Kiddo

My husband and I would like to rent an apartment for a week in Tuscany in May of this year. We would prefer to stay in a town so that we can enjoy a glass or two of wine with dinner and not worry about driving. We originally considered Montepulciano as a base but are having second thoughts due to the steep streets and difficulty walking. While we like to walk, I'm afraid it might get a bit wearing after awhile.

We're now considering San Quirico or Pienza but there doesn't seem to be many flats or apartments available in those locations, or perhaps I'm just not checking the right websites. I have looked at slowtrav but again not many apartment reviews for San Quirico or Pienza.

Here's what I've found so far and I'm hoping that some of you will have stayed or have knowledge of these places and can shed a little light and help us to decide.

San Quirico:

Il Poggolio which says you can walk to San Quirico.
http://tinyurl.com/akkcpt

Casa sul Giardino
http://www.vrbo.com/204437

Pienza:
Mauro e Chiara
http://tinyurl.com/bmyoec

I hope these links work as it's the first time I've used 'tiny url'.

I would appreciate any information or your thoughts on these 3 possible rentals.

Many thanks.

StuDudley

Try here:

http://www.verdidea.com/eng_Default.asp?

San Quirico & Pienza are both in the "province" of Siena

Stu Dudley

kybourbon

I don't recall seeing Mauro e Chiara when I was in Pienza. I stayed at Il Giardino Segreto in September. There are several views here on Fodor's. They have a nice courtyard/garden to relax at the end of the day. I had the smallest apartment La Serra as I was traveling alone. It doesn't have a seating area like the rest of the apartments, only the kitchen table and chairs. I was only there one night so it didn't matter that much, but if I were staying a week I would want a sofa or more comfortable chairs.

http://www.ilgiardinosegreto.toscana.nu/

I liked that Pienza was flat and had plenty of restaurants to choose from.

Kiddo

Many thanks Stu and Kybourbon. Stu I had a quick look at verdidea.com and at first glance there were some apartments although I think mostly hotels and I didn't see any prices.

Il Giardino Segreto looks interesting Kybourbon. We'd love a garden but a couple of comments about lack of comfy chairs is a bit worrisome.

Any more comments anyone?

kybourbon

Some of the apartments have a couch which would make it better.

I have a list of contact info for the apartments in Pienza. I will try to dig it out tomorrow. I'll try to look for the websites I used that put you into direct contact instead of going through a booking engine. In the meantime you can see what you think of these.

http://www.anticalocandapienza.com/

http://www.soggiornoapienza.it/

Kiddo

Those look great. I'll email them to check their rates and availability.

Thanks again.

Flame123

We stayed in Il Poggiolo just this past November, which is indeed right outside of San Quirico. We loved it. It is a large residence with 11 different apartments of varying sizes. We were two friends and stayed in Casa Mucciola which was more than big enough for even three people. And this was not the biggest apartment.

While indeed you may walk to town and it is only about 500-700 meters, you do have to cross a small bridge on which cars drive and there is not a lot of space on its sides. We chose not to walk and just took our car for the short ride into town when we wanted to be there. It really was not a problem and I guess you could go over the bridge by foot as well.

Everthhing about the place was great, if you want any specifics let me know and I will try and answer.

Flame123

Actually, on second thought, here is my review of Il Poggiolo :

When
November 2008, 3 nights

Review
This is a beautiful, very large Residenza just outside of San Quirico d'Orcia. We were shown two apartments upon arrival, by Michele, a very friendly and talkative young man who is the "caretaker" in this huge 11-apartment residence. We actually chose Casa Mucciola rather than our reserved Cassa Rossa (mostly because it was on a lower floor but also because it was more than big enough for two and was just as beautiful). I was dying for some coffee and after getting settled into our room, Michele invited us for some great cappuccino, on the house, and we talked for quite some time together. We went back to the room and had a picnic lunch in our large kitchen on the huge marble-topped kitchen table!

Our apartment consisted of two bedrooms (one with a large double bed and one with a single bed), a large bathroom in between the rooms (but with a really small shower stall) and a HUGE kitchen which included a HUGE marble-topped kitchen table, an apparently working fireplace and gorgeous views of the valleys beyond. The same view was seen from the double bedroom window and waking up in the morning to this sight was a pleasure. The bedrooms both had ample storage space for clothing if you wanted to unpack, (the single room had a lovely walk in type closet with shelves and hanging space and the double bedroom had an armoire.) The kitchen had dishes and flatware, a stove, refrigerator and huge sink.

The kitchen was so large that it could easily have served as a sitting area as well had it been equipped with a sofa and some easy chairs. This would make a nice addition in the future.

There are smaller and larger apartments available. The heating was individually controlled in each of the rooms, which was wonderful as we could heat, or cool, as we each individually liked.

Michele was at the residence for several hours in the morning and again several hours in the afternoon. I don't know if this was because we were there off-season and how it would work during the summer months.

There is a stable on the grounds and one can choose to take some horseback riding trips. There is also a large outdoor pool, which was not open now during the winter months and the house is surrounded by beautiful olive groves, various sitting areas beautifully landscaped, and two resident cats which befriended us immediately (and shared our meals)!!

The price for the apartment was €38 per person per night, quite a bargain. I would DEFINITELY stay here again and recommend highly.

StuDudley

I got that web site from our friends who had an apt in San Quirico. I think you have to e-mail the "contact" to get prices for the apts. I reviewed many of the apts for a friend about a year ago, and many have excellent locations. I would want to stay within the medieval walls of San Quirico. Look for apts with lots of light - because Medieval houses had small windows. The city of San Quirico will not let you change any exterior configuration to add or enlarge a window in the medieval section (there is a newer section).

Stu Dudley

luvlimoncello

Hi Kiddo-Just a suggestion, wherever you choose you should think about booking soon. We are also going in May, and I started to email places in December and some were already booked. Il Poggiolo was already booked for our dates.

kybourbon

The website for Il Poggolio.
http://www.poggiolo.info/


http://www.agriturismi-toscana.com/S..._breakfast.htm
Some of these are just rooms and others are apartments. Click around on the various choices on the left as apartments show up under most categories.

http://www.portalepienza.it/
Click rooms for rent on the left. Many listed also have apartments and if you scroll down there is an apartment list.

This site has listings, but not all of the links work.
http://www.pienza.info/index.eng.php

http://www.nautilus-mp.com/tuscany/a.../indexing.html
Click on some of the other choices under where to stay (lower left).

Kiddo

WOW - thank you for all your suggestions -- so many to choose from.

I've sent off a few email inquiries so hopefully someone will have availability.

Thanks again.

Kiddo

I've received a number of offers for rentals and am leaning towards Casa sul Giardino in San Quirico. The owners seem friendly and have offered us a lower price than that shown on their website due to the low number of requests they are receiving this year. The flat looks comfortable and bright from the pictures, but I'm concerned at the lack of reviews. I thought I'd give it one last try to see if anyone has any firsthand comments either on the flat itself, location or the town.

Thanks very much.

StuDudley

Town - San Quirico is perfect. We've stayed there for several weeks. Less touristy than the others, plenty of restaurants, a larger grocery (just outside the medieval walls), pizza place, cheese stores, several interesting shops, the Bar Centrale where locals congregate, have coffee outside, kids gathar after school, and the older guys play cards in the back room in the evening. Lots of good walks start from San Q. You'll love it.

Stu Dudley

Kiddo

Thanks very much Stu. I have your suggested driving itineraries for Tuscany and my husband and I are really looking forward to using them!

Kiddo

I have been unable to find any reviews or comments regarding this flat which we are considering renting in San Quirico http://www.vrbo.com/204437. The rate on the website is 700 Euros however the owner has very kindly offered it at 600 Euros.

Is it customary to ask for email addresses or reviews from previous renters?

kybourbon

I don't think an e-mail review that the owner provides would be all that valuable. It could be a friend of theirs. Did you check slowtrav and tripadvisor for reviews? I received lower rates from most places I booked in September by e-mailing than their online rates.

Zerlina

Have you come across this one?

http://www.intuscany.net/apartments/...o_costanti.htm

Huge, on the main square of San Quirico. No terrace, though, and perhaps more than you would like to pay, but given the economic times, they may be ready to negotiate.

StuDudley

The owner will only provide you with the good reviews. Our friemds who rented their Apt in San Quirico had about 30 good reviews for every bad one (usually from people who liked to gripe about everything - you would really be surprsed to read some of them).

The location is great - nice to have this lovely garden (know it well) to look out over, instead of staring into someone else's side of the building. The only downside I noticesd is there is no outside garden where you could have dinner/lunch/snooze/etc.

Stu Dudley

Kiddo

I've looked on both SlowTrav and TripAdvisor and can't find any reference nor do they have any reviews on their website. Their website quotes 700E but they have offered it to us in May at 600E due they said to the low number of inquiries that they are receiving this year.

This flat appealed to me because it looks nice and bright, comfortable, has a king-size bed and in located in San Quirico.