Relais Victoria

Anna went out of her way to make our stay lovely. Relais Victoria B&B has a beautiful, almost magical feel, and every part of the visit was delightful. I'd happily recommend it to anyone looking for a charming getaway in Tuscany.

The pool was amazing, and the place itself is lovely. Most people we met were polite and friendly, so despite what happened after checkout, I'd still give the stay a good rating. The B&B sits in a wooded area by a road, but it wasn't noisy. We did get some mosquitoes in the room at night, though that may have been our own fault for leaving the windows partly open while we went out to a late dinner. We also got a great dinner tip for Ristorante Lombardo. The unpleasant part came after checkout, when we were accused of taking towels. We hadn't found any in the room when we arrived, so we assumed they weren't provided at Italian B&Bs. It was our first night of a 10-day trip, we'd been traveling for hours in the heat, and we just wanted to get into the pool. I wish we'd asked about towels, but we had thin beach towels and a couple of tiny face towels, which we used after showering. We even used one of our own face towels to dry the floor and tried to leave the room neat. Being called thieves without a chance to explain felt awful, especially since we had no reason to take towels and no room in our bags for them. Our other stays in Italy, at Airbnbs and hotels, all provided towels. It would have been nice to have proper ones here.

The garden was such a relaxing spot, with birdsong and the sound of the creek. Anna was a lovely, helpful host, and the house was clean and well furnished. We had a beautiful stay at Relais Victoria and would highly recommend it.

The setting is beautiful and peaceful, but the facilities weren't quite as advertised. There was no pool bar or bar at all, just a small, overpriced minibar. The rooms had no air conditioning, only a very loud fan. There were no tea or coffee facilities in the room either. We chose to have dinner there on our first night. The host offered an authentic Italian meal, but there was no menu. My wife is vegetarian, as the host apparently is, so we thought our dietary needs would be understood. Instead, I got ragu as a starter, while my wife was served cold pasta with chopped sweet tomato. The main was a platter of cured meats, a few slices of cheese, bread, and a bottle of wine. My wife wouldn't eat the cold pasta. When the host asked what was wrong and said it was a traditional Italian vegetarian dish, we felt awkward. There was no seasoning or dressing, and we felt as if we'd done something wrong by being upset about paying €60. It didn't seem freshly cooked, and looked like a €6 shop purchase from Lidl. A Dutch couple dining at the same time also complained, and said their dessert was a shot of Limonchello. The meal was bland and tasted jarred, and the wine was a €2 bottle we spotted at Lidl the next day. We felt so uncomfortable that my wife bought the host a plant the next day, hoping to make the rest of the stay easier. The breakfasts were bland and repetitive too. They were described as freshly baked each morning, but we again recognized the same cakes from Lidl. We considered returning because the grounds are so lovely. But after I mentioned the meal in a Booking.com review, the host replied that we lacked education. She also said a second bottle of wine had been offered free, which it had, and that we should have mentioned my wife's vegetarian diet, though we had. Rather than take in the complaint, she responded that way. Given that reply, and others I've read from her, we won't return. She has apparently worked in the trade since 1992.