I found Il Verreno after many hours of research on Booking.com and Tripadvisor. I had a list of things that we wanted from the accommodation in Tuscany, such as having an onsite restaurant, rooms had to be a good size with good quality furnishings. We didn’t want a huge resort, and there had to be a pool, with bars serving daytime drinks. Il Verreno ticked all the boxes. Although we knew that we would need to hire a car to see the best of Tuscany. So, a the location being down a small farm type track and being quite remote did not matter. In fact we found that by driving 30 to 40 minutes in any direction brought us to some spectacular places. First impression were a little strained, the beauty I got straight away, but I travelled with possibly the heaviest case possible. I suddenly became aware of all the stairs and thought “oh my God!” I shouldn’t have been worried, the lady who is the manager grabbed my huge case and took it in telling me not to worry, but I honestly felt awful. She was awesome and put us both at our ease.
Our Room
I can only speak about our room, which was called fiore, which is Italian for flowers, as I walked up the stone staircase, I was was a little worried, but as she opened the door I felt elated. The bedroom had a huge bed with beautiful quality bedding, a nice arrangement of cushions too. the bedside table with good access to electrical sockets to charge our mobile phones etc. Lovely sized lamps to to read by; most of all the bed was extremely comfortable and we are not the easiest people to please. John likes a hard bed, and I like a soft, yet we both slept well in this bed. Then we walked through to an amazing lounge, possibly four times larger than our home. There were beautiful wall textures and mosaics. Every piece of furniture was of the best quality, lots of wardrobe space and draws.
It had a good size fridge, a nice little coffee machine, fresh water, milk and coffee pods replaced daily. There was also a good size desk for a laptop, a good sized TV, which you could attach a fire stick if you had one. When you opened the windows you were greeted by a magnificent view, we just could not get enough of it. The suite also had a could air conditioning system which meant that we were never too hot or cold.
Finally the bathroom, slightly darker than I would choose, but it still had good lighting, with two sinks and lots of areas for me to place my cosmetics. Lots of towels too. Excellent toiletries and a fantastic shower that both of us appreciated.
If I was rating the room it would be an easy 9 out of 10. The only thing that I would mark down would be that the towel rails although heated they were too high on the wall for me and therefore not so easy to reach. That is the only thing that I would like to see changed, other than that it was a fabulous room and not one of their dearest.
The Poole & Hotel Facilities
The hotel does not have a lot of rooms but they are spread out in a beautiful and interesting way. Inside it had wonderful places to sit and read, should you not wish to sit outside. Breakfast was served from the pool house which has a lovely terrace. The swimming pool is perfect for the size of the hotel and although it is not heated, I didn’t find it cold, I loved it! We had cocktails every afternoon after our travelling adventures. They have a small gym, although we did not get time to see it. Rating the hotel on its facilities, again I would give it a 9 out of 10. Everything is perfect it is just the stairs, which some people could find a bit challenging. This is an old building and there is no way to change that, but I don’t know what we would have done if the hotel manager hadn’t brought my heavy suitcase and my husband’s mid sized case.
The Restaurant
The food, this for me was the biggest highlight, I cannot begin to explain how good this food was, we have never had such high quality at every single meal! We ate at the restaurant for 6 nights in a row and we could not fault the standard of the food which was exciting, beautifully executed and full of flavour.
The staff made the whole eating experience magical with the care and skill that they displayed. The executive chef, Marialuisa Lovari’s for us is a genius and it is no wonder that she and her team won won the prestigious Campionati Della Cucina Italiana back in 2017. Rating 10 out of 10! I would not change a thing.
Is there room for improvement?
I honestly don’t think so, apart from the heated tower rails being too high for me. Other than that, there is nothing that I would changes. We do plan to return and hope that nothing has changed.
Value for money
I looked at a lot of places in Tuscany to stay. This was the lower end of the budget, our room was definitely a suite sized room and we had breakfast included. We paid in peak season £200 per night and felt that it was excellent value. The food was also incredible value, it was high-class food which was a lot cheaper than we would have paid in the UK. A main course from the menu was between 26 to 30 euros and it was outstanding. With your main course they included lots of little treats, 3 appetisers each an amazing freshly made bread for the table with their home grown olive oil and then if you just want to skip dessert they still bring you a plate of amazing handmaid mini desserts. I cannot wait to go back.
Overall Rating
- Room: 9 out of 10
- Facilities 9 out of 10
- Food: 101 out of 10
- Value for money 10 out of 10
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