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Customer Reviews

Overall:
A dream vacation! I just want to thank you for all your help. You are a delight to work with. You promised us a wonderful villa & it was even better than I expected. I would go back to that villa in a heartbeat...it was heaven.
Enjoyed Most:
We enjoyed the pool most of all. It was wonderful to come home in the late afternoons to relax and swim. It was rejuvenating. Loved the patio and pool house. Great shower in the pool house! The owner was great & a fabulous cook. Loved the cooking class!!!! the maid was a doll... we all loved her.
Enjoyed Least:
The bathrooms had handheld showers. The refrigerator was not very cold, and the coffe pot took almost 45 minutes to brew a pot of coffee. No dryer, but did have a washer that took a couple of hours for a cycle!
Surrounding Area:
Lots of quaint and beautiful towns with wonderful restaurants and shops. Be careful of the roads...very narrow and winding.
Nearby Events or Locales:
Lari was the closest town, but you couldn't walk. Of course, the villa is located in Cevoli which is VERY tiny.
Tips or Restaurants:
Bring a coffee pot if you want coffee made quickly. Lari had a wonderful restaurant right in the town square.

Don and Susan, June, 2012

Overall:
Wonderful, we couldn't have imagined how lovely the villa was. It was like being on a movie set!
Enjoyed Most:
The views, the personality of the furnishings and the wonderful housekeeper who cooked a great dinner for us. There were also numerous fruit trees on the property.
Enjoyed Least:
It was a bit tough to find the first time.
Surrounding Area:
The scenery was stunning and not super crowded.
Nearby Events or Locales:
The villa is in the little town of Cevoli. To get to a grocery store is about a five minute drive.
Tips or Restaurants:
The kitchen was somewhat stocked upon arrival and there was a dinner already prepared. The dinner the housekeeper made was excellent and a very good deal. The closest best restaurant is in the town of Lari about ten minutes by car.
Directions:
We did not get a GPS- big mistake!

Lorraine, July, 2011

Overall:
Outstanding villa from the 1500's which was owned by a Count. The villa was more beautiful than the pictures. The location was great for touring Pisa, Florence, Sienna and Livorno. A jewel in Tuscany.
Enjoyed Most:
The villa was very spacious, the pool was inviting. I cannot believe how clean the villa was. There are three huge living rooms and two medium sized sitting rooms that we really didn't use because the weather was hot and the terraces and veranda were fantastic for vegging out.
Enjoyed Least:
Probably leaving the villa was the least liked thing we did while touring Tuscany. They need ice cube trays. They had some beat up plastic ones that were almost of no use. Directions to the nearest grocery store would have been helpful. There are no real worthy complaints.
Surrounding Area:
Florence was good but expensive. Siena was a most inviting city as was Pisa. We rented bicycles for an afternoon in Pisa to see its historic areas. The leaning tower was most impressive. Livorno has some nice beaches, but the city is very industrialized.
Nearby Events or Locales:
The smnallest town was Cevoli! The villa is right in town. There is a gelatto bar within strolling distance. The town is laid back and the people friendly.
Tips or Restaurants:
The only item needed as in anywhere in Europe is a washcloth for personal use. We cooked dinners and had everything we needed as to cookware, or improvised.
Directions:
GET A GPS. We used Hertz Neverlost and would have been lost for days without it.

Margaret, August, 2010

Overall:
The photos of the villa on the web site actually understate its elegance. I thought having Linda cook most the dinners helped make the whole experience even more enjoyable. We picked the menus and Linda did the shopping and cooking - very special. Great cook with a terrific sense of hosting guests. Linda has been associated with the villa and its owner for many years
Enjoyed Most:
The owners made us feel like guests in their home with all the furnishings etc. Everything worked and it is a property that reflects much pride and attention.
Enjoyed Least:
Not a thing.
Surrounding Area:
Location is great for numerous day and half-day trips

Keith, October, 2004

Overall:
This property was really a cut above others we have rented. We felt as if we had been invited to a friend's house in the country for the week rather than to an anomynous rental property.
Enjoyed Most:
The setting is lovely, on a hilltop, surrounded by farmland with the village church perched on the opposite ridge. All of this is best viewed from the attractive pool and poolhouse.
Enjoyed Least:
Some in our group found access to the freeway to be a bit circuitous although not especially distant.
Surrounding Area:
By the standards of Tuscany, this is a lightly touristed area. That made it feel a bit more Tuscan to us and a bit less Anglo-German-American.
Nearby Events or Locales:
We made a point of not driving more than an hour to anywhere but this included rewarding visits to Lucca, Volterra, Florence and Pisa.
Tips or Restaurants:
The region is peppered with tiny hilltop villages. Each seems to have at least a trattoria. We were nicely welcomed at each we tried and ate very well by allowing our waiters to select our dishes.

Clifford, September, 2002

Overall:
This property is absolutely fabulous from start to finish. It is a spectacular setting, elegantly furnished inside and out. This far exceeded our expectations!!1
Enjoyed Most:
EVERYTHING - the property, the setting, the old elegance, the domestic help a few hours every day, the charming towns.
Enjoyed Least:
We cannot identify a single thing that we did not like about the property
Surrounding Area:
The surrounding area is truly, truly beautiful and offers close proximity to wonderful day trips.
Nearby Events or Locales:
Volterra, San Gimignano, Montelcino, Pisa, Forte de Marmi
Tips or Restaurants:
Fabulous restaurant recommended by the owner - about 3 small towns away (15 minute drive) was Da Castero in Laviano.

Linda, July, 2002