Il Canto del Sole and/or Taverna Il Bibbiano. I'm Barbara, and I have another post about AC or no AC in our accommodations, and this choice is the 1 that's making me lose sleep. I waded through lots of agriturismo holiday farms and B&Bs, and have narrowed it to these 2--which do have AC available. Thanks. Barbara
Welcome to SlowTrav, Barbara. It would be helpful if you could post links to the properties, along with your "wish list," which will help people offer the feedback that would be most helpful to you.
It's been suggested that I offer links to the 2 agriturismos I'm inquiring about, so that I shall do. www.IlCantodelSole.com www.IlTavernadiBibbiano.com www.VillaBaciolo.com Of course, they all look gorgeous from their websites. Il Canto...is the highest rated agriturismo B&B for Tuscany on Trip Advisor, so I'm strongly learning towards it. Not just the owners, the location, but Laura, the owner it seems is a wonderful Tuscan cook! Try as I might, I cannot find any feedback about the other 2 places, which would be nice. Barbara
I can't find any reviews either but I don't think you can really go wrong with either one. You may have more opportunity to interact with the host as the smaller one, Il Canto and it is more convenient to Montalcino, Pienza and Montepulciano.
The other is more convient to San Gimignano, Greve, Monteriggioni etc.
We've stayed in a number of agriturismi and have always had good experiences.
There's 49 reviews on TripAdvisor.com, and when yo Google Il Canto...they come up as a link. That's where I read the reviews. I've never read so many consistently great reviews. For some reason, at this type of agriturismo lodging, rather than a hotel, it seems that the interactions with the owners would have a significant impact--positive or negative--on the experience. And the feedback on Laura and Luciano is so overwhelmingly positive... Barbara
Welcome, Barbara. You're right, I think, when you say the owners have more of an impact on the experience. I think it's more like they are having guests in their home than the "feel" of a hotel, where you might just be passing thru a place where there are many other guests besides you. When you rent a home you are the only "tenant" so get all the focus and attention from the owner, thus making it a different experience.
I've been traveling to Italy and renting lodging like this for many years and can honestly say that I've had more, positive, wonderful experiences with the owners and the homes than not. I can think of only one place that I was not pleased with and I just moved and found another, rather than staying. And the owners of the first place were very nice about the whole thing.
You may be worrying needlessly about this aspect of your trip. Once you get there and get settled/comfortable you'll probably wonder why you spent so much time agonizing...let us know when you return, if I'm right at this.
So, go with your gut feeling and choose, then forget about it until you get there. Enjoy the process of planning as much as the trip and it will make the entire experience that much more vivid....Have a great time.
