After deciding on Umbria for the next family vacation, I've had some advice to stay in Gubbio and that must see places are Urbino and Orvieto.

Good advice?

Anyone know a nice, 4 star place in or around Gubbio with a pool?

Any other suggestions besides Gubbio?

Thanks.

I would go with Urbino if you have a family. It has a university and so has the vibe that goes with having lots of young people around. Gubbio is wonderful for ceramics, and I remember a fabulous slice of pizza from there, but I also remember it as being kind of gray and sedate. Haven't any hotel recommendations, though you might look into renting a house.

Gubbio is a lovely town to visit, and I recommend you do so, but not very centrally located for visiting other places in Umbria. Try looking near Perugia or Spello, or just south of these towns.

How many days are you planning? I am assuming you will be renting a car.

Here's a great one that is just outside Gubbio:
http://www.epoquehotels.com/h.php/pe.../petroia/l/en/

I highly recommend it.

Your two listed must-see towns (Urbino and Orvieto) are each a fair distance from Gubbio. (Urbino is actually in the Marche region.)

My list of must-see towns in Umbria also includes Assisi, Spello, Bevagna, Montefalco, Todi (especially the area between Bevagna/Montefalco and Todi) and perhaps Citta di Castello, Perugia, Amelia, Trevi and Spoleto. If you look at a map, my list is nearly all south of Gubbio and more in the geographic middle of Umbria.

I love Gubbio, but I wouldn't pick it for my base in Umbria. You will not find a 4-star with a pool "in" Gubbio. There are a couple of very nice hotels in the town and probably at least one has 4 stars (for whatever that's worth), and there is probably a hotel with a pool in the flat area of town, outside the city walls, but it won't have 4 stars.

There is an agriturismo just off the road between Gubbio and Perugia. Google: Abbazia di Vallingegno. It's in a converted abbey, has gorgeous views and a pool.

How long is your stay in Umbria? Do you plan to explore as much of the area as possible or spend more time in one place, relaxing, swimming, etc. If the goal is exploring, then I would consider something inside the Perugia/Spoleto/Todi triangle. If the goal is relaxing, then find the property that works for you.

Thanks so much for all the great advice.
To answer your questions first...yes, we'll have a car...we're going for five nights and five days...yes, we're going to be with family, and yes, we're going to want to sightsee AND relax.

My ideal place is nice and comfortable(which is usually the case with 4 stars although obviously there are great 3 stars and shabby 4 stars too), has beautiful grounds and a beautiful pool with hopefully very nice views.
I'd like the place to be within a twenty minute drive of a town where we can get expresso, gelato, and perhaps some cold cuts and cheese for picnics by the beautiful pool...
I'd like to be within thirty minutes to an hour of a few other great towns where we can do some sightseeing, have great meals, and lounge around a piazza sipping cappuchinos and/or eating gelato. (Yes, gelato is big with me and my family!)
We will have a 3 year old and a 1 year old with us so that's why we'll need to stay centrally located (I guess not Gubbio) and why I'll want a very comfortable place where I wouldn't mind spending a few lazy hours on the grounds both before or after some sightseeing.
Any suggestions for a beautiful agritourism place near Spello or Todi?
Thanks!

Your specification neatly describes Le Case Gialle, near Bevagna. Take a look at their website. You're ten minutes from Bevagna, thirty from Trevi, Spello, Assisi and Perugia. Nice pool and a twenty mile view over Mauro's 700 olive trees.

Thanks, I've looked at it as I've seen it mentioned in other posts. I sent them an email to see if they could accomodate our party. We'll be five total although we'd need two maybe three bedrooms.
Any other suggestions?

I agree, Le Case Gialle is a good choice. Here are a few other choices-

www.laghirlanda.it

www.argoweb.it

http://www.acquacalda.it/eng/intro.html

When in Gubbio, be sure to take a death-defying trip on The Bucket Of Bolts (make sure your will is in order before getting on). Have fun.

If I may join this discussion, does anyone have more information about La Ghirlanda?

Thanks again.
To all the Le Case Gialle fans...unfortunately their set up is an apartment with one bedroom and a living room with a pull out sofa. I think we need at least two bedrooms for my motherinlaw, kids, and me and my husband. I'll check out the other suggestions.
Thanks!

Gubbio is a nice town. The drive to Gubbio through Umbria is beautiful. But there are more interesting places to stay. Perugia might be more central to many of the Umbrian towns and you will have a better choice of hotels there. A mile north of Trevi is a great place with a pool surrounded by olive groves - Borgo Dell'Ulivo. Fantastic restaurant there. If you are staying in Gubbio then I would guess it is around 1 hour to Urbino. There is a place that is not in any guide book but is rather extraordinary very close to the point where you would turn off the road going to Fano to go north to Urbino. The place is called the Furlo Gorge. In the 1950's they blasted through a mountain and the road to Fano now goes through a large tunnel. However the old roman road goes around the mountain through the Furlo Gorge. There is a fantastic restaurant called La Ginestra in the tiny town of Furlo. Across the street is another excellent restaurant in a building which used to be an inn. Mussolini loved the place and if you ask you can see his private dining room and his hotel room. Both are left over from the 1940's. They carved Mussolini's profile into the cliffs above Furlo. The partisans blasted off his nose after the war but you can still make it out. It is surreal. A couple miles south of Furlo you will drive through a small tunnel carved by the Etruscans. On the way to that tunnel you can pull off the road and walk down to an old roman swimming hole. Also, around half hour from Gubbio is the tiny hill top town of Frontone in Marche which has another fantastic restaurant. Follow signs to the Castle to get to that restaurant. If it's the summer and you want to go to the Adriatic you might check out Pesaro which is more interesting than Fano. When you travel to that part of the world you really can't make a bad decision. There are so many interesting places to check out.

Myself personally, would suggest staying in Perugia as it is central to all those towns and getting around. Gubbio is more out of the way. I stayed in Perugia 2 years ago and loved it. You can take trains and busses to all the neighboring towns of Assisi, Spoleto, Spello, Todi, Gubbio, etc no problem.

Parker Company has a number of units in this area: but the less-than-a-week rentals are going to be a tad problematical...you might want to look at Castello Oscano, but not the castle part! There is a charming converted farmhouse just below with a great pool and basic but good-sized apartments/rooms that they rent for less than a week. It is about 10 miles outside Perugia and from there we visited just about everything you have listed.

We rented a house in Umbertide some years back and had a fantastic dinner at an agriturismo close by -- La Chiusa. It's a beautiful spot (La Chiusa) and it has a pool and some lovely grounds.

http://www.lachiusa.com

La Chiusa is about 10 minutes from the town of Umbertide where you can get bread and cold cuts, gelato, etc.

We managed to visit quite a few towns from our base, including Gubbio, Todi, Montone, Assisi, Cortona and Citta' di Castello.

Good luck with your plans.

Our next trip to Italy will also be to Umbria - and Le Marches and Tuscany - and while researching some of the smaller towns/villages in the area, I checked out Pietralungo, between Gubbio and Citta di Castello. I can't recommend it from any first hand experience but the country house, Le Valcelle, certainly looks intriguing. The setting is stunning and it has a lot of configurations for accommodations.
http://www.levalcelle.it/

Thanks for all of the extended input.

Well, I've sort of narrowed it down to either: 1. La Ghirlanda in Gualdo Cattaneo, near Todi, Montefalco, Bevagna; Villa Zuccari in Montefalco. Comments?

Just one comment ~ I want to go back to Umbria and stay at La Ghirlanda! The pictures are sooooo beautiful.