Villa Scacciapensieri Boutique Hotel

The hotel and region are charming, but the management made this an awful experience. We were there for two nights for a wedding and had booked through withJoy. Weeks ahead, we called to cancel the first night. The hotel said that was withJoy’s responsibility and refused to cancel it. When we arrived for the second night, our room had been marked as a “No show” and cancelled, even though we’d warned both the hotel and withJoy weeks earlier. On Sunday, we were told at the last minute there could be a late checkout fee of up to 50 euros. We left at 11:30 am, just half an hour past 11, and management showed no flexibility. They had already kept our payment for the first night we tried to cancel, so waiving a 30-minute checkout fee seemed like the least they could do. Management’s communication was very aggressive.

The sunset views are good, but the grounds are very run down. The pool and tennis courts were a mess, the furniture was just old, and the bathroom was so cramped that the toilet and sink almost touched. The toilet also kept running for about 10 minutes after flushing. Breakfast was poor, with one scrambled egg and one very thin piece of bacon. Dinner was poor too. We couldn’t bring leftover pizza to our room, and weren’t allowed to drink a bottle of wine we’d bought unless we paid 10 euros to rent a glass. We arrived in Florence at 11:00 pm and had the hotel arrange a 220 euro transfer for the 50 km trip, which took about 40 minutes. The next morning we realized there was little around, so the front desk kindly arranged a taxi and we rented a car for our four-night stay. At checkout, they asked if we still needed the 3 pm airport ride. I said no, but two minutes later a staff member said it couldn’t be cancelled, even though it was only 9:30 am. Once home, I got another 220 euro bill for a ride we never took. If you can put up with a boutique hotel that badly needs repairs, the views at sunset are nice. Otherwise, stay somewhere else.

Villa Scacciapensieri Boutique Hotel is a beautiful property, but our stay left us feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome as a family. I was traveling with my five-year-old, and one evening my child was hungry. There was no room service, and the fine-dining restaurant didn’t have suitable food for children, so I ordered a simple pizza delivery. No one warned us when it arrived that outside food wasn’t allowed. Then, at breakfast the next morning, I was unexpectedly charged a €50 penalty. The manager told me bringing even fruit or water into the room from outside would mean another €50 charge. That policy hadn’t been mentioned before check-in, and when I asked to see it in writing, the hotel couldn’t provide anything. As a parent traveling with a young child, I found this unreasonable, especially since the hotel itself had no alternative food for my child. I strongly suggest making policies like this clear in advance, particularly for families.

The property is gorgeous, and we were there to get away from city noise and have a Tuscan experience. Breakfast was great, about what you’d expect from other four-star hotels. The mattresses, though, were extremely uncomfortable. We were on our honeymoon, and while I know they knew it was our special occasion, they didn’t congratulate us. Every other hotel we stayed at in Italy did, so don’t expect particularly special treatment here. Getting into town by bus or taxi was fine. We were there for the horse race tradition, which was pretty cool to see.