J'attends .. invités là-bas avec la famille, les animaux de compagnie sont les bienvenus

From the warm welcome we received from Alessandro and his lovely wife Anna we felt completely at home in Casa Anna. The apartment is beautiful - three huge bedrooms, a large dining area and good-sized kitchen. Our favorite spot was the beautiful, private outdoor terrace. We enjoyed being part of the "old town" of Colle di Val d'Elsa - just steps from lovely squares and excellent restaurants. Val d'Elsa retains its charm as it is not overrun with tourists (a plus for us!) but is very conveniently located for day trips to other towns in Tuscany. We visited Sienna, Volterra, Montalcino and San Gimignano. We had a car and Casa Anna has a private, gated courtyard for parking - a definite plus. The apartment is classically decorated. The open shutters at night let in a cool breeze and we all slept comfortably. We were three friends and each had our own bedroom. The apartment could comfortably accommodate three couples or two families with children - plenty of room and lots to do just outside your door. Alessandro was a great host. We kept in touch via text during our stay at Casa Anna. He was helpful with restaurant suggestions and we enjoyed some delicious, fresh tomatoes he brought from his farm. We enjoyed visiting Tuscany but the best part of each day was sitting on the terrace, enjoying a glass of wine and watching and listening as Val d'Elsa put herself to sleep. I can't wait to return!

We were 6 friends spending some time in Italy. We stumbled upon this beautiful apartment and had a wonderful time. Alessandro our house was wonderful and helped us was weird to go and see beauty. Three bedroom curtains was breathtaking beautiful tapestry is handpainted tile extremely spacious. I cannot believe we could get such a lovely apartment for rent. The rooftop views we’re breathtaking and we enjoyed having our wine and tapas at night up on the private terrace. He was right he should have got his place for a week. Three nights was not enough. So centrally located to money and she into town is Cassius and wineries. Don’t miss this secret little gym

We had a wonderful time, and I would stay again in a heartbeat. The apartment is lovely — elegant and spacious, with plenty of space for four adults and two teenagers. We enjoyed breakfasts and lunch on the lovely terrace, with a terrific view over the Tuscan countryside. The location is wonderful as well — a terrific pasticceria across the street, a lovely little market nearby, and great restaurants within a block or two on either side. The town itself was a great surprise — we had planned to use it as a base for exploring other better known towns (and it is certainly conveniently located for doing that) but the most fun we had was wandering around Colle di Val d’Elsa itself, a small but very picturesque town or rather trio of villages that nonetheless is not overrun by tourists the way San Gimigniano or Volterra are. Perhaps the best aspect of the apartment was the owners — Alessandro and Liliana were very warm, full of information, and absolutely accommodating of our schedule.

I can’t say enough about how great this apartment was. We have had good luck with nearly everywhere we have stayed but even so this apartment really stood out!

Our main regret is that we only stayed for three nights here at Casa Anna. The apartment is spacious and beautifully furnished and decorated. As well as the three good sized bedrooms there is a nice modern kitchen/diner, a large dining room/lounge, a large patio area with stunning views of the city and River Elsa valley and your own private secure parking area. Within a few meters of the front door there are small local shops for bread, vegetables, meat and wine as well a good restaurants and a seller of dolche and gelato! What more could you ask for?

The property owners were delightful and helpful - a real pleasure to meet and do business with - and full of tips and advice on where to go and what to do. Colle di Val d'Elsa is a charming small city in its own right as well as within easy reach of classic Tuscan locations like Siena and San Gimignano.

Any downsides? Not really, although at night there is quite a bit of noise from traffic and people on the street which was more of a shock as we had come there from a very quiet country location. You soon get used to it though.

We left feeling like we would love to come back and enjoy some more time in this lovely, historic place.

Three generations stayed for a week in this spacious apartment and it certainly more than met our expectations. The apartment seems huge with its big rooms and their high ceilings. It’s very well equipped although we didn’t use the cooking facilities much. The massive outside terrace with lovely views and excellent furniture was a welcome feature. The same could be said about the private parking especially once we adjusted to the tight entrance. The building is nineteenth century so it has little idiosyncrasies but we found them easy enough to live with.

As a base the apartment was also excellent. We’d spent the previous week just south of Siena so our forays were north. We took the train from Poggibonsi (10 minutes away) to Firenze and drove up to San Gimignano. Three of us had been several times to both but the children loved both, especially the gelato in San Gimignano. Both were very busy with tourists which marginally detracted from the visits and the rampant commercialism is a turn off but the essential quality of both still comes through. A more ambitious trek fulfilling an ambition of one party member was to La Spezia and the Cinqueterre just over the Ligurian border. Long drive, hot weather and lots of weekend beach visitors made it a demanding day but ultimately we agreed it was worth it. Locally we discovered a great little river walk (about a mile and a half) and used the very impressive 50 metre public pool on a couple of occasions. The apartment’s location in the old town on top of the hill was ideal. A stiff walk down into the newer main town was made easier by a lift. The immediate vicinity has a small bakers, grocers, deli and wine bar. There are several restaurants of varying but largely satisfactory quality but the real star is Mario’s Cafe and patisserie just across the street; this does great sandwiches and really high class patisserie and gelato. Our grandchildren loved it but then so did the four adults.

Presiding over the apartment are Alessandro and Lilian. We can’t speak highly enough about them. They largely let us get on with life but at the same time were helpful, available, informative and just warm and likeable. Add to this that Alessandro is a very efficient correspondent and you have a pretty ideal owner to deal with.

Overall we really liked the place, had a overwhelmingly positive experience and would wholeheartedly recommend it.