Il FicOlivo

The owners were friendly, the place was well maintained and hygienic, and breakfast included very tasty olive oil and cakes. But there's construction next to the house, which isn't shown in the review photos. Work started at 8:30 in the morning and renovation noise carried on through much of the day. That was one reason we didn't use the swimming pool after the first day. The air conditioning is also disabled by default. You have to ask the owner to switch it on, and it runs poorly until 9am the next day, when it fails or gets disabled again. If you like a cool room, this place is one to avoid. We thought the price was poor for what we got.

The matriarch made delicious homemade pastries, and her daughter was a kind, informative host. We were greeted by the sweetest kitten at this working olive farm, a lovely little farm stay just five minutes from Pitigliano.

Leonora and her parents were charming and nice, and the room was clean, but that didn't make up for the breakfast, which was disappointing and far below what the website led us to expect. The site describes being “pampered by our family” with fresh garden produce and breakfast taken care of by Giovanna, and shows a generous spread of breads, juice, vegetables, and cheese. That description was a major reason we booked, despite the distance from Pitigliano. In reality, breakfast was just a few thin triangles of cheese, small airy bread slices, meat, store-bought muesli, and a couple of cakes. There was plain yogurt the first morning, but the next morning it was replaced by four small store-bought fruit yogurts. Everything was set out on a small table in the dining room. The hotel is 4.3 km from the parking area in Pitigliano, along a road with several sharp bends, so you need to drive into town. On arrival day, a bike race closed the town entrance and we couldn't get through to the hotel. We called Elenora, who confirmed the race and suggested waiting until 2pm, when the road should reopen. We waited, then drove to the hotel, but nobody was there. When we called again, Elenora said she was in town and would arrive in a few minutes, so we waited longer. It would have helped if Leonora had told us about the race beforehand so we could plan around it. The shower water was warm but never hot. We wouldn't return.

The hosts were welcoming and the room was large and clean. Breakfast is in the new building. We didn't use the pool because it was out of season. Pitigliano is handy if you have a car or are just passing through.