Aceronina 6

“ Aceronina ”

A lovely apartment in a delightful setting with views across the valley to the delightful hill town of Citta della Pieve. Charming family - very helpful. It was great to have food (and wine!) laid in on arrival, by arrangement with Olivia. Excellent and detailed instructions and suggestions for restaurants and services in the folder. The kitchen perhaps the best provided of any place we have stayed at. Nice quiet pool. Lots to do in the area.

Some suggestions: A sign to indicate Aceronina on the final turning on the white road - it is not labelled as such! We found that entering Borgo Montefreddo on the satnav worked well. The final ~200M of track is a bit of a nightmare- would be tricky for a small or low vehicle- so could be improved!

Thanks Nigel, I've changed the directions to make them more helpful!

“ We are all hoping to return again in the future ”

We had a party of five people at the villa for 5 nights - it was perfect. We could not have asked for a more tranquil, relaxing, and private holiday destination. We had the beautiful grounds and pool to ourselves for the entirety of our stay at the villa, and we thoroughly enjoyed this. We made use of the lovely big pool daily - playing pool volleyball as well as doing laps. It is meticulously maintained, as are all of the outside grounds of the property.

Inside the villa is a beautiful large kitchen which allowed all five of us to prepare food at the same time. In fact all of the rooms in the villa are large which gave us ample room to relax inside when it was too hot to be outside. The kitchen is well stocked with all utensils and spices needed to create meals. The bathrooms were very clean and ample bath and pool towels were provided.

The villa is air-conditioned, with controls in all rooms, and in conjunction with the shutters on all windows the villa was kept lovely and cool even on the hottest days that we were there. The view from the outside balcony/patio was absolutely breathtaking, clearly seeing across the valley to the hilltop village on the other side, many kilometres away.

We were welcomed by Olivia, the owner, and her daughter who allowed us to check-in early. It was comforting knowing that Olivia lives at one of the other houses on the property, however we were also given complete privacy.

We highly recommend this villa for a restful holiday, and we are all hoping to return again in the future.

“ A genuine old stylish Tuscany villa in a magical setting ”

This is a big villa for six people - ideal for a family or group of friends. Each stylishly decorated bedroom is spacious and has its own luxurious bathroom. We had three generations of the family staying, and there was always space for everyone to do their own thing, with a large sitting room/lounge/dining room, a big country well equipped country kitchen, and a convenient loggia/verandah for outdoor meals overlooking the spectacular scenery down the Val di Chiana and across to the medieval hilltop town of Citta della Pieve. We loved the original farmhouse tiles, the beamed ceilings, comfortable furniture, art and stylish furnishings. Olivia provides a lot of tourist information, and fantastic art, literature and picture books on the area and Italy in general, as well as personal recommendations for local restaurants. We took her advice and went to a spectacular restaurant in Citta della Pieve, and another in San Casciano dei Bagni, both within 20 minutes drive. There are also small groceries within a short drive away, where you can buy a grand selection of local cheeses, hams, prosciutto, olives and other vegetables.

The pool was a good size for lap swimming as well as lounging about. We appreciated the tote bag gifts and pool towels. We all enjoyed the beautiful setting, except for one problem: near the villa on this large estate, there was a horse paddock surrounded by forest (with deer!), and this proved ideal conditions for horse flies which are a terrible scourge in hot weather, as they have a painful bite (they can even bite through clothing or sunbed mesh), leaving a swollen itchy sore for days. Some of us suffered more than others, who were able to fend them off with insect repellent. Fortunately, the flies were restricted to one area and did not come near the house, which was high up on the first floor, and also had screened windows.

We all loved this villa and would highly recommend it. Olivia and her adult children were very helpful and responsive hosts, providing lots of information and sorting any problems very quickly. We only encountered one difficulty, which was in initially finding the villa because the coordinates given in our instructions were incorrect, and our GPS led us almost 15 kilometers away down an almost impassable track, before we realised there must be a mistake in the directions. The local village of Piazze was not mentioned in the instructions, and although we were told the villa was called Aceronina, no one used this name, and it was always called Montefreddo. Eventually after phone calls to our host, Olivia, her daughter rescued us, and came to meet us in Piazze to lead us to the villa. However, the instructions need to be corrected to save others a wild goose chase. This is a beautiful villa in a lovely peaceful spot, with wonderful tourist sites in the vicinity, and gave us a relaxing and happy holiday.

“ An Italian Gem! ”

This is our first stay here. Having stayed in the area previously, we were taken aback by the panoramic views from the terrace. The accommodation is superb! It is very comfortable and well equipped. Our hosts were charming and helpful, especially about the restaurant recommendations in the local towns. All of which we found to be very charming. The lasagne from the local butchers in Piazze is a must!!

“ A great week in the Tuscan countryside ”

We recently spent a week at Aceronina with members of our family, celebrating major birthdays and important anniversaries. We could hardly have chosen a better location! The views go on for ever in several directions, and never failed to delight, even on the day when storm clouds came sweeping in from the south.

The accommodation is spacious and extremely well equipped and comfortable, and the kitchen has everything you could ask for if you want to cook for yourself. However, you would be denying yourself a great deal if you didn’t explore at least some of the fine restaurants to be found in the area. We really enjoyed dinner at Osteria Rinaldi, in Piazze, just 5 minutes down the road, and the carnivores in the group raved about the mixed grill enjoyed at the restaurant at the castle in Radico-fani. However, the highlight was the celebratory dinner prepared and served for us “at home”. We really appreciated all the help received from Invitation to Tuscany in booking the week, and spe-cially in helping organise our special dinner.

Lounging by the pool was an important part of our stay, but there is also a great deal of interest in the surrounding area. A week was way too short a time, but besides Radicofani and Piazze, we were also able to visit San Casciano dei Bagni and Montalcino, (home of the famous Brunello wine, but also home to a very interesting leather goods store). Siena was also within easy reach for a day’s outing.

Altogether it was a wonderful week, and special thanks must go to Olivia, the owner, for providing such comfortable, well equipped surroundings.

“ The villa was even better than expected ”

Our stay at Aceronina was the favorite part of our trip. The villa was even better than expected....Very spacious and lovely...especially the view. We got lost (followed the GPS) on the way and Olivia, the owner came to get us and lead us to the villa. We also had someone recommended by Olivia come in one night to fix a wonderful dinner for us.

Also thanks to Dan of Invitation to Tuscany for all your help. Any time I had questions, they were promptly answered and much help was offered. Would definitely do this again.