Antico Casale di Montegualandro & Spa

The property itself has a lot going for it: it's an old farmhouse surrounded by greenery, and the setting is lovely. Our stay, though, was a real disappointment. The spa was tiny, dirty, and poorly maintained, and the pool was dirty too. We booked because they accepted Emozioni3 packages, but were charged an extra 40 euros per person at booking because only a superior room was supposedly available. The room we got was far from superior, and much worse than other rooms we'd seen. The mattress dipped in the middle and was extremely uncomfortable. We arrived around 2:00 PM, then waited until 3:00 PM for reception to open, with nobody answering the phone. On the second night we found a small scorpion on the bathroom door when we returned, and had to kill it ourselves because reception was closed. Our package included two dinners, but we ate elsewhere on the second night for personal reasons and told the owners at 4:00 PM. At checkout they gave no discount for the missed dinner and tried to charge us for two off-menu desserts from the first dinner. It took several protests to get those removed from the bill.

The room and bathroom were clean, and the farmhouse sits in a lovely, quiet, isolated spot. Inside, though, the renovated building is poorly maintained. The spa was neglected, with ants in the pool and dirt on its bottom. The jacuzzi was partly working, but dirty as well. Dinner was awful: service was okay, but the food was mediocre. When I tried to raise this with the manager, I felt I was almost laughed at. In my opinion, there was little professionalism, honesty, or willingness to work. Never again.

The price feels too high for what you get. The room is huge, but several bulbs are missing or burned out, the fridge has one shelf frozen solid and another flooded, and the shower head is broken, making it impossible to set the water temperature. At the restaurant, the food is high quality, but the service doesn't match it and the waits are embarrassing. The spa would earn five stars for the very skilled, knowledgeable massage therapist, but the facility itself needs upkeep. The whole property does: there are pots of dried plants, and the pool gets cleaned once a week if all goes well. It could be a five-star stay, but these details drag it down.

The owners are kind and helpful, and the place has real potential, but the poor upkeep overshadows that. The breakfast was good and well stocked, and dinner was decent quality, although the menu was rather repetitive. The spa hardly deserves the name: half the jacuzzi jets don't work, the pool edge is damaged, and anthills remain there. Over three days I saw winged ants and red ants carrying eggs all along the edge. Rooms were cleaned sparingly and poorly, although the linens were clean and ready. Being in the countryside may explain insects indoors, but not the dust on furniture, cobwebs that had been there six days, or pigeon and bat droppings on both the inside and outside windowsills. The restaurant chairs were dusty in the moldings, with dirty seats and backs. The farmhouse is badly maintained, with areas roughly blocked off using tables and chairs, and dead plants in pots and planters everywhere. The solarium had mosquitoes and hadn't been disinfected. Renovations looked crude and patched together haphazardly. The owners' friendliness and the property deserve an A+, but the maintenance really lets it down. A week's stay is good value, but I strongly advise against booking a spa weekend.