New Review Submitted for Villa Gallo Nero located in Lecchi, Tuscany, Italy.
Rental Date: Saturday 24th of July 2010.
Renter: Cinde Brie Q. (enfield, CT, United States).
Renter Rating: 4/5.
Review Details:
We truly enjoyed our stay at Villa Del Gallo Nero. The layout worked perfectly for our party as both couples had a dedicated floor all to ourselves. The villa is centrally located to all the Tuscan hotspots. It is about 2 hrs from Lucca, 1.5 hrs to Cortona, 1 hr from Florence, San Gimingiano and Volterra, and 40 mins. to Siena. We enjoyed starting our mornings in Lecchi, a 5 minute ride down the road for croissants, fruit pizza, fresh fruits and vegetables and coffee. We also would HIGHLY recommend a cooking class at the Malborghetto Ristorante also in Lecchi. Not only was the food we prepared delicious, the chef Simone is warm, welcoming and extremely funny. This was one of our highlights of the entire trip.
The villa is located in a very small hamlet where a few locals reside and carry out their wine and oil business. The villa itself has a nice flow and is in good working order. The huge kitchen table or the terrace was often our meeting place after a long day of excursions. The kitchen is modernized and utensils, cookware and dishes were more than adequate for making meals. One thing to note however is that there are only a few very basic supplies provided. (salt, pepper, and a few rolls of toilet paper) You will need to supply anything else you may need for the week, paper towels, spices, garbage bags, and more TP, etc.
The property management company is very helpful but not intrusive. It is nice to know that there is someone right around the corner to assist you or just offer suggestions if need be.
We enjoyed opening up our shutters each morning to the sounds of birds and the endless view of bountiful and fertile land. One evening we saw a family of chinghali (wild boar)and a HUGE porcupine down near the parking area. Another suggestion, pack a small flashlight so you can find your way in the dark if you like to go exploring or walking at night. The pool was nice to have for a quick dip to cool off after a day of touring. Although it was extremely hot during our week the fans in the villa were more than adequate and the night air often dipped into the 50's. (we had wished we had brought a sweatshirt) All of the bathrooms were in good working order and water pressure and hot water were plentiful. The beds were comfortable, there were extra pillows and blankets, and the villa was spotless. The furniture is not particularly comfortable but quite honestly we aren't the type to sit for a long period of time whilst on vacation. You can opt for the internet for approx. 35 euros a week if you feel the need to stay connected. We brought our Droid phone and that was all we needed to make necessary calls back home or look up information or weather reports. Reception is much better outside or down the road a bit. We rented a GPS from the car rental kiosk. Quite frankly it was more trouble than it was worth. The roads throughout Tuscany are SO winding and steep that by the time the GPS could reconfigure where we were we had already missed a few crucial turns. Not to mention it had instructed us on numerous occasions to take a turn OFF a cliff. Perhaps this is the natives not so subtle way of reducing the number of tourists impeding on their territory during the summer months. :) The only drawback we feel the need to comment on are the lack of mosquito screens. There were only two rooms that had them and only one of them worked. We were hesitant to leave the windows open all night due to insects and yet we would have been able to conserve a lot of energy if we could have. The night air would've been refreshing instead of the re-circulating air of the fans.
The villa is a beautiful 14th century structure which has all modern amenities. We would definitely stay here again on our next trip to Tuscany.
The villa is located in a very small hamlet where a few locals reside and carry out their wine and oil business. The villa itself has a nice flow and is in good working order. The huge kitchen table or the terrace was often our meeting place after a long day of excursions. The kitchen is modernized and utensils, cookware and dishes were more than adequate for making meals. One thing to note however is that there are only a few very basic supplies provided. (salt, pepper, and a few rolls of toilet paper) You will need to supply anything else you may need for the week, paper towels, spices, garbage bags, and more TP, etc.
The property management company is very helpful but not intrusive. It is nice to know that there is someone right around the corner to assist you or just offer suggestions if need be.
We enjoyed opening up our shutters each morning to the sounds of birds and the endless view of bountiful and fertile land. One evening we saw a family of chinghali (wild boar)and a HUGE porcupine down near the parking area. Another suggestion, pack a small flashlight so you can find your way in the dark if you like to go exploring or walking at night. The pool was nice to have for a quick dip to cool off after a day of touring. Although it was extremely hot during our week the fans in the villa were more than adequate and the night air often dipped into the 50's. (we had wished we had brought a sweatshirt) All of the bathrooms were in good working order and water pressure and hot water were plentiful. The beds were comfortable, there were extra pillows and blankets, and the villa was spotless. The furniture is not particularly comfortable but quite honestly we aren't the type to sit for a long period of time whilst on vacation. You can opt for the internet for approx. 35 euros a week if you feel the need to stay connected. We brought our Droid phone and that was all we needed to make necessary calls back home or look up information or weather reports. Reception is much better outside or down the road a bit. We rented a GPS from the car rental kiosk. Quite frankly it was more trouble than it was worth. The roads throughout Tuscany are SO winding and steep that by the time the GPS could reconfigure where we were we had already missed a few crucial turns. Not to mention it had instructed us on numerous occasions to take a turn OFF a cliff. Perhaps this is the natives not so subtle way of reducing the number of tourists impeding on their territory during the summer months. :) The only drawback we feel the need to comment on are the lack of mosquito screens. There were only two rooms that had them and only one of them worked. We were hesitant to leave the windows open all night due to insects and yet we would have been able to conserve a lot of energy if we could have. The night air would've been refreshing instead of the re-circulating air of the fans.
The villa is a beautiful 14th century structure which has all modern amenities. We would definitely stay here again on our next trip to Tuscany.
Please visit Villa Gallo Nero for more details about this accommodation. Visit this page for other villas in Lecchi, Tuscany, Italy.
