At Excellent Europe,
we personally inspect every property we represent
and present a comparative and balanced evaluation
for our guests. But there is nothing like hearing
our guests' feedback and travelogues!
We spent some time in Venice and
Rome before we went to the Castello. We had a
wonderful stay there - the property was great, the
pool was gorgeous - nice and big for laps. The kids
look forward to swimming every day after our day
trips. Everyone was helpful. We enjoyed going to
Mamma Rosa the first night and going to the little
town San Casicano and visiting the cheese and wine
stores.
We had a very positive experience
- everything you mentioned was right on - including
the freeway noise which was a bit disappointing for
us, but we slept through it anyway.
Thanks very much for all your
help, Pat. We enjoyed the travel journals as well !
Emily B, July 2007
Castello Niccolo is the joy of
children and adults alike. The little farmhouses
surround the 9th century castle, former hunting
residence of Niccolo Machiavelli. It is situated in
the heart of the Chianti region along the
Florence-Siena route near the town of San Casciano
Val di Pesa. We were within driving distance of the
artistic towns, villages, cultural sites, vineyards
and attractions of Tuscany. The farmhouses and
apartments scattered among the fields and woods of
the property made us feel as if we had been
transported to another time and place. Each house on
the property has been restored in the traditional
Tuscan style with modern conveniences. We stayed in
Le Ginestre, a two-storied farmhouse with a private
garden, Tuscan fireplace and outside barbecue (see
photo). The furnishings are well appointed but
staying here is not like staying in a stuffy old
museum. When we turned the antique key in lock of
the large wooden Tuscan door and step across the
stone threshold we somehow felt like we had come
into our own Italian home in the heart of Tuscany.
Castello Niccolo is very kid friendly and everyone
did their utmost to ensure the quality of the
accommodations and that our stay was most
comfortable, not our experience in other
agriturismos.
Grilling bistecca outside Ginestra.
Pamela M, Indiana, March 2007
We have
returned from our week at the Castello and I wanted
to write to say how much we enjoyed our stay. We
enjoyed ourselves so much that we are thinking of
traveling there again in June 2007 with the extended
family and having 3 villas/apartments.
All of the
information you provided with our booking
confirmation, along with the Manual, were of great
value. Your driving directions were spot on and we
found the driving much LESS stressful and much MORE
straightforward than we anticipated– which was
great! We ate at several of the restaurants which
you recommended both in San Casciano and in Florence
(La Rinascente roof top). FYI: On our first
night, having arrived rather late, we went to Mama
Rossa, just around the corner from the castle (turn
right at the bottom of the hill, go a couple of
minutes and it is on your left at the first tiny
village on the way to San Casciano) and found it
wonderful. We tried to make time to return but never
got to it. One day we went to Montelupo and
purchased pottery and another we drove into Florence
– literally into Florence.
We made great
use of the Wellness Centre at the castle. It is
small but the husband and wife therapists are lovely
and made us feel very welcome and pampered – just
what we were after! We were also very pleasantly
surprised to find a washing machine in our villa.
You may want to update your description to include
this info – we ended up making use of it several
times!
Finally, we
went in search of Parco di Pinocchio one day and
while trying to find it, bumped into a zoo, Giardino
Zoologico di Pistoia, www.zoodipistoia.it. We
decided our son, nearly 3 years, would probably
prefer the zoo, so we abandoned looking for Collodi
and remained in Pistoia. It was a very nice
little zoo and we would recommend it highly for
people traveling with young children. We were >
told there are not many zoos in Italy. In fact, the
closest zoo the reception knew about was a 2 ˝ hour
drive away – Pistoia was about 50 minutes.
Giardino Zoologico di Pistoia does not have the
extravagance of many of the large American zoos, but
this is a zoo which definitely has it’s heart in
the right place – education and conservation. It
is privately owned, by the family of the director,
and they suffer a bit with limited funding, which
appears to come almost exclusively from gate
entrance, but they are continually trying to improve
conditions for the animals and the experience for
the visitor. There is a good children’s playground
on site, a children’s petting zoo with goats,
donkey’s, etc and some food coin food dispensers
for feed for the elephants and giraffes. The zoo
itself is cut into a hillside of what was a pine
plantation so is heavily treed and planted
throughout. It is pretty to walk through even if you
don’t look at the animals. On the grounds of the
zoo is a very nice restaurant, which is available to
zoo goers and non-zoo goers as well having its own
entrance and car parking. We had some of our most
delicious food there, including 3 chocolate desserts
which we sampled between us and are some of the best
I have EVER had! Again thank you for your help with
our holiday. Karen C, October 06
Buongiorno! Our trip was fantastic. Tuscany is
incredibly beautiful (as you know). Castello
Niccolo was absolute paradise, we couldn't have
been happier with the accomodations. Just so you
know, the Il Tiglio apartment does have a washing
machine for use just off the back patio. This was
a plus we weren't expecting and you may want to
list it on your website. Brett S,
Califormia, May 2006 Accommodations The
accomodations [Giotto] were great. It was plenty big
for our family. Enjoyed most We loved
the setting and the views. Even though we were there
at the early part of the spring blooming season it
was still very beautiful. We can only imagine what
it looks like when the flowers are planted and
everything is in full bloom. The kitchen was pretty
well equipped. I did bring somethings of my own (due
to our location) but it wasn't bad. There are no
"real" cereal bowl for those that care,
only shallow soup bowls. We improvised and used
coffee cups for the kids. Suprisingly there were no
wine glassed either. This was fine for the everyday
wine but we did have a few better bottles of wine
that warranted more than a juice glass. We again
brought this to their attention and they brought the
wine glasses right away. We found it a little
strange though. [Actually, you don't usually find
stemmed wine glasses in Italian homes. pb] The
fact that our kids could run around, explore, play
on the hammock, kick the soccer ball and play with
the cats and lizards was sensational. People thought
we were crazy to take our kids to Tuscany. They
couldn't have been more wrong. They had a fabulous
time and so did we. It was a memorable vacation for
all of us. When travelling with children it is hard
to find a trip that everyone enjoys equally. This
was by all means a win/win for everyone. Problems
We had some problems with ants....but hey, what
are you going to do? They were very attentive to the
problem and helped very quickly. We also had a
broken toilet that leaked water from the tank.
Again, it wasn't a major problem and they did fix it
very quickly. Location The location
was great for getting to the other places but I wish
there had been some more retaurants closer by. Not a
big deal though, it's not like we were starved by
any means while we were there!!! Recommended
sites or restaurants We loved all the little
towns, Castellina, Greive and San Gimigano. Just
driving the countryside was fun for us. Mama Rosa's
was very convenient but we did not find the food to
be exceptional by any means. It was great for the
first night as well as a night we got home rather
late due to a traffic jam. Very homey and cozy but
we expected a little more from the menu. Any
tips for future guests Book early for Casa
Mia--it looked fabulous but they were booked for a
week in advance. We really had a fabulous
time. I can't say enough about it. The timing was
just right for us as well. I'm not sure if it would
have been as enjoyable for our family in the summer
due to crowds, heat etc. This was just perfect.
Really, we can't wait to go back. If we weren't
going back to the States this summer I would plan a
second trip. We were so relaxed the whole week that
the day we did go to Florence we all found it to be
too much. The crowds, the noise, the setting was all
overwhelming. By the end of the day we were ready to
get back to our safe little haven in Tuscany.
However, the gelato in Florence was to die for!!!! I
dream of it as I nibble away on my measly little
Weight Watchers ice cream bar. I've attached some
pictures taken at the castle...enjoy! We've passed
your information on to friends here in Geneva...we
wish you luck. Tricia M, Geneva, April 2006 I
would recommend this villa highly. The
view.........it was breathtaking, I never got
tired of it and took lots and lots of pictures of
the beautiful view. The mountains, the vineyards
and olive trees were awesome. Also, the girls at
the reception area spoke English pretty well,
which helped with check-in. Anna M, September
2006
The castle was beautifully decorated, and although
there were others there, we felt we had all the
privacy we wanted. The view was amazing and there
was a fantastic restaurant called Mama Rosa's
nearby that was delicious. Great peaceful pool
surrounded by lavender. Great wine tasting and
tour was worth the cost .
September, 2005
Be sure to walk around the olive groves and
surrounding area. The views are spectacular. All
of the units looked nice at this property. They
had a wedding as we were leaving which looked
perfect.
It was truly a remarkable experience, and one we
will never forget. We will definitely consider
staying at the Castello again, or one of the other
units of this property, should we return to the
area.
March 2005
|
Tuscany
