New Review Submitted for Le Rondini located in San Miniato Basso, Tuscany, Italy.
Rental Date: Saturday 30th of August 2014.
Renter: Annette L. (Andover, MA, United States).
Renter Rating: 5/5.
Review Details:
First of all, it was a pleasure working with EasyReserve while making our reservation at Le Rondini. Everyone was helpful from beginning to end. Special thanks to Lucia and Lucy who answered all my questions!
We enjoyed our week at Le Rondini - a lovely, charming villa. It is more or less just as it appears on the website except that rooms are not as large as the pictures show them to be. However, it is still quite spacious and was perfect for 6 adults. There is plenty of room by the beautiful pool and other outdoor places to relax, read a book and enjoy the scenery, watch sunsets, etc. It was easy to drive from the villa to Pisa, Lucca, Florence and the hill towns.
The directions we were given to get to the villa were fine and we had no difficulty driving through the town and up the roads to the villa. We were concerned that our large 7 seat vehicle would make it difficult, but all went well.
The very nice and helpful owners greeted us upon our arrival and showed us around the villa and the property. They gave us their phone number and their daughter’s number if we had any problems or concerns. That information came in handy as we did call shortly after our arrival because the fridge was not getting cold and we had done food shopping prior to our arrival. The owners came right away and determined that it was not working correctly and helped us move our food to another fridge in an outside storage area. This problem was solved the next day when a new fridge was put in. We also had a problem with the washing machine. It took a day or two to find out the problem – old coins from a previous guest’s pocket had prevented the water from draining out. It was fixed and worked fine. One wall mounted hair dryer was broken and I called to see if it could be replaced. Later, the owners dropped by with 3 new hand-held hairdryers for the 3 upstairs bathrooms. We appreciated that very much.
We had requested a few things prior to our arrival and those things were kindly done for us. The villa was set up with towels for the 9 people it could have accommodated so having a few extra towels was very helpful. The owners recommended a couple of restaurants in the town. They were both excellent places for a nearby dinner.
A couple of things that could be improved are the kitchen pots and pans and the dishwasher. Some non-stick roasting pans were quite scratched and a stir fry wok was put in the cabinet uncleaned. So, I began preparing for our first evening meal by washing all the pots and pans to make sure they were all clean. Also, a few more types of pans would be helpful when cooking and storing leftover food in the fridge. The dishwasher rack does not fit correctly in the dishwasher and was continuously falling off when it was pulled out or pushed in. There were plenty of dishes, bowls, platters, glasses, etc. stored in the dining room cabinet and buffet.
With no AC on the first floor, we opened windows for fresh air which brought in lots of mosquitoes and flies, especially when cooking. Screens on windows would be quite helpful. Good thing I brought some OFF with me but it didn’t prevent a few of us from getting bitten.
The 3 times a week cleaning service was also appreciated. The ladies who did the cleaning were very nice. The only thing is that on our day of departure, they arrived before 8:30 when they were supposed to come at 10 or 10:30. They worked outside sweeping and cleaning. There was also a man with them who was pruning shrubs. It was not a quiet time for the last 90 minutes or so of our stay as they were talking loudly to each from a distance.
All in all, we truly enjoyed staying at Le Rondini and exploring the towns and area surrounding it. It is a very nice, relaxing, secluded place and yet not far from many wonderful things to see and enjoy while in Tuscany. Many thanks to the owners for making our stay quite enjoyable.
