Podere Palazzolo

Amazing views, romantic accommodation with beautiful garden and swimming pool that was just the right size to swim and relax. Personal is absolutely perfect. There was not a single thing to complain about. Dinner and breakfast were delicious, various in courses and more than you could eat. A true gem of this location. If you are visiting Chianti, you must stay there.

We visited this hotel with my wife on our honeymoon and hoped to enjoy the wonderful atmosphere of Chianti in this lovely looking place.|We were welcomed by lovely staff and offered nice cup of espresso. Room was lovely even though walls were paper thin and the bed squiked like a dying rat just by breathing.|Problems started when we went to dinner downstairs. Staff didn't inform us that they served wine with reasonable price really only by bottles(12-15€) and when we ordered white and red by glasses we were charged 5€ for each glass. It's not much but when the Bottle costs 12...but this was not the main broblem.||Starters were just fine but our main courses(lasagne and ravioli) were cold, slimy and overcooked. We didn't want any dessert after that. My wife complained about stomach problems just after dinner but we ignored that. My suspicions roused when 3 hours after dinner I started defecating from every orifice. I spend a lovely night on a bathroom floor with fever and vomiting.||We naturally skipped morning meal. While cheking out we wanted to have a word with the owner who happened to be on duty.|We explained what happened and she actually suggested that maybe we were just tired from travelling! Because vomiting is what usually follows tiredness...|She refused to give us discount or any kind of apology at all. If that's how they treat guest there — they don't deserve another visit. Ever.

We stayed here as a group of cyclists traveling across Tuscany. The manager Sarah was so helpful and friendly, the food delicious. The surrounding is beautiful, quiet, relaxing and located a short walk from town. They don’t have a full bar but do have excellent wine and limited selection of beer by the can. We picked up some spirits from town and Sarah happily provided us glasses with ice to enjoy them.

Seriously, go for something else.||||We statyed at this hotel for 3 nights in a superior room. It says in the description rooms should have AC, but our did not. This lead to we have to sleep with our windows open causing a wake up at 5 am because of the sunlight coming in. So for a relaxing visit this is not ideal I would say.||||Talking about relax do not get fooled by the fact that they have a bubble pool, you can only use it by paying 35€/couple for ONE hour.||||The surroundings were very beautiful and if you are lucky you could snatch one of the two great tables with a view for dinner. If not, I would say skip their dinner. The menu is small and food is below average and their wine selection is straight up poor. Better to take the ~15 min walk to Castellina, but be warned - do not tell the staff or owner you won’t be eating at their restaurant since it is a great chance they will questionning your choice.||||Also be warned: it is truly cash payment ONLY even if you have registered your credit card when making your reservation. So obviously they have the ability to withdrawl the stay from the card, but just choose not to making it feel a bit lite tax avoidence.||||In addition to this I forgot my bikini at the hotel when checking out. We tried to call them one hour later but with no luck, so we sent them an email using the one at their website. When we the day after still had no answer I finally got in touch with them by phone I was told that housekeeping had tossed it?! Unacceptable when paying 100€/night.||||Overall a very nice environment, good breakfast and the pool + sunbeds were also good. Only considering these parts I would rate 5 stars, but the owner and the service is so bad and since we had no AC I can’t rate this more than a 2.

We stayed in this hotel during a recent stay in Tuscany and initially we really liked it very much. ||||- Nice location just outside town but well within walking distance||- Beautiful hilltop views across valley||- Nice restaurant||- Very friendly and helpful staff||- Well located pool with stunning views ||||Unfortunately the strange and sometimes rude behaviour of the owner ended up detracting from the experience in a big way. This was confirmed when we overheard some of the other guests also grumbling about it at the pool.||||For example, the restaurant is lovely but the wine list is really poor. Since we were in the wine region, and doing some wine tours, we wanted to have decent wine with dinner. Unfortunately, the owner flat out refused to allow us to have any wine other than hers at the restaurant, Even after we offered to pay a corkage fee. ||||It is her hotel so we have to stick to her rules, but given we were in a wine region it is unfortunate. Next we thought will have dinner, then open a bottle and sit on one of the terrasses with our wine. Unfortunately this was also frowned upon, which was unusual. I've never stayed at a hotel (in a wine region) that didn't allow us to drink our wine anywhere on the property. ||||Another example, one evening my fiancee was exhausted when we arrived at the hotel and went straight to bed. I went into town and dinner by myself but ordered a take away snack just in case she woke up hungry during the night. As it turns out she woke up hungry at around 11pm. We went to the owner, who was cleaning the kitchen (the restaurant was closed at this point) and asked if we can have a plate and some cutlery, which was flatly refused. She ended up eating her ravioli by hand from a foil take away container.||||Note that the Wifi in our room was non-existent, we had to go downstairs or outside to get any reception.||||Finally, the hotel does not accept credit cards. Whilst we knew about this in advance and were prepared for it, i was okay with it when I thought it was a small place. However, after visiting and seeing it is a fairly large hotel I think this is another example of a policy that drives slightly more revenue to the owner but at the expense of guests.||||Overall, I'd say we had a mixed experience. It is a lovely hotel and the staff were great (without exception). However, the owner was rude and unhelpful in every single encounter we had. This is such a shame as it is such a nice place. However, as things stand I would advise going somewhere else.

The good: Excellent location at walking distance from the commune in Castellina in Chianti. Plenty of places to wine and dine in Castellina as well as a coop shopping centre. Clean amenities with friendly staff. Good breakfast and average dining menu and atmosphere. Plenty of parking. We did not require any air conditioning as the nights were quite chilly in late April and all windows could open from inside. Staff is always available with suggestions if asked. We took some good pointers and adapted our trips to hit some amazing sites. ||||The bad: Our “small double room” reservation placed us on one of the lower terraces right below the kitchen. Now, we all know that kitchens are busy and noisy places. What we didn’t realize is that the sound insulation is non-existent as everything is tiled. Early mornings and late evenings (nights) were especially problematic. One can hear the traffic quite distinctly without mentioning the clanking, screeching and talking. The sound of high heels stomping on the tiles above was especially wondrous. There were no additional pillows or blankets in the room and with chilly nights, we heard some guests complaining. Needless to say, no heating either. Dinner is overpriced for what is offered and there are better options in Castellina. WIFi is spotty but one should take a break anyway when vacationing in Tuscany. ||||The ugly: Website is not functioning in English as a language choice. Not a good place for visitors with physical disabilities for whom general access and/or bathroom use might be prohibitive. Cash payment is the sole option and that makes the entire experience smell a bit like tax avoidance.

Overall our stay at podere palazzolo was disappointing. Our junior suite wasn’t like it appears in the pictures. We had a loud buzzing noise in our room on the first night, which the hosts could not figure out the source for and did not do anything to fix. Same issue with a constant leaking water sound from the heater. ||We paid a premium for the hot tub, which didn’t work properly - when we turned it on, the button broke off and the water from the jets soaked our room. To be fair, they helped us solve this issue and fixed the tub immediately. ||We felt that whilst the location and property is beautiful, we were disappointed with the service. We had difficulty reaching the hosts to figure out the best way to get to their hotel despite calling and emailing a few times. We informed them about my gluten allergy (prior to our arrival) and they didn’t provide for us (they accused that we didn’t tell them, despite me having evidence that we did). On our second night, we went down for dinner and they said that they don’t have any food because we didn’t confirm we wanted to eat there but we were not aware there was a rule to let them know ahead of time. As a remote location without access to restaurants or food, we felt disappointed with the service and wished they had been a bit more accommodating. ||They took a portion off our bill to compensate, that’s why we gave it three stars and not two.

We stayed 4 nights at the Podere Palazzo in Chanti in August 2018.||The place is beautifully situated on the green hills and you have a beautiful view of the vineyards from the hotel.||Our room was on the first floor and there was a new air conditioning which worked fine. However, the room was furnished with old furniture so it felt "crowded".||The cleaning of the room was not satisfying. The rubbish bin was emptied, but the toilet was not cleaned properly.||It was hard to get clean towels. But the fresh air diffuser there was enough of. The door to the bathroom could only open halfway. It hit the floor.||The pool and pool area was nice and the loungers were good.||Unfortunately, the outdoor areas were poorly maintained. There were weeds everywhere. The garden tub was dirty and the water was green of algae.||We did not try the restaurant for dinner but the breakfast was not delicious.||It was a "set menu" and not a buffet. There was no salad, alm. bread, melon or traditional hams and sausages .... not even a glass of juice!||Yogurt and cake were on the menu every day. The coffee was cold because no thermocouples were used.||You should ask for things!||||The owner, Laura, asked if we had a good stay. I told her about our experiences, but it did not matter to her.||As she said, "It's my house, so it is my rules."||||The place seemed like you had given up on things. There was no cheer and joy and the place was missing "class"||Unfortunately, we can not recommend the place.||||Yours sincerely||Dorthe and Søren||Denmark