Torciano Hotel Wine & Winery, Tuscany

The accommodation features delicious breakfast, immaculate rooms, and beautiful location. Guests appreciate the friendly staff and rustic charm of the spacious rooms.

Many months ago I booked our stay at the Hotel Torciano for three nights in the northern portion of our trip to Tuscany. It seemed perfect. We’re not interested in city stays, so we planned on saying outside the cities. The reviews were strong, with only one negative experience noted due to some water problem. As we were getting in our car for San Gimignano I received a call from the hotel where I was informed that they had a water problem and had to move us (two couples) to another hotel. Of course they needed my permission to charge the remainder of our bill, so as to pay the other hotel. I’m not sure how that need for early payment became my problem. She sent an address and said a driver would meet us in front our hotel to take us to our wine tasting that evening. This hotel is in the center of San Gimignano, which I accept might be nice for some, but not us. We are awakened by dogs barking in other guest’s rooms. There is cigarette smoke wafting up the stairs and down the hall. We now have daily parking fees for a parking lot outside of town. As we waited for a driver, as instructed, he was quite late. It turns out he is not able to drive in the town so we had to find the right portal to meet him. Awakened by dogs I decided to look up how much this hotel would have cost. Our price for Hotel Torciano was $213 per room per night. This hotel room costs $131 per night! We asked the staff at the Torciano wine tasting and they indicated that the hotel was completely full. They were not aware of water issues. When pressed a bit we were met with blank stares. Why not offer us a choice of agriturismo hotels outside of town, if indeed there is a water problem? Why do they need full payment when our “new” hotel is significantly less than what we paid? Then the dogs, smokers and parking. If you are tempted to stay here, I recommend you think about how you will actually ensure that you do indeed stay there, and how you might control what were to happen to your trip if, say there was something like a water problem at the last minute. Yes, at this point I’m cynical. Sorry for that. PS - I do need to add that while I have read mixed reviews on the Torciano wine tasting, ours was quite nice. We enjoyed the wines and were hosted by a wonderful, knowledgeable and fun hostess. Our time with her is worth a star, even if it is only associated with the hotel.

What is there not to like about this amazing place? At the hotel, you will be greeted by an adorable Stanley Tucci look like who will graciously welcome you in and get you settled. If you are lucky, you will eat the most amazing food and drink fabulous wine. When you wake up, your host will provide you with a lovely European breakfast. This is what Americans dream the Italian wine country is like. Although this was our first journey to this hotel and winery, it certainly will not be our last! Highly recommend it!!