Dear Michaela,
We had a wonderful holiday in Tuscany.
Your service was excellent.Plenty of information and very prompt replys to
any questions.
There was nothing we disliked.
Our accommodation was fantastic, the setting couldn't be bettered with
those amazing views to look out over.
It was very well equipped and our only negative comments were that the beds
and pillows were extremely hard - I found the camp bed more comfortable!
This didn't spoil our stay. We were welcomed into the local bar and the
small shop and would definately return.
Regards
Victoria
Usually accommodations pictured on a wesite are not quite as nice as photographed. Cas Puliti exceeded our expectations. It was beautiful and well kept and more spacious than we had envisioned. Dante and the gardener were very kind and helpful. Another trip is certainly in order. Bhe way... another customer stated that the beds were too hard. We found them firm and comfortable especially after a day of exploring in wonderful Tuscany.
Judy Brennan
Casa Puliti in Lucolena was very nice. Marvelous view from terrace. Rooms perfectly adequate, if a little dark. Mosquitoes a minor annoyance, because we failed to heed your warning/encouragement to bring repellant.
Lucolena itself charming, if tiny and largely without amenities. Radda, 15 k away, charming and delightful.
Highlights were the Tuscan countryside generally, marvelous restaurants in and around Radda. Wine tour at Castella d’Abola. San Giamignano and other towns. (Firenze and Siena grand in their ways, but very hot and very crowded. Not getting reservation for the Uffizzi a big disappointment.
Highlights of the trip, in addition to the above, included Villa d’Este, esp. its gardens, in Tivoli outside of Rome, and the Sistine Chapel, St. Peters, in Rome.
Smart things we did: get guides in Siena, Firenze and Rome.
Drawbacks and dumb things: Didn’t do enough homework, preparation, to learn more about our destinations in advance. Also, ATM’s didn’t always work. Created some anxiety. Should have brought way more cash.
Forgot to mention: Your connection in England (sorry, name escapes) [Pam Purvis] was wonderful when we called her morning of our departure to be sure Casa Puliti would be ready/open the next (Sunday) afternoon. She called Tuscany on the spot, and confirmed the arrangement.
Also, meal prepared at the Casa Puliti by Andrea and Michela :-) was charming and a delight. Would have done that more than once if they had been available.
So there you are.
Ciao
Roger Valkenburgh
Overall impression: Very spacious and the main accommodation was exactly as described. We did feel it had been undersold slightly. There was a shower / changing room near the pool which was a real selling point as the pool was quite a trek from the house. the house would have benefited from an additional shower [
our comment - there are 1 bath tub and 1 shower in the villa]. One between 7 people was a little challenging! However, we knew this before we went so it wasn't a surprise
Highlights: The private chef service
[our comment - chef's email is il_fiasco@hotmail.com] and the visit to Siena but there were many other enjoyable experiences
Unpleasant surprises: No unpleasant surprises but the mosquitoes were very aggressive!
One point we would like to make is that we would have benefited from more information about the facilities in the immediate area. The website was informative about the wider region and the information was then just printed off and left in the house. The website had stated that shops / supermarkets were not open on Sunday but the village shop was open on Sunday morning and the supermarket in Figline
[our comment - supermarkets open occasionally on Sundays for extraordinary openings but this is not normal opening times] was also open. It would have been really useful to know this especially as we arrived on the Saturday. Also, the village was very lively and there were 4 or 5 evening events in the piazza during our stay. It seems there is music and dancing every Sunday evening which was lovely. In addition there were advertised events such as the beauty contest (heaven for our 15 year old son!) and a celebration for the feast of the Assumption. The website mentions the pizza restaurant but we couldn't see anything except a bar and it took us ages to work out that you had to walk through the bar and go downstairs to the restaurant. I think you could ask the owners to put together a local information pack or even to have a visitors book which we have found very useful in the past to find out such things. [
our comment - these events mentioned do not occur year round, the Stanfords stayed during August]
Stanford family
Overall impression: Very nice. One pleasant surprise was the extent of the property-- there's a driveway from the main road at the bottom of the hill up to the garage, so parking isn't a problem at all. The house is spacious and well designed.
Highlights: The Tuscan countryside. Casa Puliti is beautifully situated with an outstanding view of it.
For the next renters: Late into the two-week stay we discovered the Internet Point in Radda at the Gelato shop across from the park [Our comment - the name of the place is Bar Sandy], and the Coop grocery store in Figline. (We had been going to Greve for food and
contact, but Radda and Figline offered better.) Also, the village grocery store around the corner is amazingly well-stocked and open from 7am to 1pm (and later in the afternoon) nearly every day. The local pub
across the square has pretty good food and not-very-good but very cheap wine. We love Lucolena!
Jill & Charles Probst
Louisa, Virginia
Hello. I am unable to to indicate a response beneath your questions,
so I will do my best to respond in general. I thought your services
were excellent and your approach very honest. Your reps were
responsive to all inquiries from me, which was not always the case
with other agencies that I dealt with in connection with this trip.
Thank you. The accommodation was fine. It was almost exactly as
pictured and described. It is quite roomy and well maintained, and I
cant imagine how anyone would not be pleased to stay at this
residence. The only negative was that we has some difficulty getting
consistently hot water from the shower in the upstairs bath. It did
not run out; rather it was difficult to get more than tepid water from
he start of each shower. This was a minor inconvenience for us, but I
could understand it bothering some people more than it did us. The
only unpleasant surprise for us had nothing to do with the house
itself. A car is necessary to effectively visit the r
egion from this location, and we found driving in Italy to be an
absolute nightmare. I have driven in many countries, but have never
experienced anything like driving in Italy. I can not fathom how it
has become customary to consistently pass other vehicles on blind
curves and to tailgate the vehicle in front of you at very high
speeds. I do not enjoy passing an unbroken line of trucks on a narrow
highway while another motorist drives a foot from my rear bumper at
85+ MPH. This was likely the last time I will ever drive in Italy.
Thank you for your excellent service.
Gary (USA)
[TT comment – the owners are aware of the water issue and during the winter 2007 are making changes to solve it]
Really enjoyed our week in Lucolena at Casa Puliti - proved to be an
excellent base from which to explore the Chianti area. The villa itself was
great (if a little big for the two of us, but we enjoyed the space!) - all
in very good order when we arrived. Found the instructions about nearby
shopping very easy to follow - both in Greve and Figline (the Lucolena shop
around the corner was also pretty useful). Would definitely recommend the
Borgo Antico restaurant in Dimezzano (just up the road from Lucolena). Hope
to come back someday . . .Many thanks
David & Linda (UK)
from 1233 US Dollar to 4205 US Dollar per week in 2010
