Apartments or hotels?
Before I write about some of my favorite hotels,  I want to comment on the growing trend to stay in apartments typically through VRBO or Air BnB. During our 2015 trip in France and Italy we met several people who were staying in apartments and they were all enthusiastic about the experience. So when I learned that my niece would be with us in Florence,  September 2016, I looked into an apartment for our first three nights. We prefer staying in the Oltrarno since it’s a bit less crazy than the centro plus you’re close to the Boboli and Bardini gardens and some of our other favorite sights. So I found through VRBO what I thought was a nice two bedroom apartment in the Oltrarno, close to all the sights and restaurants.

However, when I learned that my niece had changed our airline reservations so that we got to Florence at 11:00 am, I contacted the owner to see if he could meet us at noon. He said 3:00 pm was the earliest we could check in so I decided to cancel and find another apartment through Air BnB. (As an aside it was a total cluster trying to get VRBO customer service to cancel and refund our money.)

The second time around I asked each owner if s/he would allow us to check in by noon, pretty much getting a resounding no. Then I came across what looked to be a spectacularly beautiful ‘penthouse’ apartment on Piazza Santo Spirito supposedly with a 360 degree view. I contacted the owner and he agreed in an e-mail (luckily) that he would let us in by 12:30pm. Then three days before we were to leave, he reneged saying he couldn’t let us in until 3:00pm. I went ballistic pointing out that he had promised to let us in early and that this would ruin our plans to walk to Piazzale Michelangelo after checking in. When I could finally find a customer service number for Air BnB, they were very helpful, and were able to access the e-mails proving the owner had promised an early check in. They contacted him and he said his employee could let us in at 1:00pm.

We arrived a little early and sat at a café next to the apartment building having a coffee. When 1:00pm came and went, I contacted Air BnB. Shortly afterwards, the door to the building opened and the employee said ‘5 more minutes’ which turned into 15.

And then the fun began. I’d been so taken with the apartment and the ‘360 view’ that I didn’t see that it was an 8 flight walk up on uneven stone steps. Needless to say my sister and niece were not happy although I think the constant up and down helped me lose a couple of pounds on that trip. Plus we found that the furnishings were worn and none to clean, especially the kitchen which was poorly equipped and had almost nothing in the way of cleaning supplies. The final kicker was that Piazza Santo Spirito was never quiet. Our first night, a Saturday, the partyers were going strong at 2:00 am and the following night there was a huge religious rally in the piazza until very late.

On the plus side we loved being able to come back after a jaunt and have a snack or a nap and just being able to keep bottled water in the fridge was a great convenience. My niece, who generally hates continental breakfasts at the hotels, loved being able to have fresh coffee (even with paper towel filters) and fresh fruit and yoghurt plus meats and cheeses for snacks. Our absolute favorite part of the apartment was being able to sit out on the balcony in the evenings and have a glass of wine and yak and listen to the party in the piazza.

 

La Casa Rossa, Verona

I found this apartment originally on VRBO—or thought I had but then realized the apartment shown online was not the apartment we wanted; i.e. the picture showed a balcony but the apartment available on VRBO did not have one.   So I sent an inquiry to the owner and found that she rents that particular apartment separately through Paypal.  While it took quite a few e-mails back and forth to book it,  it was worth the effort.  It’s on piano primo up a short flight of stairs.  There’s a garden in the center of the building, accessible from the lower level.  It’s a short cab ride from the train station which is also easily accessible by bus which we used the day we took the train to Padua.

It was large and airy with a balcony but we used the garden every evening because the owner allowed us to smoke there when we had our evening wine.  The first evening though was a major disaster.  Here’s what I wrote in my journal: Getting a ‘yes’ (to smoking in the garden) we went up and opened the little bottle of wine I’d brought from Firenze.  As we got to the bottom of the steps I didn’t see the drop off and tripped throwing my wine all over the wall.  Horrified I grabbed the only thing I could find (a kitchen towel) to try to wipe up the wall and floor.  The owner kept saying it was OK but I felt utterly humiliated. (We did buy the owner a nice towel in Piazza Erbe but I still cringe at what I did.)

The interior was nicely furnished especially the kitchen. The only thing we lacked was a coffee pot which the owner quickly provided.  The one issue was lack of heat and when we finally worked up the nerve to ask the owner, she quickly turned it on. She and her husband lived above us which was handy, especially when the wifi went out.  She printed off our train tickets for Padua and Venice and eventually her husband was able to get the wifi working.

She also provided maps and tourist information as well as directions to an enoteca and grocery store. The apartment itself is quite close to the river and the centro.  I had trouble getting oriented to our maps but finally figured it out and while we never found her suggested enoteca, we found everything else including the grocery store and a Signor Vino’s.  (I’d been to one in Florence and we found it very convenient to stop there after a long day of walking and have a glass of wine and a  panino.) We also found a nice store with fresh pasta, sauces and desserts and between it and the grocery store we only ate out twice—one good, Ristorante Rubiano, and one bad, Trattoria al Bersagliere (see my Places to Eat post.)

The owner also called a cab for us when we needed to get to the train station for our train to Venice.

I thought my sister had taken pictures of the interior as well as the garden but she couldn’t find them.  The pictures above and to the right show the exterior.

The Cavalcanti apartment.

In 2018 we spent 5 nights in this apartment at the end of our trip.  I’ve written about it in my Firenze, old and new post. We thought we would love the garden, seen below, but the mosquitoes drove us out.

 

VRBO Apartment near the Arno

After 6 days in  horarible student apartment in November 2021, I knew I couldn’t stay.  So the first full Sunday after starting language classes, I began researching apartments on VRBO.  Despite it being off season, the only apartment that I could afford was the same apartment I stayed in while attending Istituto Michelangelo in 2019.  I knew it wouldn’t be a convenient location since it’s near Piazza Ferrucci about a mile and a half from Piazza Santa Croce but I knew it would be clean and functional.  I also knew that there could be communication issues with the owner, Chiarina, who speaks no English and we started off with a major problem when she booked me for longer than I wanted to stay.  But we sorted it out and agreed that I could move in around 1:00 pm on Sunday the 21^st of November.

After first checking in I wrote: But it’s super clean and quiet.  Right now the radiator’s on, it’s cool but not uncomfortable.  And best of all there’s a big bottle of water and a bottle of wine.  I had more noise issues this time– a screaming baby next door, and someone who stomped around upstairs late at night.  But that was nothing compared to the noise outside the school apartment plus the washing machine worked and like last time, the kitchen was well equipped.  The apartment started to get a bit chilly my second week, but Chiarina brought me a portable heater which was wonderful.

When I decided to stay two more nights, Chiarina only charged me an extra 76 euros.  The         pictures to the left and below show the area behind the apartment.  The street leads up to Piazzale Michelangelo and I regret not walking up there; the first time in many years. 

Residenza Stuart/The Nest House, Montepulciano

https://www.residenzastuart.com/en/2071337/nest-house—apartment-in-montepulciano

This was a great choice for the week.  We were on ‘piano uno’ or the first floor which in Italy is what we in the States would consider the second floor.  Signora Stuart who owns and manages this and two other apartments in the building, met us at the door and helped us lug our heavy bags upstairs.

The ‘Nest House’ is the smallest of the apartments but it was very comfortable.  (And the pictures shown at the link above are quite accurate.) There is one large room with a sleeping area, a desk, a couch and TV, and a table and chairs.  The bathroom was a decent size and there was a large closet and chest of drawers just outside the bathroom.

The kitchen was quite small with just a cook top, small refrigerator, sink and washing machine.  We couldn’t figure out the pod coffee machine, just getting brown water.  So we bought regular ground coffee and tried using the ‘moka’ but couldn’t get it to work either.  It was a good thing you could get a great cappuccino in town for a 1,20 €.

After three weeks of traveling we loved having a washing machine and got caught up on all our laundry.

But mostly we loved using the beautiful terrace, having vino and sometimes panini on nice afternoons.

The apartment is directly across from a lookout point with spectacular views of the valley.

Signora Stewart is very pleasant although not always available.  Our only problem was that neither of us could get the key to work so we had to walk through a storage closet to the terrace and into the apartment through the terrace doors.

 

Hotels in Italy

Turning to hotels, I’ll talk about some of my favorites in Italy then add two that we liked in France, our hotels in Croatia and Slovenia, then a few that were disappointing.

Hotel Belvedere di San Leonino

I ‘discovered’ Hotel Belvedere when I was planning our 2010 trip. My sister wanted to visit some of the places I’d been on my bike trips so I looked at the Backroads web site and I found that they used this hotel on their Chianti trip. Further research on the hotel’s web site showed a lovely hotel.

Here’s my first impression from my 2010 journal along with pictures from that trip:
We tried to follow Roberto’s directions to get to the S222 but got way off course. It was nothing short of a miracle that we finally saw a sign to Castellina and got on the right road, eventually finding Hotel Belvedere.

And mama mia this place is gorgeous; beautiful grounds, pool, and lovely room. We rested, showered, came into the bar, where we’re at now and had a glass of wine.

I’ll also add in here my first impression of dining at Belvedere. If you’re lucky enough to stay there when they’re serving outside do not miss it!!
Our dinner last night was al fresco and it was fabulous. We were given a glass of champagne to start, (make that prosecco) then we had carpaccio, spaghetti with ragu, strawberry tiramisu and chocolate flan. I ended the feast with a Sambuca bringing back fun memories of my first bike trip in this same area.

We laughed the whole time about a woman apparently there with her parents who talked for 2 straight hours, possibly in Hebrew. Not sure if it was Sue’s first experience with the leisurely meals in Europe (she has been to England and Ireland) but she seemed to love it as much as I do, especially the people watching.

Something that stayed with me from the meal described above was when the ‘manager’ walked through the seating area and saw that I was finished. Instead of getting up in my face like most serving staff in U.S. restaurants and asking if everything was OK, she just snapped her fingers and my plate was whisked away.

On a post trip note, when we stayed here in 2010, if you ate all your meals at the hotel, you could sign up for the evening meal and decide whether you wanted all the courses or just appetizer, main course and dessert which we chose. I haven’t seen that option on our last two visits and it seems like their menu is now heavily tipped towards meat dishes.

We came back twice in 2014, first with my niece and her friends and about a week later with my daughter. Again here is my journal entry of our first night there which now makes me flinch but I pledged to be honest in this blog.

Last night turned into a drunken brawl. Not only have the headache from hell, we embarrassed ourselves and offended the wait staff.  It started w/ 3 bottles of wine before dinner, then rolled downhill after that, especially after an Australian couple joined us. The food wasn’t as good as it was 4 years ago which didn’t help. The ‘group’ finally took it outside, getting louder and drunker despite R and I trying to shush them.

As you can see from these pictures we were feeling no pain and we definitely enjoyed the patio.

 

Despite our poor behavior that night, overall the staff remained pleasant and helpful, and said nothing other than leaving a note on Rachelle’s bed which kind of annoyed her since she and I were trying to quiet the group. The staff helped us with reservations at Osteria di Fonterutoli plus gave us detailed directions on how to get into Siena to meet the guide they recommended. And our guide was phenomenal. We had a 4 hour private tour of Siena, where I learned more than my three previous times combined. (See my  Siena to St. Gimignano post.)

When we returned with my daughter, we had a very enjoyable time at Belvedere. It was the end of October but we had two spectacularly beautiful days and were able to take walks in the vineyards surrounding the hotel.

We had drinks and dinner at the hotel our first night and here’s what I wrote then:
Anyway our pre-dinner time was very enjoyable as we sat in the bar having wine and chatting about everything. Dinner was surprisingly good. Laura had ribollita and steak; I had tortolloni and insalata mista and Sue had tortolloni. As usual, despite our vows otherwise, we finished with crème brulee and then had a smoke on the patio, finishing our wine in the bar.

But what was  most memorable about that trip, was our last morning. We were leaving for Ladispoli and I was pretty nervous about getting there, then getting my daughter to the Rome airport the next morning and then back to Florence.

It was another gorgeous Tuscany day, bright sun and sparkling blue skies, and we were standing near the front patio reluctant to leave, when one of the staff came up to us and gestured to the west saying, ‘Our gift to you.’ In the distance we could see San Gimignano and I later wrote in a review that Belevedere represented everything I loved about Tuscany.

In September 2016, we stayed at Belvedere after 3 nights in Florence which my niece had not enjoyed because it had been hotter than expected. This time there were a couple of negatives, mainly the room which my sister and I shared which was very small and faced the road giving us a night time of barking dogs and traffic noise. Also for the first time I had a less than pleasant encounter with one of the front desk staff, over my asking to borrow a pen.

But we did enjoy the fact that we had a small seating area outside our rooms and we had pre dinner drinks here our first two nights and a light supper we’d bought in Castellina our last night.

The absolute best part was that the hotel restaurant served dinner outside our second night and even though we’d had a huge lunch and winetasting, we had a fabulous time as I wrote in my journal:

We got to eat outside, perhaps the last of the season. Sue and I had insalata mista and an incredibly decadent chocolate soufflé. We also shared a large antipasto of meats and cheeses. We all limited ourselves to 1 glass of Chianti and the pre-dinner prosecco. But the odd little maître d’ brought us an after dinner drink—a sparkling dessert wine.

My sister took a beautiful picture that night which you can see below:

 

I’ve always booked on their website and have found their staff to be very helpful and responsive with bookings.

We returned to Belvedere for three nights in late September 2018.  It was as lovely as ever, but as I wrote in my Sempre Chianti post, the warmth and care exhibited by the staff on previous visits had evaporated.

Villa Cheli

https://www.villacheli.it/it

After talking my sister into going to Lucca after our visit to the Cote d’Azur, I started my usual research on the usual sites. I’m not actually sure how I found Villa Cheli but I’m definitely glad I did. I chose this hotel in part because we planned to have a rental car in order to see both Lucca and Pisa which looked to be easily accessible from the hotel. (I was totally wrong though and you can read how challenging it was to get into Lucca and Pisa in my Lucca and the Garfagnana and Pisa posts.)

While the hotel is closer to a main road than it appears to be from the online pictures, the grounds and pool are lovely and our room was spacious and nicely furnished. We ate at the onsite restaurant every night but one.  It is not only convenient but has good food at reasonable prices. The bar offers a wide range of wines and other beverages and we enjoyed sitting on the patio at the end of the day, having a glass of wine.

In 2015 my only complaint was that there were no screens on the windows and for the first time in my 7 visits to Italy there were swarms of mosquitoes. We had to leave the windows open at night to keep the room cool and I had huge welts on my arms and hands by the end of our 4 night stay.

In 2016 I talked my sister into returning to this area and Villa Cheli after our walking tour that ended in Rome. Our tour group stayed in less than great hotels and with one exception, the restaurants they used were mediocre at best.

So when we returned to Villa Cheli after a long day of train travel and then picking up a rental car in Pisa, we thought we’d died and gone to heaven (a recurring theme in this blog) when we saw the hotel rising above its beautifully landscaped grounds with flowering shrubs, olive trees and palm trees.

Our room, which looked out on the pool area, seemed especially nice after the dark cramped hotel in Rome.

Both rooms we’ve stayed in were charmingly furnished with an armoire, table and desk, painted white with floral decorations which seems to add to the peaceful feel. There’s also a small fridge which is handy for snacks, water and the wine we always seem to be carrying.

We barely dropped our suitcases in the room before buying a bottle of wine and sitting outside on their patio for 2 hours. I think we had even better food in their restaurant this trip and their wait staff was exceptionally nice, even giving us a free wine and a limoncello our last evening.

Our heaven was almost ruined though when a large bus of 40+ French tourists pulled up. When we got to talking with them, they were interesting and fun but they had a tendency to sit by the pool talking until late then get up very early. I would definitely come back but if you have a low tolerance for noise I’d advise checking with the hotel before booking.

I also wrote in a review: ‘And a note to the people doing the wild thing. Really?! This is not Tom Bodette’s house.’

2019:  After 9 days in Croatia my sister and I returned to Italy, taking a train from Venice to Pisa, renting a car and driving to Villa Cheli.  We were thrilled to be in one place for four nights as well as in one of our favorite areas of Italy.  But Villa Cheli was disappointing.  Here’s what I wrote in my Tripadvisor review:

I called this hotel a slice of heaven after our second stay in 2016 and while the grounds and location are still lovely the persona of the hotel has definitely changed. My sister and I would laugh and joke with the staff when we had dinner or sat in the bar having a glass of wine. But that warmth is no longer there. First the staff chastised me for changing my reservation and confusing them, then lectured my sister about the price of wine when she was just asking about a wine stopper she’d misplaced. (presumably that was because I asked why a bottle of wine cost 6 euros one day and 10 euros the next.) Plus the second floor loggia is no longer available for all guests, just those who pay for the more expensive rooms next to it.

While our room was large and reasonably pleasant, the wifi didn’t work there and the water pressure and temperature in the shower would change without warning. And they really need to replace the 1960’s hair dryers. The review received no response from the owner which I consider an indication of the current lack of concern for the average guest.  Still it does have some of the most beautiful grounds of any hotel I’ve stayed in, with perhaps the exception of the Argosy Hotel in Dubrovnik, see below.

Villa Betania

https://villabetania.it/en/

  In 2014 I had the crazy brainstorm to drive from Florence to Milan at the end of our trip so we could stay near the airport before flying out and not have to deal with train schedules and the bus to the airport. That idea was a disaster that you can read about in my  More European Driving Adventures post. But as part of that idea I came across Villa Betania which looked like the perfect place– about a mile and half out of the centro, with free parking.

And it did turn out to be a real find–beautiful grounds and garden (and the picture of me I used for my ‘Why another travel blog?’ article was taken in that garden.) Plus it’s in a lovely residential area and sitting in the garden having a glass of wine became our favorite end to a day of dealing with the crowds and heat of the centro.

Which brings to me to one of my favorite aspects of Villa Betania, their staff. My sister and I chose to stay here for 5 nights at the end of our 2015 trip and with one exception the staff went out of their way to be helpful. We were not only exhausted but furious when we arrived on a Thursday afternoon, having driven from Lucca to the Florence airport, where Hertz jacked us around and tripled the cost of our rental car then the cab driver took my sister’s money and shorted her 20 €.

I believe it was the manager who showed us to our cool and airy room (which is somewhat surprisingly furnished in a rather Swedish modern style).  And when we asked about opening our bottle of Buonamico sparkling rosé,  he sent one of the staff members out to the garden with a tray of glasses, snacks and a wine opener. Later (after I’d taken my sister through a frolic and detour the back way to Ft. Belvedere and beyond) we asked about where we could eat and they ordered out for us and we sat in the garden having salads and wine.  We couldn’t stop smiling and laughing.

And that became our go to place after hitting the museums–sometimes for beer and lunch, sometimes for a glass of wine.

Unfortunately 2015 was the year of the mosquito and we sometimes had to head into the bar. While it’s small, it’s very pleasant and again the staff is quick to bring a glass or bottle of wine. We had one blip with the only female concierge. We had ditched our plans to go to Quattro Leoni for dinner our last night and asked about restaurants in the area. She told us there were some along via Senese a street that sort of runs parallel to via Poggio. Here’s what I wrote in my journal on that adventure:
On the advice of the concierge we walked up the street parallel to via Poggio to check out a restaurant. I thought we would come to the street that crosses via Poggio but it didn’t look like we were going to get there so I took a chance and tried a street that miraculously came out at the corner by Villa Betania. Sue said I got the Daniel Boone award for finding the hotel. [Post trip comment:  We never found the restaurant ergo dining in at Villa Betania.]

We decided to clean up and have wine in the garden and then ordered in food, sitting in the bar, giggling over nothing until fairly late.

And as an aside no matter how late we stayed in the bar the concierge never seemed to get irritated with us and when I say giggling over nothing, I’m sure the concierge was ready to shoot himself after 2 hours of that.

My final comment is that you do have to be prepared for some serious walking. Although you can reach Ft. Belvedere and the street to Piazzale Michelangelo fairly easily going the back way from Betania, there’s no way to get back except by what seems like a long walk uphill. That said my sister and I did it one night after dinner in the Oltrarno, when it was fairly late and had no problems. Plus there is a bus to the centro that picks up across the street. Unfortunately it has changed its route so it’s not quite as convenient but it is doable.

(Post trip:  We stayed here again in October 2018 and you can read about our stay in my Firenze, old and new post. )

Hotel Silla

www.hotelsilla.it/

In 2014 I came to Florence a few days ahead of my sister, niece and her friends in order to have a little down time. I spent the first two nights at a strange B&B (Monte Oliveto) at the edge of the Oltrarno, then moved to Hotel Silla the night before the gang was arriving. I had chosen Hotel Silla because of its location, next to the Arno on the edge of the Oltrarno and because the hotel  has access to a garage. I thought I’d be able to drive us here without too much trouble after picking up our car at the airport.  Wrong!!

I couldn’t wait to get out of the weird B&B and after arriving at Hotel Silla, this is what I wrote in my journal:  Feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven. On the terrace @ Hotel Silla, having a beer and a water and peanuts and for the first time feel that maybe, maybe I made the right decision in coming. And Silla seems to be a good choice. My room was ready when I got here @ noon and it’s clean and pleasant. Both the clerk who checked me in and the one who got me my beer were pleasant and helpful, the latter making reservations for us at Quattro Leoni tomorrow night.

After the the rest of the gang arrived and our crazy drive from the airport to Silla I wrote: ‘After getting settled we sat on the terrace for an hour, then walked up to the Pitti Palace where I showed Rachelle the little lithographer’s shop which she loved. Then it was back here, shower, change and go to Quattro Leoni.’

My niece and her friends stayed here their last night in Florence and I had yet another crazy drive from Montalcino to Florence to Silla, then to the airport to pick up my daughter and change rental cars.  (Again more on driving in my More European Driving Adventures  and Finding Italy posts.)

I booked my sister and me in to Silla our last night in Italy, September 2016, again because of location. I knew we’d be tired coming in from Lucca and Pisa and would only have about a half day to wander Florence one more time. And I think Silla is the perfect location for that; you just walk out the door, cross the bridge and you’re almost at Santa Croce, which is exactly what we did, making a loop through the city and returning to the hotel. We, of course, had a wine on their beautiful terrace before and after dinner.

As I said in a review, it still has the best location, terrace, and staff of any hotel we’ve stayed in. It just needs some updating.

 

October 2017: My sister and I stayed here for two nights and a day and a half at the end of our trip to the Veneto and the Greek Islands. As always  the staff was super helpful, making our Sunday night dinner reservation and being the best place in Florence to have a late afternoon vino and enjoy the last of the beautiful weather.  Unfortunately we got a little toasted our first night and I’m not sure how we got back from dinner but the gallery below says it all.

October 2019: We stayed here for four nights at the end of our 2019 trip. We thought the ‘refurbishing’ of the first and second floors was rather odd but as always we enjoyed the terrace and the location.

December 2021: Unfortunately I have to write that Hotel Silla is no longer what it used to be.  My sister, niece and I stayed for three nights in early October and had horrible rooms apparently carved out of a storage closet.  The room my sister and I shared was tiny, noisy and had a bad smell.  I stayed here one night in early November and had an even tinier room that used to be part of the bar.  A large group of loud Germans sat outside my room until 1:00 am and the staff refused to do anything.  And the staff attitudes range from cold to surly.

Hotel Davanzati, Firenze

https://www.hoteldavanzati.it/

During my 2021 trip to Firenze, I spent hours researching Tripadvisor and other sites for a hotel for my last three nights.  I wanted something in the centro convenient to Piazza del Duomo so I could see the lighting of the Christmas tree plus an easy walk to the other sights in the centro–Piazza Santa Croce, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, etc.  At the same time, I was looking for a hotel with good reviews, especially for the staff, since I would need a taxi to the airport Friday morning.  Plus it needed to be within my budget. A tall order.

I finally settled on Hotel Davanzati and it fit all my requirements.  It’s on the same street as Mercato Nuovo and just a few blocks from Piazza della Repubblica. The staff was pleasant and helpful and for the first time ever I got a taxi that didn’t overcharge me for the trip to the airport. The staff makes sure that you know there’s a steep set of stairs to the level with the elevator but if you ring the bell, a staff person will come down and help carry your bags to the landing with the elevator.  Given it was off season, I only paid about 80 € a night.

The breakfast wasn’t anything special, especially the less than great coffee, but the room was perfect.  Here’s what I wrote: Not as luxurious as hoped–no toiletries, no vino- but very clean and comfortable and super nice staff.  Plenty of hot water but the room could be warmer.  Super pissed though that the cab driver went all over Hell’s Half Acre until he ran the tab up to 17 euros.

I was able to get the room to warm up and after a shower, I took a walkabout through Piazza della Repubblica, went to Pino’s to eat and drink, then back to the hotel where later I heard fifes and drums.  I leaned out my window and saw a procession coming down the street, then turning towards Piazette della Parte Guelfe.  I took a few pictures, learning later that the procession was coming from the lighting of the Christmas tree which was supposed to be the following night.  Aaargh!!

But over the next two days I thoroughly enjoyed the hotel and the location, wandering from one end of the centro to the other, taking lots of pictures of the Christmas lights and trees.

Palazzina Cesira, Montalcino, Tuscany

When my sister asked me to take her to the places I’d biked in Italy, I started looking into staying in Montalcino first (although in retrospect it would have been simpler to reverse our itinerary and start in Florence).  When our bike group stayed in Montalcino, we stayed at Hotel dei Capitani on the edge of the centro.  But in 2010 I found the following web site http://www.montalcinoitaly.com/ which I learned later was created by Roberto, who, with his wife, is the owner and host of Palazzina Cesira a 13^th century building that has been restored as a B&B. [2021 Postscript:  I just realized the web site above no longer takes you to the booking site for Palazzina Cesira.  And I have not been able to find another web site for the B&B..  However, you can check dates and prices on Tripadvisor–https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g635634-d539569-Reviews-Palazzina_Cesira-Montalcino_Tuscany.html.]  

If I understood Roberto correctly the building was originally a home owned by his family which he inherited.  I thought it looked lovely and booked us for three nights. (And strangely enough some of our pictures over our two visits are almost identical to what you see online.)

As I’ve written in my  Montalcino and Southern Tuscany  post, it would be difficult to find a better host than Roberto.  He not only waited up for us that first night when we arrived at 10:00pm after traveling for nearly 36 hours, he asked us what we wanted him to prepare for breakfast, then told us to sleep in since he wouldn’t be able to get the fresh bread at the baker until at least 8:30am.

If you have heavy suitcases, you may not like the steep stairs to the rooms.  We managed OK but it was a bit of a struggle.  Our room that first stay had a window on the street but was still quiet and seemed light and airy.

The next morning, we had fresh coffee, freshly squeezed juice from blood oranges, made to order omelettes, plus several side dishes.  We chatted with Roberto and spent probably close to 2 hours talking about where we lived and where we wanted to visit in the area.  Roberto gave us a map and itinerary which was pretty much what we had already decided we wanted to see.

He recommended Enoteca di Piazza which we loved and from which we shipped case of wine to the U.S.

(You can see a corner of the enoteca in the picture on the left, diagonally across from the B&B.)

He also recommended il Grappolo Blu where I’d eaten with some other bikers on my earlier trip.

We enjoyed our stay so much, that we booked another 3 nights in October 2014 when my niece and her friends asked to see Montalcino.  They could only stay one night, then my daughter arrived and stayed the last 2 nights, going with us to all our favorite places–Pienza, Sant’Antimo and Banfi Winery.  She was amazed when Roberto and his wife not only let her sleep late but made her an egg white omelette.

We had a room for three that time that overlooked a garden.  The furnishings were a bit dark for my taste but the room itself was spacious.

Hotel Canal Grande, Venice

https://www.hotelcanalgrande.it/

As I wrote in my Venice post, I booked a night at this hotel thinking it was the same hotel that Norwegian Cruise Lines was using in Venice before our cruise to the Greek Islands.  Thankfully that was a ‘no.’  The cruise hotel was the Carlton Grand Canal which was light years away from the Hotel Canal Grande and not in a good way.  This is a small boutique hotel with phenomenal service; e.g. they arranged for a porter to meet us at the train station and take our bags over the bridges to the small piazza where they’re located, right on the canal.  The staff also arranged for our bags to be transferred to the Carlton for our 2 night stay there before our Greek Islands cruise.  And they  helped us find our way to Campo San Giacomo our first afternoon in Venice.

Since it was a week before my sister’s birthday, I had booked a ‘birthday special’ and not only was our room lovely but the hotel provided a torta al cioccolata and a bottle of prosecco.  We enjoyed them both that evening sitting on the hotel’s deck along the Grand Canal after a walk to the zattere.

The only negative was the ‘free’ boat ride to Murano where we had to  spend 2 hours at a glass factory getting the hard sell and not getting to see the rest of the island. 

Here’s a collage of our hotel room and views along the Grand Canal from the hotel deck.

Hotel Aemelia, Bologna

https://www.aemiliahotel.it/en

I think this was my favorite hotel of our 2018 trip.  You can read about it and see pictures in my 48 Hours in Bologna post.

 

 

The Millstone House, La Spezia

Dennis, the young guy who manages the place (and speaks near perfect English) was waiting outside the B&B when we arrived and lugged our suitcases upstairs where we had adjoining rooms.  Although the B&B is in a neighborhood that is lacking in charm, the hotel itself as well as the rooms are extremely modern, spacious and clean. There is an excellent breakfast, lots of onsite parking plus a nice sitting area outside.

But the best part of the hotel is Dennis. He seems to do everything and does it well. He sets out a generous and tasty breakfast, makes coffee to order and is always ready to help, even taking us back and forth to the train station.

Our last morning he insisted on taking us to the train station even though we had lots of luggage and his car is tiny.  We joked about holding suitcases on top of the car.  I told Dennis that I would be writing about him in my blog and he put his hand over his heart, thanking me.

Unfortunately the odd neighborhood around the B&B has no restaurants, at least none that we saw.

Hotel Vecchio Asilo, Ulignano

While the hotel is a good location for visiting San Gimignano, we had difficulty finding it initially.  When we turned left at the main intersection, drove all the way to the end of town, then back without seeing it so we stopped at the vineyard and asked for directions.  The staff would only talk to us through the speaker on the front gate but told us to go back to the end of town again.  This time we found it, just before the road makes a major curve.

A staff member helped us bring our cases in and park the car on the narrow gravel lot, then checked us in and as mentioned above made reservations for our wine tasting.  The rooms were spacious and pretty and they serve a very generous breakfast.

The hotel has two nice terraces where we relaxed the next day after returning from San Gimignano.

But there’s no one there after 4:30 or 5:00 pm.  Our second evening, my sister and I couldn’t find anyone in the hotel so we sat in the breakfast room having wine and panini we bought in San Gimignano, because we didn’t see a restaurant anywhere in Ulignano.      Two couples arrived, asking ‘Where are the girls?’  ‘What?’ After asking where to get wine, they went upstairs.  Not long after that a man who had helped with breakfast (and I think is part of the family that owns the hotel), walked in, said hello and went upstairs.  Then the couples came downstairs, made themselves ‘dinner’ in the kitchen while talking to my sister and me then took their food outside.  Weird!!

Albergo Giardino, Montalcino

 I was beginning to have a lot of doubts about Albergo Giardino before we arrived.  Despite having been in Montalcino several times, I was having difficulties visualizing where it was located despite putting the address into Google maps. So I was really nervous about driving there, knowing how confusing Montalcino can be and sent two emails to the management, never receiving a response.

When we arrived in Montalcino, we drove along the wall and then down and around Piazza Cavour without seeing the Albergo.  So we paid to leave our car in the closest parking lot and walked back down to the piazza.  As we came around the corner, my sister spotted it on the right, directly across from the piazza. 

 

We were fairly daunted though when we walked in and saw a steep flight of stairs.  Seeing no one around, we hiked upstairs, finally hearing voices, then meeting the woman who owns or manages the hotel. 

She first showed us two rooms, giving us a choice.  We decided on the one with the larger bathroom which turned out to be a great choice.  Then she took us downstairs to what I had originally thought was an office for a vineyard but was also the hotel office and breakfast room.  After checking us in, she gave us a parking pass for the lot where we had already parked, telling us to bring the car to the front of the hotel, then unload and take it back to the same parking lot.

We were stunned but pleased when she lugged our heavy bags upstairs. But despite the steep stairs we were very happy with our room.  It was large, modern with comfortable beds and best of all heat including heated tiles in the bathroom.

Breakfast was the typical Italian meal of fruit, rolls and coffee but everything was fresh and the cappuccino was delicious.

The absolute best part of our stay was that she offered us a free wine tasting at Paradiso di Cacuci which was wonderful. (see Five Days in Southern Tuscany and More vineyards and enotecas posts.)

 

 

 

Hotel Canal Grande

I chose this hotel thinking it was the same one that our tour had booked us into.  Nope.  There are two hotels in Venice with Grand Canal in their name.  Our tour used the Carlton Grand Canal while this was the Hotel Canal Grande.  It was light years away from the Carlton in terms of service and furnishings. 

After checking in and realizing my mistake, the concierge assured us they’d take care of getting our bags to the Carlton the next day and once I got over my embarrassment, I decided it was a fortuitous mistake.  One of the staff took us to a gorgeous room which had a bottle of prosecco and a torta al cioccolata for my                        sister’s upcoming birthday.  

That evening after a fairly long day touring, we returned to the hotel and took the torta and prosecco out to the deck.  We  ate ½ the cake and drank most of the prosecco while talking to two couples from Kansas City.

 

 

 

 

 

Hotel Ercolini and Savi, Montecatini Terme

In 2016 my sister and I took a walking tour of Tuscany.  The tour group was booked into this hotel for the first three nights so we added an extra night upgrading our room in the process.  Other people said their rooms were tiny and their beds were hard but we were quite comfortable.  I loved their terrace and we sat outside almost every evening (and some afternoons) having our wine. The only thing we didn’t like was the hotel restaurant (La Pecora Nera).  Tripadvisor says it’s the top restaurant in Montecatini but the staff treated us like garbage.

 

 

 

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