La tour au 15ème siècle Borgo Fontanini - avec vue sur la montagne

We hebben een heerlijke periode in de Borgo gehad. Silvia is een fantastische gastvrouw. Jammer dat soms het weer niet meezat. De toren heeft 3 slaapkamers boven elkaar, dus trappenlopen moet geen bezwaar zijn.

De bedden lagen prima. De badkamers waren goed en schoon. De keuken is wat klein, maar voldoende uitgerust. We konden helaas het terras bij de keuken niet goed gebruiken, omdat erboven een zwaluw aan het nestelen was.

Jammer dat de wasmachine niet werkte. Silvia loste dit op door de was voor je te doen, maar dit voelde echt als een noodoplossing.

Alle boodschappen kunnen in het dorp gehaald worden (ong. 20 minuten lopen), maar voor uitgebreide boodschappen moet men naar één van de grote supermarkten in de omgeving.

Silvia is een geweldige kok, dus ga beslist een maaltijd bij haar gebruiken.

We had a great stay at Borgo Fontanini! Silvia was a delightful hostess and helped us very much. We badly misjudged how long it would take to reach the property from Modena and arrived after dark. Google maps misled us to a local cemetery apparently! Thankfully Silvia was available by phone and helped us find the property. The building used to be a watchtower in the 15th century and has been refurbished. Our family of 5 had plenty of space, and thought it was pretty cool to each have our own floor. We had a bit of a workout going up and down between levels in the tower, and the property is probably not well suited for anyone with a health condition making it difficult to climb stairs. There is a phenomenal view across the valley from the tower. The property is on a well developed hiking trail and the edge of a national park area. We hiked the full trail one morning and enjoyed it very much.

The wifi worked well, and the kitchen, while a bit small, was just fine for us. There's a delightful patio and table just outside the kitchen. The owners mentioned that the dishwasher wasn't working, and that was no problem for us. While staying here we visited the Ferrari museum in Maranello, a must-see, along with Ristoranti Montana, which sports plenty of Ferrari formula 1 memorabilia. It was about a 45 minute drive to Maranello along small roads, but a beautiful drive.

There was a small plumbing leak in one of the bathrooms, but with 3 bathrooms this was easy to accommodate, and a small inconvenience for the chance to stay in a beautiful historic building.

The location and position of The Tower are excellent: great views, wonderful countryside around the property. There are also lovely outside seating areas.

The bedrooms and sitting room are comfortable and well furnished. There is an open fire in the sitting room, but it smokes. Two of the toilets did not function well when we arrived and we had to arrange with the owner to get a plumber. The downside of the property is the kitchen, which is small and tired: the dishwasher does not really wash the dishes adequately and needs updating, the electric kettle does not work properly (it turns itself off before it has finished heating the water) and there is no oven in the kitchen (despite an oven being listed on the Owners Direct website). In summary: the property has great potential, but the kitchen needs to be updated and improved.

We stayed in the Torre which is a stunning historic building. There are three properties and its a working site, so be prepared for that! Silvia was very helpful when we arrived and showed us where to walk etc. They also kindly invited us down to the communal table overlooking the valley and sunset for spritzers and nibbles on the last night which was lovely. The house is old and quirky and obviously has lots of stairs. It was clean and tidy and pretty decor. Stunning views. The patio at the back gets the sun all day. The village is nice but check things will be open-basically all september the restaurants were shut. Take a torch if you're going to walk in the dark. The region is beautiful, lots of walks. Would go back.

We could not have been happier with our stay in this atmospheric and beautiful spot. The two-bed house, thoughtfully converted from a 15th century building was comfortable and homely yet maintained its historic appeal. Sylvia and Aldo were warm and relaxed hosts and we enjoyed a feast of local truffle-themed dishes cooked by Sylvia which we shared with other international guests and enjoyed as if we were all old friends. There are stunning walks from the property, and the local town of Montombraro (walking distance) has a charm all its own. In addition, we were comfortably in striking distance of Bologna, Ferrara, Mantua, Parma and more. For a real, atmospheric taste of Italy you could not do better.