Avis In the Hills of Mugello Tuscany in a recently renovated 17th Century Monastery

The villa was of a very good size, with plenty of space around it, very secluded and quiet. Anna, the host, was lovely throughout our stay and she waited for us on the first night, even when we had a delay at the airport.

We had a wonderful time staying at Countryside Florence Villa. Pool was an absolute highlight during the heatwave Italy was experiencing at the beginning of our trip. Also being nestled in the hills outside of Florence meant it was 5C cooler at the house than down in the City. The property itself is large and well looked after with lots of character - huge fireplaces, old wooden ceiling beams and tiled floors. Modern amenities like AC, wifi and a large TV are supplied and were faultless during our trip. Florence is 20-30mins away and traffic to the parking structure we used at Parterre was never an issue. Anna was a perfect host and was very welcoming and helpful. Note though that the property is down a very very steep driveway and a way out of the village so a car is a must. Also being historic, hot water could be a little hit and miss. These weren't issues for us but may be for some. All in all we had a wonderful trip and would definitely stay there again if in the area.

We stayed at this villa for a hen party. It was absolutely gorgeous and is situated at the bottom of a hill which meant things like the water pressure was really brilliant! The kitchen and dining room was lovely, there was plenty of space for people to sit and there was a rustic feel to it all. However, we weren’t made aware of the fact that the villa was situated at the bottom of a very steep hill which we had to climb every morning to get to our cab. It is a villa that you need a car to really appreciate it which we did not know, especially considering that the villa was extremely isolated, and cabs were very reluctant to take us back and forth as it was around 45 minutes from central Florence. Despite this the host was very helpful, she did everything she could to help with our travel and got us in touch with a private driver for the week. She was, however, unaware of our booking and when we called the morning of our first day to tell her we will be arriving, she couldn’t find our booking as she has multiple properties. We also did feel that we shouldn’t have had to inform her of our booking as it was stressful for us to hear that she did not have our booking, especially when we were in a new country. Due to this, we couldn’t use the pool for the first three days as while it was technically safe to use, it was bright green and made us not want to use the pool, which was a shame as our designated ‘pool’ days (due to poor weather and a motorcycle race in the next town over making it difficult to get cabs) ended up being the first few days. Another thing was that we were unaware of the fact that were stray cats on the property, they did not interact with us, nor were we bothered by them as they did not come close to us, but we were not expecting it and chose this villa with the expectation of no cats due to allergies. The villa also housed a pony in its own separate enclosure which never bothered us once. Overall, had we known some of the information regarding location this would have been a great villa to stay at to have an isolated getaway. It was stunning and we really enjoyed our time there. Our host was incredibly helpful and accommodating and on sight most days. We could also contact her pretty much anytime. We had a lovely time but should you rent this villa it would be best to have a car or not have any plans to leave the villa!