Villa Borgo

We spent two weeks here in July 2022 with our extended family of 17, and can't wait to come back. The villa was clean and extremely well equipped, with everything we needed. The owner, Francesco, was attentive to our needs and arranged a keg of cold beer on tap. Having cold sparkling water on tap was wonderful too. We all made use of the shady riverside walking and cycling path nearby, including walks to the lovely village of Pratovecchio. The villa is also within walking distance of fantastic pizza restaurants, gelato shops, and cafes in Strada in Casentino. There are so many places to visit and hike in this wild area of wooded hills. We enjoyed hikes in the nearby national Park and its wildlife, and visits to Poppi, Arezzo, and Florence. The beautiful villa was even better than the photos, with lovely garden views and a huge house full of indoor and outdoor places to gather or find a quiet corner. We loved the huge pool, which smiling Vincenzo kept in great shape. The kids had fun with the pool table, table tennis, and big TV with Netflix.

We came away with no complaints at all. The rooms were lovely and roomy, each with its own bathroom, and the lounge and dining area were really comfortable. The professional kitchen had everything we could need, and the bathrooms were clean and newly refurbished. We also hired Vincent to cook Italian meals for us, and they were delicious. We didn't get a chance to enjoy all the villa's offerings, especially the panoramic veranda and outdoor pool, so we'd like to return in spring.

We paid over 4,000 euros and booked a week months ahead, but left after the first night because the stay was a disaster. There were seven adults and three children in our group. Some family members wouldn't stay at all, so I drove them 45 minutes to a hotel in Arezzo. The rest of us slept only on the main and upper floors. The four bedrooms downstairs and the showers had mold on the walls and ceilings. The whole place was very dirty, with food scraps near the oven and in the drawers and cabinets, cobwebs behind furniture, and scorpions inside. The damp and mold smell was hard to describe, and I wish I could have captured it too. Check-in was supposed to be at 3 pm, but the place was still dirty from the previous guests. The cleaners didn't leave until 9:30 pm, and the bleach smell afterward made it hard to breathe. It was nearly midnight when the owner, who was rude, tried to persuade me to wash the floor with water to get rid of the smell. I attached part of our long conversation, though the timestamp is different because I took the screenshot later, when I was back in Canada. This experience ruined the first 24 hours of our family vacation.

There's plenty of space here, with a large terrace, pool, indoor living room and fully equipped kitchen. Some of the rooms don't match what was advertised, though: a few don't have a proper door, and others have a poor door to the bathroom. If you're not too fussy, it works well for a group of 18.