Does anyone know of a small villa in Tuscany (for 3 people) that would have beautiful views and a pool? Looking to travel in early September 03. Thanks!

Try rentvillas.com

I have akso had a good experince with rentvillas.com - - though don't know any smaller accommodatoins from them. Try domani-usa.com also.

But most important of all, try checking out www.slowtrav.com -- for info and to post your question there.

Best wishes,

Rex

Try www.lupinari.com. We stayed in a two bedroom apartment in June with another couple and loved it! It's better than the pictures! Ciao . . .

check out Podere Torricella, about 15km s. of Florence. Breathtaking views, pool, restaurant on site and quite reasonably priced. It's not exactly a villa, but rather apartments in a villa setting..we booked thru Tuscany.net

Go to www.bartolinibaldelli.it We stayed at their Fattoria di Bagnolo and absolutely loved it. You won't be paying any extra fees to a middle man and the Bartolini Baldelli family are very honest and wonderful people. They own a few estates you can choose from. The one where we stayed produced olives and grapes. The website isn't the greatest. The villas are magnificently decorated and well appointed. I hated leaving. The son's wife is an American but they all speak English. They're very accomodating. 4 of us stayed for a week for under $1000. total. Each room had a private bath.

I have used knowital.com for house rentals in Tuscany. Very satisfactory. They list properties with pictures/descriptions/prices and the email contact is with the owner of the house. No middleman to deal with.
Have fun!

A friend of mine just recently began working for a small company in Italy:

www.chiantimania.com

If you would like her e-mail address, drop me a note at [email protected]

Will you be staying an entire week? Most villas rent by the week, so you have many options. Try Tuscany.net (they have lots of pictures and descriptions of properties). I've also heard good things about domani-usa.com.

We just stayed at a B&B, Villa Il Poggiale, located in San Casciano in Val de Pesa, 17 km outside of Florence. It was beautiful, had a huge pool and lovely views, and was available for a shorter stay. We were there just 4 nights. Good luck!

We stayed at a lovely hotel 10 minutes outside of Siena called La Loggia. It was run by a very nice family and had a wonderful pool with great views. I thought it was reasonably priced and one of the few places were the rooms were nicer than they looked on the website. The only drawback was no air-conditioning.
They also have "Villa Gloria" on the same property which I did not explore but assume would be nice as well.