Reviews
A very special place to stay - wonderful villa in a totally peaceful and beautiful location
5 out of 5
Previous reviews are all spot on - Il Granaio is a super place to stay. The House and pool were spotlessly clean and linen is changed each week. The house is in a wonderful location with many lovely towns and villages and great wine tasting nearby. Irene the caretaker and her husband and brother were extremely helpful and informative. One of the highlights of our holiday was the meal cooked at the house by Stephania and her son. It was amazing and enough food left over to feed all of us the next evening! It was wonderful to be able to go into the orchard and pick apricots, plums and peaches and tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables . We are thinking of booking again for next year and that's is something we've never done before as we like to try a new place each year.
Helen H.
Date of review: 10 Jul 2017 Date of stay: Jun 2017
Perfect rural retreat in a quiet part of Umbria
5 out of 5
I was slightly sceptical when I read the previous reviews about this place. However we were pleasantly relieved that our expectations about Il Granaio were exceeded and my only hesitation about writing a 5 star review is that it will become too popular! The first thing to say is that the photos on the website do not do the place justice. Having stayed in many villas around Europe, the accommodation gardens and particularly the swimming pool were without doubt the best we have stayed in. The design of the Granary Barn has clearly been thought through with even the air-conditioning units, which can often be noisy, being located some distance away. The kitchen is well stocked with a very welcome starter pack including Olive oil and wine from the estate. A real bonus was walking up the drive to pick tomatoes and lettuce from the garden to make delicious bruschetta.
Within a 20 minute drive are the stunning towns of Montepulciano and Cortona. We were amazed how quiet the local area was in August, there was no problem in getting a table at the local restaurants. Perfect destination if you want to get away from it all, if you want a bit of night life this area may be a little quiet for you.
We would have liked to see a guest book with recommendations from other guests of places to see and eat. We had a very friendly fox appear at the door one night - the following morning our flip flops and swimming goggles had gone AWOL - found later hidden half eaten in the garden - suggest bring everything in at night!
Date of review: 06 Sep 2016 Date of stay: Aug 2016
Beautiful, stylish villa with fabulous pool
5 out of 5
We loved this modern, tasteful, spacious villa, it was just to our taste. With 3 young adult children we fitted in just fine. The location is stunning you are right on the edge of a vin yard, the views across the farm gave the feeling of tranquility and space. There is a vegetable garden which we were encouraged to pick the fruit and veg. The pool was fantastic with salt water, which we prefer and hydro jets one end set in a beautiful garden with comfortable sun beds, with a special canopy shaded area. We were met by Irene who spoke excellent English who showed us around and was happy to help. We had a restful and relaxing holiday in this lovely villa.
Date of review: 29 Aug 2016 Date of stay: Aug 2016
Wonderful property in a fantastic setting
5 out of 5
We were a group of three couples - my wifes two sisters and their husbands having our first holiday together for many years. When we arrived at Il Granaio we were delighted at the quality of the place. We were met by Riccardo and Hashim who showed us around and explained how to set/unset the alarm. Riccardo also showed us the salad garden and told us to help ourselves to any fruit and vegetables - which we made great use of during our two weeks stay. It was lovely to have an almost unending variety of fresh crops ripening daily.
It was easy to contact Riccardo by text or mobile phone with any queries we had during our stay and he gave us some great tips for local walks and getting to Florence by local train. Two of our group borrowed the bicycles at Il Granaio to do the 70km circuit of Lake Trasimeno whilst the more sensible of the group stayed round the pool...! The pool is fantastic and the photos only hint at how beautiful and high quality it really is - the stone (from The Alps) is beautifully coloured and its texture is great for avoiding slipping. We thought that we might have trouble picking which couple would get the best bedroom but all the bedrooms were equally as nice with big comfortable beds. The kitchen and living area were equipped with good quality furniture and cutlery, and plenty of pots and pans. The wood burning stove and designer staircase and mezzanine level were stunning. We made great use of the lovely brick built barbeque using the logs provided and had some wonderful evenings sitting round the garden table with its fantastic views. The sunset followed by the twinkling lights of Cortona will stick in our memories forever.
The property is in an ideal location for visiting many places within an hours drive. We went to Montepulciano, Cortona, Sienna, Assisi, Perugia, Florence (1hr20m by train), Castiglione and Passignano. We can recommend the wine tour with lunch at the Felsina vineyard (Chianti) which is around 40 minutes drive away. We …
Date of review: 13 Aug 2016 Date of stay: Jul 2016
Beautiful property in a secluded spot. Fantastic!
5 out of 5
The property is beautiful and we felt the pictures, particularly of outside, did not do it justice. So private and quiet yet within very easy reach of small village shops that catered for all our day to day needs. Twenty mins drive away the larger supermarkets were easily accessed. We were two families, 7 people and the kitchen was a little cramped if cooking inside for everyone with limited storage space to put things away but we were on holiday and really not a big deal. We enjoy cooking so tend not to go out to eat too much and so we had lots of lovely fresh fruit and veg to store from the local shops and the fab veg patch in the garden that we were encouraged to access.
The thing that made this week for us was the swimming pool, it was incredible. No harsh chemical but all natural rock salts the pool was big and inviting, set in the most beautiful and well maintained gardens with no one nearby. We loved it. With only 6 sunbeds and 7 of us we took it in turns not to have a sunbed and it usually worked out OK. We had planned to venture further afield to Florence, Perugia etc but found it too hot and based ourselves at the villa. We did make it to Montepulciano and Cortona for late afternoon visits and both of these were memorable outings and worth a visit. We would all go back to the Villa in the future, there were lots of places to explore and its on our list for future holidays.
Date of review: 29 Jul 2016 Date of stay: Jul 2016