B&B La Collina

I’ll try to keep this short, though that’s hard in this case. The room was in a dovecote location, with just one small window and a bathroom with no window. It was so tiny you’d have to be a Lilliputian to use it. The sheets were worn through, with holes everywhere (see photo), and the shower had only one door. The other was detached and propped up inside the stall (see photo again). What was that even for? It was also so hot in the room that we couldn’t sleep. We’d left the city hoping to find some relief from the heat. The pool is called a pool, but it’s really an old livestock watering hole, extremely small, and calling it a POOL is generous. Mrs. Monica greeted us and rushed through showing us the room, which may explain why. She only told us about breakfast, wifi, and other things after I asked. The next morning, an elderly gentleman asked how we’d slept. I told him the heat had kept us awake all night. Instead of apologizing or understanding, he got offended and said they don’t use air conditioning or similar devices in that area. Even a simple fan would have been enough courtesy for a paying customer. I didn’t know those devices counted as “local customs.” At checkout, the gentleman asked what his daughter Monica had quoted us. My companion was busy loading the suitcases, and I couldn’t remember the exact amount. So he kept pacing up and down to ask her. When he came back, he suggested 75 euros instead of 80. The little note behind the bedroom door said 70 euros. Oh well. I called my partner, who confirmed that the lady had quoted 75 over the phone, not 80. I asked for a receipt, and then all hell broke loose. He started babbling about needing all the information and not knowing where the receipt or stamp was. He went back downstairs to his daughter. Since I was upset to see him going up and down the stairs, I suggested she come up instead. He turned on me so aggressively that I got scared and left the house, thinking it was their business. Finally Madame Monica came out and, in the same aggressive tone as her father, said, “I don’t understand what the problem is. You could have given my father the information for the receipt!” I told her we could have skipped that step because she’d already taken our information the night before. I also wanted to express my displeasure with the service directly instead of having to bring it up later in a review. Even after everything I’d described, she said no one had ever complained about it, shrugged, and collected €75.00. We didn’t receive service, courtesy, or customer care.

The welcome was so warm and kind. If I'm back in that area, I'll definitely return to "COLLINA".

The scenery is wonderful, and the whole place feels incredibly peaceful. I'd happily recommend it.

Set among the Casentino countryside, this is a really lovely place with a friendly, family-minded atmosphere and helpful people.