B&B il Colle - A villa with a view of the Chianti hills
Written: Sep 30 '09 (Updated Sep 30 '09)
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Pros: Lovely 14th-century villa. The villa's location is perfect for making day trips in Tuscany.
Cons: Not much happening in the immediate surroundings, but if you're there to relax...
The Bottom Line: B&B Villa il Colle is located in Chianti, on the famous “strada del vino." Great location for day trips to nearby Siena or other Tuscany towns!
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| reginafug's Full Review: Il Colle B&B - Chianti, Florence, Italy |
Florence, Italy, the bustling capital of the arts where there is so much to see and do! We spent a week in this illustrious city, then a second week touring parts of southern Tuscany; by the beginning of week three, our trip was coming to an end and we wanted a Bed & Breakfast in a location away from the maddening crowds, a place where peace and quiet was the order of the day!
I was very pleased with my choice of Villa il Colle Bed & Breakfast, located in Bagno a Ripoli, in beautiful Chianti. The B&B is located just 15 kilometers from the center of Florence. It turns out, there is also a lot to see in the Chianti hills, sights of nature and such, so we never went back to Florence, except for lunch the day we were leaving Italy.
Booking
All of the accommodations we stayed in, were selected by using the Internet. This particular property was chosen because of the attractiveness of the photographs on their Website (sometimes this can backfire - false advertising), the price, and the proximity to Florence, as we didn't want to travel far to get to the airport. It turns out the property looked just like the photos!
We reserved the large room, called the Violetta, a charming room with a view of the city (in the distance) and of the many hills in the vicinity. We visited in May 2009, and I negotiated the rate of €110, based on a three-night stay; breakfast was included.
Arrival
The directions provided on their Website are reasonably accurate, and they only forgot to state which way to go once you reach the proverbial fork on the road. Luckily, we found a gentleman taking a stroll and he pointed us in the right direction.
Their Website states that guests can arrive at 2:00 pm, so we arrived a few minutes past the hour, but no one answered the door. Instead of being upset, we realized we were hungry, so we drove down to the little village of Antella for a bit of pizza, pasta, and of course, vino. By the way, on the way down the hill, we encountered a young man racing up the hill in his BMW. Of course, the country road being quite narrow, we had to move the car as close as we could up the hillside, to let the young daredevil through.
We returned past 3:00 pm, only to have the young driver we met on the hill, open the door. Of course he didn't remember us from an hour ago, but that's unimportant. He invited us in, and we walked into a lovely courtyard with many lemon trees and stately trees. He informed us that he was helping out his mother and father (Louisa and Azelio) run the B&B, gave us the keys to the house, our room, etc., and invited us to make ourselves at home. The young man recommended various restaurants in the nearby towns, and gave us other useful tips.
Villa Il Colle
One of the most inviting features of this 14th century villa is the surrounding vineyards and olive groves. Other wonderful features are the superb views of nearby Florence, the Brunelleschi's cupola in full view from our bedroom, and of course, when you go out for a stroll, you'll see other beautiful farms of the area.
Our room, the Violetta, was very large, with a wonderful king size bed, and we loved the awesome views from our window. The bed linens are not changed daily, but the room is serviced daily by a lovely young woman that comes in daily.
The furnishings in the room are very old, almost to be considered antiques. There is a massive armoire in the room where you can store and hang your clothes, and a dresser with ample drawer space; on top of this dresser is a small television set (14"), with satellite cable service which accessed practically all the channels of the world.... Jiminy, I've never had so many channels to choose from, it was unreal... we spent a good hour just looking for something to watch!
Our room offered air conditioner, but luckily the weather was perfect and we could still leave the windows open at night. During the day, horse flies are every where, (hello, this is farm country!) and the windows have no netting, so, it's best to leave them closed during the day.
A word of warning however, this villa is not friendly to the physically impaired. There is a massive and steep set of stairs (which I used as exercise, up and down a few times) to get to the rooms.
The Bathroom
The bathroom, a large room, was also very comfortable, with all the necessary amenities, the bathroom also had a lovely view of the villa and nearby farms. Towels are plentiful and are changed daily.
Amenities
The owners offer FREE wireless internet, but the Wi-Fi was not working properly, and it did not reach the upstairs bedrooms; so, we could only use it in the breakfast area, lounge, and the courtyard.
Breakfast was served out on their very pretty courtyard. The breakfast is Continental Style, and one finds cereals, yogurt, juice, milk, tea, fresh bread, butter and jam. Azelio, the host, makes a mean cup of coffee!
Conclusion
The location is convenient for visiting the city of Florence, however, the headaches of traffic, parking, etc., made us think twice about going in. This location makes perfect sense for visiting Chianti and other parts of Tuscany.
In all, this is a quiet location, perfect for a couple or family, but it is not too perfect for people in their 20's who may be looking for bars, dancing (which Italians are very fond of doing), etc.
The villa is just wonderful, with its high wood-beam ceilings, and many period details which were faithfully recreated.
Azalio and Luisa warmed up to us by the second day, and by the third day they were very friendly. Azalio is fluent in English, but Luisa isn't, at all, thus the reason why she probably doesn't seem friendly.
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Special thanks to Di (SurgRN911) for setting up this Bed and Breakfast!
Recommended:
Yes
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