Villa in Tuscany
 

Four adults will be vacationing in Tuscany in October. We would like to stand in Tuscany, probably southern, Siena,etc.. and we would like to rent a villa/apartment there for a week and daytrip to many areas. We need 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and we like really nice accomodations, preferrably with a view. Any suggestions?

If you haven't discovered slowtrav.com, by all means check it out. Great info including reviews of villas.

Although you will find that you have countless choices in the treasury of info at slowtrav... you might concentrate on the offerings of www.theparkercompany.com - - given that you say you are seeking <i><b>really nice</b></i> accommodations (translation: willing to pay top dollar).

Like Lexus or Mercedes... one virtually never hears of an unhappy customer who uses the Parker Company (not in that crowd myself).

Even if you do some comparison shopping, I think that villa hunting is an activity where it pays to be online, and talking to an agent at their company at the same time, having them guide you to properties that might fit your criteria.

I've found that useful with several companies for villa rentals in both France and Italy.

Best wishes,

Rex

We stayed at Il Castagno for a wedding last year and it was wonderful. The villa is quite large but they also have very nice apartments that some of the guests that had children stayed in. It is a few miles from San Gimignano and very centrally located for day trips to Sienna, Florence, Voltera, Chianti, etc. There is a little cafe at the end of the drive for meals or you can shop at some of the fabulous markets and prepare your own food. The view of the Tuscan Hills and the grounds are fabulous. http://www.ilcastagno.net/english/home.html

it's been a few years, but we did use the Parker Company. We stayed in an apartment in Chiusi, right in the historic part of town. It was nice and had a view, but I think I would have preferred a different location in the end (it was pretty close to the highway, which was very convenient for day trips, but the smell of diesal, and the noise just didn't do it for me).

The Parker Company has tons of places to choose from. But DON&quot;T DELAY. The best places will already be booked up through the fall. Lots of these villa's book a year in advance.

checkout this website www.appartamentialpoggiolo.it I am also going to Tuscany ...at the end of October. They have great looking apartments... fireplaces etc...see also the suggested itineraries for 6 days on their website. Chaio

My husband and I stayed here on our honeymoon, loved every minute of it...
http://www.salvadonica.com/eng_main.htm

My husband and I are renting a villa with another couple in May. The house is north of Siena and we are renting through Parker. I don't know if Parker is the most top shelf (or if others think it's their prices which are top shelf) but in any case we have been happy with our dealings to date. Like you, our basic requirements were two bedrooms, two baths and a terrace with a view. We found the requirement for the second full bath eliminated many places we would have otherwise considered.

I would also suggest you go to the Slow Traveler Website---it is a wealth of info. And I would suggest that you start by asking Parker (www.parkervillas.com) and other agencies mentioned on Slow Trav to send you their catlogs. If nothing else the catalogs will truly whet your appetite as they are full of glorious pictures. They will also help you begin to see what's available and the prices.

Another reason we opted for Parker was that their prices are in dollars (we are US residents) and we wanted to know what our actual costs would be. Many of the other agencies' prices are in Euros or pounds. Since we booked fairly far in advance but would not be paying the full amount til close to departure we were concerned about the volatility of the dollar.

Any way, happy hunting!!!!!

We stayed 1 week in Impruneta...just south of Florence .. on our honeymoon. Wonderful location on the Chianti Road. http://www.relaisfarmholiday.com/

Check out the offerings at intuscany.com. Great people to work with.