Villa or B&B?

Daddy Doug

New member
Taking my wife for her 50th birthday and plan to spend 5-7 days in the same accomidations. Trying to decide if a villa is worth it. Most of the rooms seem nicer in B&B plus breakfast and sometimes dinner included. Not sure how much cooking I want to do but I guess it is nice to have so not every meal has to be eaten out. I want to stay in the Chianti/Siena area. I have found nice accomidations in both villa rental and B&B so just trying to decide which makes more sense. The B&B option also eliminates the mandatory 7 night stay for the villa. Open to input, let me know what you think. Oh, and we are going in late September and plan to rent a car. I would also prefer A/C room.
 
Sounds like you'll have a wonderful trip celebrating your wife's birthday!

The area is perfect for a base to explore Tuscany - the decision between an apartment in a villa with your own kitchen vs a b&b or hotel is difficult to make. As you already know, you can have the option to make some of your own meals as opposed to also not having to eat out every single meal in a week.

While the "having your own kitchen" idea is appealing, consider you'll have to go grocery shopping, that you need to get back to your place in time to cook and might mean returning earlier from your day trip out than you'd want..... so in the end, from personal experience, we've ended up with a kitchen we hardly ever used and only when we were so tired we didn't feel like staying out and went "home" to make pasta or sandwiches LOL!

So I'd suggest for a special occasion, to splurge and eat out often ;-) Once you go back home, your chance is gone!

Here are two especially romantic places I'd recommend in the area: Villa Il Poggiale and Palazzo Malaspina!!

Just my two cents ;-)
 
You're welcome!

Now that is a tough choice - aside from a nicer website for Campomaggio, it seems services are almost identical. They both have a spa and are in beautiful villas..... the only difference that I was able to find is that Poggiale has a restaurant on site and Campomaggio doesn't and Poggiale has 1 apartment and Campomaggio has 6. So if you want, you could still choose to stay at an apartment at either and then take advantage of the restaurant (at Poggiale) and breakfast when you want...and eat out all of the other times! :)
 
Starting my research for a one week stay in Tuscany, and both these establishments provide a great starting point. Thanks for pointing them out Lourdes.
 
I surely will thank you.

We just returned from 3 weeks in France, our first Euro trip...and we're hooked. We've chosen Italy for our next, with a week in Tuscany for sure. The area of the two inns you mentioned looks like a perfect hub to explore the area, and right around our budget. Something in the country side is perfect, and our only absolutes are air conditioning and a terrace/balcony...and oh yes...wine!
 
Both of those are in Chianti, a very central area for seeing the majority of the main destinations in Tuscany. Depending on when you come, the A/C might actually not be a necessity.... while July and August are hot, they are hot in Florence but just go out on the hill side, stay at a place at the top of little knoll, and you get all the natural air you need to stay cool once the sun sets (and that's when you're back from your day out sightseeing)... and what better terrace or balcony than heading out the garden and enjoying the view? ;-)
 
Generally we plan June vacations as I work for a school district. I've always heard of the summer heat in Italy, so I was trying to be prepared.

Nothing beats ending our day on a balcony, a terrace, or a garden with a view, and discussing the events of the day over a wine or beer....truly one of our favorite aspects while on vacation.
 
Top