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Back to Il Patriarca
Kristin et al,
Thank you so much for helping us enjoy a wonderful Italian adventure. Everything you arranged went quite well and we followed your suggestions most of the time. The pool in Chiusi was a bonus and we spent one entire day there alone with wine cheese etc. Restaurant advice was heeded and never failed to produce hidden wonders. Airport shuttle was excellent. Car rental and cell phone also wonderful.
Guide in Venice was excellent and went with the flow; ie, conversation as well as direction and highlights.
Also don’t think the maps your recommend are as good as some others locally available and probably not worth the money. Each hotel info sheet gives the basic map of approach to the hotel and probably just a country map plus one of Rome would suffice but no big deal on that score. The hotel in Chiusi lacks sophistication on all levels. Short on staff. Couldn’t manage to provide a lunch to take to the pool. No turndown, mints, and breakfast spread was out of the box for pastry etc.. as compared to wonderful fruits and cheeses and pastries everywhere else. Nonetheless the location is great and we enjoyed the back roads to Siena etc and did go to mongox friary for dinner with the Franciscans where the garden was spectacular. Arrived before sunset and were given wonderfull tour of the grounds before dinner. Probably our most expensive dinner and without warning as prices are not posted. You might want to warn a little but we’re glad we did it. Once though is enough at those prices since all the other restaurants we visited were quite reasonable and wonderful and indeed out of the tourist path.
One thing for sure, the next trip to Italy will bring us back to you and we will tout your exceptional organization to all we know who might want to travel to Italy in the future.
Thanks to all your crew,
Sid and Deborah G.
Dear In Italy,
We just returned from our wonderful honeymoon in Italy and could not have been more pleased with the hotels we booked through your site. All three hotels knew we were honeymooners and treated us to some treasures during our stay.
Il Patriarca was also an excellent place to stay. Our room was comfortable and the room staff was very attentive. They came by while we were at dinner to turn down the beds, empty our garbage and give us new towels. We most enjoyed the location. The proximity to the autostrada made traveling to other towns very easy, a quick 1.5 hours to Assisi and 45 minutes to Orvieto. The restaurant I Salotti was closed while we were there. The hotel’s taverna was open and we dined there two nights. The food was okay, mostly we ate there out of convenience. Overall, an excellent hotel.
Upon your recommendation, we booked a car for a whole week while we were in Italy and found the driving to be very manageable (minus some minor scares in La Spezia). The price was excellent even when we had to pay for an additional day as we were late returning the car to the downtown Florence office as the location had moved.
Thank you so much for making our Italian honeymoon exceptional!
Kate and Chris L.
Fantastic!!!!
Il Patriarca was everything your information said it would be and more. The family was so cordial and the location gave us easy access to both the south of Tuscany and Umbria. Highlights were just driving the countryside and stopping in any of the hilltop towns. All friendly warm people and incredibly beautiful country side. If we go back we will definitely base ourselves in the little town no one heard of - " Chuisi" - and Il Patriarca.
Thanks,
Bill & Cheryl W.
Hello Jessica,
We had a great Italian vacation celebrating our 25th anniversary, and all of our reservations thru Initaly went very smoothly.
Il Patriarca is a beautifully restored hotel and well situated for driving to the various Tuscan hill towns. Our room was very comfortable for the four of us, and the foldout couch was fine for our 17 and 13 year olds. The staff was very friendly and spoke English well. Laurenza was especially helpful assisting us to resolve a problem with our rental car. She made numerous phone calls, found a Hertz office in nearby Chiusi and saved us the better part of a day. Our teenagers enjoyed cooling off in the pool. The breakfast consisted of some meats, cheeses, canned fruit, juice, rolls and cereal--not bad, not great. Their easy access from the autostrada comes with a price, as there's a fair amount of commercial development occurring all around them. Directly across the street is a new movie multi-plex (oh joy!), and around the corner is a shopping center, which is convenient but doesn't add to that "Under the Tuscan Sun" ambience one is hoping to experience. However, once inside this beautiful hotel, you'll quickly forget about the surroundings.
Regards,
Bill & Linda
Dear All at Italy on Line,
Just a quick email to give some feedback as I am sure that you don't get the whole picture from people and it's nice to be able to say thanks whilst offering constructive criticism. First of all - thank you for making the investigation, information and decision process so easy, my lack of effort before hand made your help necessary and your speedy, efficient and polite responses were just what was needed.
Generally speaking Italy is wonderful, reasonably prices in places and everywhere friendly and beautiful. I have to say that it appears as if Tuscany is or is in danger of being ruined but Umbria, Abruzzo & Marches unspoilt, the most beautiful and friendliest areas.
Il Partiarca - Hmmmmmmm! Awful. The 'Infinity Pool' must be called that because it will never be finished! It had rubble and bits of steel laying around, a cement mixer with spilled contents next to it, the ground was uneven and the pool itself was half full of mud. It gets worse - Just over the road from the hotel is a new build complex which is neither attractive nor open. Your write up about close proximity of motorway being no problem because you can't see or hear it is incredibly misleading because sometimes you can hear it but only when the noise of the other three very busy roads on three sides of the hotel right outside quietens down. As for renovation - The hotel has been extended with little sympathy to the old building and twice the size. The food although very good is incredibly expensive served up with so much undue pomp it's laughable. I am sorry to say that this hotel lets your company down very badly. We decided we could not stay more than one night. Upon booking out, the desk tried to tell me that the deposit I had paid you was not counted and I had to get it back from you and pay the full amount. An enormous fuss ensued even to the point of desk phoning the owner 'Claudia' who confirmed that my deposit was your money. I had to insist on not paying the amount deposited and had to tell them that they should call the police in order to get out. The desk was rude, bullying and uncompromising AND whilst I was stood sorting the bill out, an Italian chap came to the desk from the same sized room as ours and paid 80euros for one night!
Thanks and kindest regards,
John & Jill M.
Jessica,
Our trip to Italy was the dream of a lifetime for a young couple celebrating anniversary number 41 this coming June. We have been in the process of planning this excursion for over a year, in fact back to the time when we read Frances Mayes' book on her experiences in Tuscany.
In Italy.com was the centerpiece of our organization with all the great information and especially guest reviews of the places we decided to stay in. We rented a car upon arriving in Rome and got to experience the thrill of driving with the Italians. Everything went smoothly and the driving in the hills of Tuscany is a blast. At least for the driver my wife tells me. It was very easy to find our way around thanks to all the maps available through the website. Invaluable I would say.
Our first location was at Il Patriarca and it was wonderful and very quiet. The room was upgraded for us at no special request and it made it very nice. Your description of the facility was right on the button!! The owner was especially gracious and every member of the staff went out of their way to make us comfortable. They even let us leave for Florence a day early without penalty in the contract which was so very nice of them I can't say enough good things about the whole experience. It is a bit of a drive to the northernmost hill towns and we probably would have been well advised to book into Sienna for a couple of nights as an additional base of operations. Only in hindsight is everything even more perfect. Weather was great and the pictures plentious!!
We used Cellular Abroad to keep in touch and be reachable 24 hrs for my office. It was a useful convenience believe me. Well worth the cost which was not as much as one might expect.
Europcar provided transportation which was reliable and comfortable.
I could go on but......
Thanks again Jessica and InItaly.com we will use you good folks again as soon as we can.
Don and Bunny F.
We just returned from italy and wanted to thank you for your help in booking our stay at Il Patriaca...we did the wine lovers retreat and could not have asked for anything more beautiful...the restaurants, the wine tours, the service, everything was absolutely perfect and highly recommend this beautiful villa.
Sincerely
Nicola R. and Ryan B.
Dear In Italy,
Our holiday in Italy was spectacular! And our stay at Il Patriarca was certainly the highlight! The rooms were beautiful, the beds were comfortable, the service was impeccable, and the food at Il Salatto will never be forgotten... The location of Il Patriarca (with respect to the Autostrada, Florence, Rome, and all the towns in Tuscany) made our tour of central Italy extremely manageable. I have highly recommended Il Patriarca to a number of our friends upon return, and do so with confidence that they will enjoy a wonderful stay in one of the prettiest areas of Italy you can find.
As I noted on my questionnaire upon departure from Il Patriarca, the only things I might mention to their future guests are that the swimming pool will not be complete until mid 2003...and if you don not speak fluent Italian, bring some DVD's and enjoy the in-room "surround sound" and home theater system (I did suggest they get larger screened TV's also). Thank you so much for all your assistance, it was a trip we'll never forget!
Ben and Jennifer R.
Dear Cynthia,
I can't begin to tell you how enjoyable our three days at Il Patriarca were. I am still talking to my friends about the tasting menu I enjoyed in the restaurant. The wine selection was outstanding (of course) and the food was perfect. I have been in the hotel business my entire life and I can tell you that everything we experienced at Il Patriarca was at a level that the best hotels in the world duplicate. The staff was exceptional, the bed and bedding were the most comfortable we experienced in Europe, the food was amazing, the grounds and location were perfect. I will send a couple of photos via the internet as soon as they are developed. I would like to note that we were there on a weekend, and the only downside to that was that the vineyard tours that Il Patriarca are usually able to put together for you were unavailable because they were closed on the weekend. There are so many interesting, quaint small towns that it didn't really matter. Montepulciano and Chiusi were two great towns with little places to eat and shop. Driving through the countryside and taking pictures was a great part of each day. I am looking forward to going with group of friends to the region and staying once again at Il Patriarca. Again, thank you.
Sincerely,
Scott and Shira A.
Dear Kristen and Everyone Else at InItaly.com
Thanks for making our trip to Italy such an adventure and so enjoyable. Everything worked out without a hitch.
We came to your Website with only the backbone of our trip planned. Three days in Rome, three days in Tuscany, three days in the Italian Riviera, back to Rome and then home. We selected all of our accommodations through you, arranged for a car to meet us at the airport, used the private guide service that you recommended in Rome and rented a car through the agency that you recommended. Each of these elements worked out perfectly. Your willingness to graciously answer every question and address each of our concerns as first time visitors to Europe contributed to the success of our most memorable adventure. Many of our friends have said how brave we were to travel in Italy by car by ourselves. We had no interest in visiting Italy on a guided tour, we were traveling with another couple and knew that we would be most comfortable on our own schedule, choosing our own activities. I found reading the letters from "Former Guests" on your site to be the biggest encouragement to create our own itinerary. Their comments on their trips helped to prepare us for ours. Between your support and letters, we were ready to go.
We picked up our rental car and left for Tuscany on Sunday morning. We had originally planned to travel by train because we were concerned about driving in a foreign country. Kristen encouraged us to drive and we are very glad that we did. It gave us control over our schedule and we moved when we were ready. We did not use the car in Rome (taxi s were efficient and the rides were thrilling!), in Sestri Levante we were able to walk everywhere we went. The car was used most in Tuscany. It allowed us to travel to the different hilltop towns conveniently.
We jumped onto the autostrada and arrived in Tuscany near Chiusi within two hours. You quickly get acclimated to the driving environment. Stay in the right lane unless you are passing, travel with the pack and you are fine.
We spent three nights at Il Patriarca just west of Chiusi, a charming hilltop village. The villa was most splendid in décor and accommodations. The service was superb. The surrounding countryside was breathtaking! We enjoyed two unforgettable dinners in their restaurant, I Salotti. All four of us enjoyed a five course meal the first evening that will always stand out as the height of Fine Dining". Each element of the experience was executed perfectly. The service was so gracious, the food was perfection. There were many extra touches that contributed to the overall experience. We retired to the smoking room afterward and enjoyed the continued gracious service and our first tastes of grappa. Our host was Loris Mazzini and he and his staff were extremely gracious and accommodating. They provide true hospitality. I still remember that he walked us to our car and shook each of our hands as we were departing.
While in Tuscany, we visited Montepulciano and Montalcino, both charming hilltop towns. We enjoyed traveling to each town because the Tuscan countryside is just breathtaking. It appears as if the entire area has been professionally landscaped, since the area is totally agricultural and the topography is rolling hills and mountains. Each town was so charming, the narrow cobblestone streets, sidewalk cafes offering local wines and great simple foods. The local wines are fantastic. Montalcino offers their big, full-bodied, Brunello, Montepulciano has Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. There was a celebration in our home the day that the case of wine we had purchased arrived via the US Post Office.
We look forward to our next visit to Italy and will be sure to contact your Website and we begin to make our plans.
Joan and Mike I.
Dear In Italy,
I just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed Il Patriarca. The outside of the house is a charming old farmhouse. But when you walk inside it is clear this is a luxury hotel. The rooms have all been redone (there's even surround sound and a DVD player in the rooms). Much time and money is being put into the renovations at Il Patriarca to create a classy yet warm environment. They even have plans to import Japanese marble for a pool next year.
We were surprised to find out that the owner, Loris, is a renowned wine expert. When we asked for a recommendation for which wineries to visit in the area, he arranged for a fantastic tour. He hired an English-speaking driver to take the four of us to the top wineries in the area. Because he knows many of the owners we gained admission to some wineries that are not open to the public. Loris even gave us a list of wines to try and which year was best. Fans of the big reds, we were especially thrilled to visit the Banfi estate which produces some of the top Brunellos in the world. He made reservations for lunch for us at a wonderful restaurant in the hills of Montepulciano. The food, the wine list and the view were superb. It is clear that Loris and the people of the area truly know and love good wine. Dinner at the hotel restaurant, Loris recommended a different glass of wine to complement each course. After dinner, he amazed our senses with a spectacular bottle of Avignonesi's Toscana Vin Santo (that upon our return we found that Wine Spectator had given it a 100 rating).
Since the staff at Il Patriarca speaks just some English, we enjoyed doing all of our translations through Mike, a 19 year old workaholic transplant from Canada. It seemed he worked at the hotel 24 hours a day yet still had the energy to make us laugh and take the stairs two at a time.
Il Patriarca is located just outside of Chiusi, which was a charming hilltop town rich with Etruscan history. We ate at a fantastic restaurant in Chiusi, Zaira, which we recommend highly. We were thrilled with the supermarket nearby where we bought all kinds of Italian gourmet delicacies for a picnic.
We very much enjoyed our stay at Il Patriarca and wish Loris much success. Thank you, In Italy, for the recommendation.
Kathleen B. and Vince R.
Dear Cynthia,
Il Patriarca was wonderful!!!!! The room was new and beautifully furnished with a view of the courtyard. Very modern! Their restaurant, I Salotti, is excellent. The food seems very exotic (from the menu), but everything was delicious. Breakfast was continental, but I believe we could have ordered whatever we wanted. Service (all aspects) was exceptional, courteous and friendly, with a young waiter/bellhop/other who was originally from Canada and spoke English (as well as Italian) and helped with translations when needed.
Chiusi is not very far. It is a small city with Etruscan past (and an excellent Etruscan museum). Zaira restaurant is excellent (we had lunch & dinner there on the same day!) and is highly recommended.
One restaurant in Montepulciano Loc. San Biagio is La Grotta. Reservations needed but excellent. We had an enjoyable meal.
One restaurant is San Gimignano is Le Vecchie Mura. Reservations needed but also excellent.
There are several "antique" (second hand) shops in the vicinity of Il Patriarca. There is also a small "mall" with a supermarket, bank, several smaller shops right off the Autostrada before Il Patriarca. Il Patriarca is highly recommended!
Thanks again for your help.
Denise & Vincent R.