price are the services of a cook. Paola prepared breakfast and dinner daily (except no dinner on Sunday). The only extra charge is the food itself. She cooked excellent Tuscan meals with our preferences in mind. The dining room was set beautifully for both meal, it was as if we were really living in the 14th century!||The villa itself is set on beautiful grounds which are gated both from the road and again before entering the courtyard. When we arrived, we were served wine (of their making from their vineyards) and crudites in the courtyard.||The villa itself is "separated" into 3 areas. The main living area consists of the living room which in reality is a former ballroom complete with minstrels gallery and a "walk-in" sized fireplace and the large dining room which was the former billiards room.||The first bedroom wing is off of the living room and there are two bedrooms and one bathroom.||On the other side of the living and dining room there is a set of stairs. Going up the stairs leads to the tower which has a bedroom with bathroom and two sitting areas. There is also a ladder up to a loft that has two beds, but I don't believe that is usually offered to guests||Going back to the bottom of the stairs that leads to the tower room, you can descend the stairs to the other wing of the house which consists of three bathrooms, three bedrooms, a kitchen and a cozy sitting room with another fireplace.||The villa is furnished with antiques, which I understand are family heirlooms.||||The grounds have a swimming pool which can be reached down a path which cuts through the veggie gardens and an olive tree grove.||||Dubi, the caretaker lives in a cottage on the grounds and is available for any issues that might arise. For us, it was graciously providing roaring wood fires in the fireplace on the few chilly nights we had in May. He also gave us a tour of the closed family rooms and the chapel, which were magnificent.||||Overall, it was one of the best vacations ever, and I would highly recommend this property. It is a great family get-away, but also perfect for multiple couples with or without children.||||P.S. the views are stunning particularly from the dining room and the kitchen and sitting room

dbny66

After seeing A Room with a View, Enchanted April and Under the Tuscan Sun, I had some high expectations for renting a villa in Tuscany. Villa di Montelopio was everything I hoped it would be. The building is beautiful, spacious and grand. The (unheated) pool is a short walk out the back, past the garden and through the olive grove. Maria (the cook) prepared a simple breakfast each morning and delicious, hearty meals (primi, secondi, contorni, dolci e vino, vino, vino) every night but Sunday. Tubi (the groundskeeper) and Maria Paola (the housekeeper and kitchen helper) were incredibly helpful and friendly.||||Just a few caveats: Have plenty of cash to settle the grocery/wine bill at the end of your stay. (It's still a great bargain for two meals a day, but I was unprepared.) Take plenty of bug spray if you go in the summer. Only Tubi speaks much English, so it's helpful to have someone around who speaks Italian. Spring for GPS in your car, and even then you'll get a little lost. The villa is about an hour's drive from Pisa, Florence, Siena, Lucca, San Gimignano and the other hill towns, but there is very little to do or see nearby in Montelopio or Fabbrica. And the villa is old (a plaque on the main building reads 1652 or 1653), so a few things have seen better days.||||But those are minor details. I'll remember forever other things like picking tomatoes from the garden to make bruschetta, talking for hours in the over-the-top main room and watching the sun set over the hills on the other side of the valley across the street. My stay at Villa di Montelopio was romantic and magical and worth every euro. If I could, I would go back in a heartbeat.

Alfredo T. (. V. S.