SueW

I agreed (after a couple of glasses of wine!) to find the perfect villa, with pool, in Tuscany for myself and 11 friends for May or June 2004. If you have place to recommend I would like to hear about it - there seem to be hundreds of websites devoted to places to stay and they all look fabulous. I would also appreciate your thoughts on which area to stay. Many thanks.

Judy

We prefer Southern Tuscany. Definitely check www.slowtrav.com for their villa reviews. We are staying at LaFoce (www.lafoce.com) this May with 5 other couples....I'm hoping it's as wonderful as it looks. I'm the one, after a couple of glasses of wine, who agreed to find the villa. Perhaps we need to avoid wine!

bobthenavigator

Sue, Do yourself a favor and screen the prospects by setting criteria first. The biggies are: LOCATION--PRICE RANGE--AND BED TO BATH RATIO. I have done your job several times and you will go crazy without concurrence on the above.<BR>And, setting those criteria will narrow your options for you. Most of the big properties will have 2 couple sharing one bath--is that OK? And, I concur, start with slowtrav.com for the best rental advice. I too prefer the area around Siena--especially south of Siena.<BR>Zak from Tuscan House is a good place to start--after slowtrav that is.

rex

Here's my experience with a very affordable place - - not luxurious, but I would be glad to fill you in on details... and I have found it now - - but only on a &quot;deutschsprachige&quot; website (in German) - - http://www.toscanareisedienst.de (click on Aktuelle Angebotes)<BR><BR>Here is my earlier post - - from http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1298464 - - <BR><BR>Author: Rex<BR>Date: 05/31/2001, 05:05 pm<BR>Message: I can share with you our experience with an 8 bedroom house &quot;in&quot;/near the town of Ambra (stayed there in 1998). Vaguely between Siena and Arezzo. It is quite remote (too much for some people, perhaps); it was VERY affordable, very roomy, modern enough, satisfactory kitchen, spacious dining and living rooms; eight bedrooms: 2 doubles, 4 twins, 2 singles; 5 bathrooms. Brand new swimming pool, excellent cooking out facilities, in addition to the kitchen. Sit outside and eat outside also, if you wish, but not shaded for that. <BR><BR>We were three adults, our three daughters, six cousins and two boyfriends, so it was a perfect fit for us. <BR><BR>Its name is/was Podere Belvedere, and I have not been able to find it listed with either http://www.regencyintapts.com (through whom we got it), nor with http://www.cuendet.com (it was listed with them in 1998 - - they are kind of a &quot;super-broker&quot; to other North American companies). <BR><BR>Even so, you might have some luck with Regency if you want to try contacting them. <BR><BR>Best wishes, <BR><BR>Rex <BR>

PamSF

Sue-check REntvillas.com. Are you by any chance part of &quot;the women who would save the world&quot; group travelling to Italy?

PamSF

It was late when I first responded so here goes the rest of my thoughts. I too prefer southern Tuscany. I would recommend checking out the area around Montepulciano/Montalcino.

BarbaraF

We stayed at La Foce in July 2001. It was lovely and very well situated, quite close to Montepulciano, Montalcino and Pienza. May should be just fine -- there is no airconditioning there and the July heat was unbearable at night. I don't know how June will be.

luv2explore

We stayed in a villa just north of Castellina in Chianti for 2 weeks, 3 years ago. We loved the location because everything was so close for day trips. We even drove to Florence just for dinner a couple of times! Sienna was close. San Giminagno, Monterigionni, Volterra. We combined Montalcino, Montalpucino and Pienza a one day trip. We would quite often spend a leisurely morning around the pool and enjoy a Tuscan town in the afternoon. You'll have a wonderful time where ever you end up though. It would be hard not too!!