Marignolle Relais & Charme - Residenza d'Epoca

For a Sawdays recommended property I had high hopes and was quite disappointed. This property commanded a high price for a clean tidy room with clean fluffy towels and generally good housekeeping, but that was about it. If you wanted complimentary bottled water, there wasn't any - 4 euros a bottle, 0.50 cents in town. Breakfast was so disappointing - Continental choice only unless you wanted to pay for a plate of scrambled eggs or a plain omelet 8 Euros!! Only Gluten Free offered was some dry packeted bread and biscuits even though they knew I was GF so had to make do with yoghurt and fruit only and a tepid boiled egg. Plenty of GF croissant choices in Florence herself so basically individual needs were not met. Instructions for breakfast were not adhered to, ever, so a waste of paper and waste of time completing. Hosts took no effort to actually get to know what we liked to do; no day trips were offered to us or places of interest outlined - we just got on with it ourselves. They didn't even know what room we were in, even though we stayed 7 nights! Nice to have a pool but hours were limited to 8-8 which is hard when you're out all day; relaxation area was never pointed out to us and we couldn't find it but we had to be 'invited' anyway. Rooms were not well insulated and we could hear guests at all hours coming and going; flushed toilets, conversations and footsteps well into the early hours which was frustrating for an expensive room. So sadly Sawdays recommendation has let us down for the first time.

We enjoyed a private cooking class with Sylvia. It was amazing, we prepared a 3 course meal, enjoyed a local bottle of wine and she gave us the recipes so we can make them when we get home. She answered all of our questions, and gave us great information about the local area.

Lovely experience overall. A stones throw from Florence but a world away, felt very rural. Rooms delightfully traditional. Location good for airport and city (although probably need a car). Pool was so relaxing. Lounge area to relax in was very pleasant. Breakfast a bit lacking - needs fresh coffee, increased choice and more attentive waiting staff, this would make a big difference. Lunch and dinner were very nice indeed super convenient but a bit on the pricey side compared to nearby restaurants. That said we really enjoyed our stay.

Nice well kept property. The proprietor went out of there way to help me with Dinner upon a late arrival. There is not much around other than nice country side. It is about 3 mi to historic city center.

This was the perfect base for our family holiday. The hotel is immaculately clean, comfortable and spacious. Because there are only ten rooms, you often have the pool or the lounge to yourself. The vibe is low-key and comfortable - genuinely relaxing and charming! The staff are friendly and knowledgable, they helped make our holiday our best ever and we owe them our thanks. Definitely ask Lorenzo to arrange a wine tour, or other visits in the region. We arrived late on the first night and the food Angela made up for us was the best meal of the holiday (which is saying something for this part of the world). The centre of Florence is a short drive or bus away, there's a supermarket (and bus stop) a 10 minute walk away, if that's your sort of thing, or you can just relax at the hotel in perfect luxury.

Attention to detail