san gimignano Tuscany, Farm stay, villa. October HELP.

These might help. Personally, I would want an agriturismo that served meals.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g187901-c3-San_Gimignano_Tuscany-Hotels.html

http://en.agriturismo.it/san_gimignano/index.jsp?posizione=&budget=&ristorante=1

If you'd like to stay at a rather prestigious winery that serves food, this might work for you:

http://www.agriturismoniccolai.it/villaarnilu/en/agriturismo_surroundings_san_gimignano.php

This place looks enchanting: It's a saffron farm, but it also produces its own olive oil, wine, honey and eggs. And you can go horseback riding.

http://www.ilvecchiomaneggio.com/index.html

PS: Saffron is a protected key food product of the San Gimignano area.

Thanks so much as always. I've sent off a couple of price requests. Unfortunately I can't go direct to the websites, for some reason my system keeps blocking them. But I managed to find them via other sites.
Very frustrating!!!!

Heer are several good ones with real reviews by clients.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/vr/list.asp?r=Tuscany West

Bob: The Link is to a page with no listings.

Hi aussiedreamer - I too couldn't look at them from those links.

I did find a page showing availability for Il Vecchio Maneggio - and it says it is the only place you can book with them?
Bit confusing - here it is if it helps -

http://www.europeanexplorer.com/italy/guesthouses/8512/contact.htm

I guess this is probably what you found!

Good luck...

Hmmm ! Try it from this page and then navigate to your area.
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/vr/reviews.asp

Here are the Tripadvisor reviews for Il Vecchio Maneggio.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187901-d570668-Reviews-Agriturismo_Il_Vecchio_Maneggio-San_Gimignano_Tuscany.html


The reviews from clients on Tripadvisor are from 2010, as opposed to the reviews on Slow Travel for San Gimignano stays, which are five, six and even eight years old!!! Also, Slow Travel makes all its posters conform to a single reviewing format, which they then heavily edit! (Slow Travel is a commercial site making its money from ads for apartment rental owners.) The Tripadvisor reviews are the candid, spontaneous responses of a wide variety of travelers. So are the reviews on the Agriturismo.it site. I'm hope you don't mind my embedding this in your thread for the sake of future travelers who might search Fodor's looking for an agriturismo in San Gimignano. Tripadvisor's travel reviews for agriturismi are hands-off and current, and can be trusted. (I don't work for them and they're not my "friends.")

Tripadvisor also has a link you might try for Il Vecchio Maneggio, plus an e-mail. I looked at the link love_travel_Aus provided and I didn't read it as saying it was the only way you can book. But I would contact any agriturismo directly about availability.

Bookmarking for future reference

Trip Advisor is a commercial site also (as is Fodor's) and in the past has had problems with fake reviews. Supposedly Venere requires people to have booked with them before you are allowed to post a review so you might try looking there also.

I've had some friends stay a couple of times at Le Torre which is between Florence and San G., but perhaps not as close as you want. Their prices are pretty reasonable.
http://www.letorri.com/index.php?discover-le-torri-chianti-tuscany

TA certainly does have fake reviews but the ones for Il Vecchio Maneggio have the ring of truth to me. All internet ( and written) guides need to be taken with a grain of salt. Including this one. Even a review on venere is a subjective assessment by a stranger with unknown tastes and prejudices and requires discernment and additional research. If I were considering the above place I would read the reviews in several places if possible, look at the website to get a feel for how the owners choose to present themselves and then contact them personally to see how they deal with the inquiry and then see how I feel about all the information I have. This method almost always has resulted in my finding very satisfactory accommodation.

Thanks again everyone. I have just booked this one www.agriturismoniccolai.it very happy with it.

If you don't mind being approx 20-25 minutes south of SG, we can highly recommend two country experiences:
1. Il Colombaio in Casole d'Elsa: clean, comfortable apts with spotless private bathrooms; beautiful pool overlooking Tuscan hills; short walk into hilltop town of Casole; Michelin star restaurant on-site for memorable dinners; lunch available poolside; short drive to other excellent restaurants; 1/2 hour from SG, Volterra; 45 mins from Siena; 1 hour to Florence; run by Mariva and her family; estate produces its own wine and olive oil. We've stayed here 6 or 8 years. www.ilcolombaio.it
2. Agriturismo Nerbona: large comfortable apts; clean pool; free use of BBQ grills, bicycles, outdoor pingpong table; lovely treed areas for sitting and sipping wine; 3 kms to Casole d'Elsa; no restaurant on site, but excellent restaurants in the area. Grain farm, not wine/oil. A lovely, quiet setting. Same distances to other towns/sights: above plus Montalcino, Sant Antimo, Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Monteriggioni. Have stayed here twice. www.nerbona.com