Villa Paola Standalone Villa - Family Lodgings - Green Vacations

Character: Very elegant and charming first-floor apartment in a Renaissance mansion on a beautifully landscaped estate. Advantages: Centrally located, nice views, very friendly owners who live downstairs, totally private garden, pool shared with only four other people, restaurant 350 yards away. Location: 1.5 km from Lastra a Signa, right off the Florence-Pisa superstrada. Excellent location for day trips in Tuscany, 25 minutes from Florence and 45 minutes from Siena. Click here to see a map. Size: Sleeps 8; eat-in kitchen, two sitting rooms, two double bedrooms, two twin bedrooms, four bathrooms with showers. Features: Telephone with DSL line, wi-fi, air-conditioned bedrooms, satellite TV, dishwasher, washing machine, microwave, hair dryer, swimming pool and huge private garden. Minimum stay: Saturday-to-Saturday. Disadvantages: None! Car needed: Yes.

Only 13 km south of Florence and 1.5 km from the nearest town is a narrow road that winds between rows of cypress trees and the high walls of several magnificent Renaissance estates. Of these, Villa Paola is perhaps the most spectacular. The property is comprised of an impeccably maintained mansion surrounded by a large, perfectly-manicured Italian garden, where our guests have the exclusive use of a private gazebo equipped with table, chairs and grill, for outdoor dining. Also on the grounds is a discretely placed 21 X 42-foot swimming pool shared with the guests of Casetta Toscana, a typical Tuscan cottage for four that is located just across the driveway.

The ground floor of the villa is occupied by your hostess, the ever affable and helpful Paola, and her family. Although she is not a professional in the trade, Signora Paola is a world-class interior designer and decorator who turned her efforts to restoring the upstairs floor of her mansion in 2002. The result, a 2100-square-foot guest apartment, is worthy of a front-page spread in any magazine, and far outdistances the settings we have seen in any other Tuscan accommodation. Not only is the apartment roomy and comfortable, it is exceedingly pleasing to the eye. Walls are painted in warm pastel hues that are complemented by the bright floral and soft earth tones of the upholstery and drapery. All the furnishings are antiques of the highest quality, and personal touches abound - such as the handmade dolls and stuffed animals on the dresser in the children's room. There is wi-fi throughout, each bedroom is air-conditioned, and larger than usual windows let plenty of light stream in, offering the chance to gaze at views which simply epitomize our dream of what Tuscany should be.

You enter the villa via a stairway to the first floor. Here you will find a sitting room with a couch and armchair. Next door is the master bedroom, all decorated in soothing tones of raspberry. It has a Murano chandelier, a dresser, armchair, desk and pink tile en suite bathroom with stall shower. At the end of a short hall, you come to the children's bedroom, which has twin canopy beds. This room's white marble bathroom is next door and has a stall shower plus a washing machine and dryer.

Further along the hall is the eat-in kitchen, which features a couch, armchairs, satellite TV, telephone with DSL line, dining table for six, full refrigerator/freezer, oven and range, dishwasher and microwave oven. Signora Paola has stocked it with plenty of colorful Tuscan dishes, as well as pots, pans and utensils.

For this property:
Included in the price: all taxes, services, one set of linens, gas, electricity & water, air conditioning, weekly cleaning.
Not included: optional independent heating, which costs 18 Euro/day; optional extra linens, which cost 12 Euro/set; and optional extra cleaning or laundry, which costs 12 Euro/hour.

Groups of 12+2 can consider renting Villa Paola in conjunction with Casetta Toscana, located just across the driveway. Click here for information.

Mountain bikes are available on the property, which also has a barbecue and private parking.
Golfers are welcome to use Signora Paola's membership at the prestigious Le Pavoniere and Ugolino Golf Clubs, which are nearby.
There is a restaurant 350 yards from the house (closed on Wednesdays). A bank, drug store, food shops, supermarket and post office are all 1.5 km from the property.

Check-in: 4-7pm
Check-out: 9:30am
Refundable security deposit: 250 Euro in travelers checks or cash

Click here for information about private transfers to the property.

Please note that you need a car to stay here.

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