Il Casale di Ginetto

The owners were friendly, and breakfast was generous. The place was nice and very clean throughout.

We were only there for one night, and the staff were helpful, even letting us leave our motorcycle under the window of our room. The restaurant dinner was a highlight: spectacular gnocchi and excellent grilled meat. Breakfast was super generous too. Highly recommend.

The farmhouse really does look as good in person as it does in the photos. The experience was still disappointing, because politeness was missing from our interactions with the man we presumed was the property manager. It started when we called from the parking area, which was unattended and far from the property, to ask how to get there. He said the way was obvious. Maybe to a local, but it wasn’t obvious to us at all. When we arrived at the farmhouse, he showed us our room and left without a word, which didn’t make us feel welcome. The next morning, a kind young woman came to the door, apparently to clean. She didn’t realize we were still in the room and let us finish packing without bothering us. Three minutes later, the man from the night before came and pounded on the door as if he wanted to break it down. I opened it, frightened, and he glared at us, raised his voice and demanded to know what we were doing. He said hotels validate the room at 10 am. I knew that, but this didn’t seem like a hotel to me. The booking site and the property’s own information gave a check-in time but no checkout time. We would have left that morning, just more calmly, without being made to follow a 10 am rule we hadn’t been told about. He kept going, telling us to hurry or he’d charge us for the whole day. He sounded angry and annoyed, like Gargamel. I thought a late checkout meant paying a penalty, not the cost of another stay, though I wasn’t about to argue and would have paid what he asked. The money wasn’t the problem. It was the arrogance, rudeness and bullying from start to finish. As we left, reception was empty. We didn’t want to leave without handing over the keys, so we called the farmhouse. A very polite man came out, a ray of light, probably Mr. Gargamel’s son. We told him how uncomfortable the stay had made us, and he understood, smiling as if he’d had to sort out similar situations before. If we’d dealt only with him, I’m sure I wouldn’t be leaving a negative review. It’s a shame the experience was so awful, though it’ll give us something to laugh about later. We won’t return or recommend it. Thanks to Ginetto, too.

We stayed for one night. When we arrived, we could only see signs for the parking lot, so I called to ask where to go. An arrogant man answered, “Where do you want to go?” He directed us down a street. When we got there, he handed us the keys, told us the room number and walked off in silence. That part wasn’t a big deal. We’d arranged a check-in time through Booking.com, but the app didn’t set or mention a checkout time. The next morning, someone tried the door but couldn’t get in because our key was inside, then left without saying anything. Ten minutes later the same man came back, knocked as though he might break the door down and asked what we had to do. We asked him to explain, and he snapped that the hotel had to be vacated at 10. He was annoyed and nasty about it. Spoiler, it wasn’t a hotel, and neither Booking.com nor he had told us about that time. We’d paid for one night and were simply relaxing the next morning. We then had to wait half an hour at reception for a young man to arrive. He was kind, smiling and welcoming. We explained why we were disappointed, and he seemed to know about it already. If he’d been there from the start instead of the arrogant older man, it would’ve been a great stay. As it was, I strongly advise against it. The rooms are rustic and pretty spartan, and not very clean, with dust on the wallpaper and on the blankets in the closet. I’d let the young man handle everything. He seems much more proactive.