PODERE OLIVETO Radicofani (SI)

Podere Oliveto is in a spectacular, remote and peaceful location with amazing views. Five stars for that. Unfortunately the rest of our comments are rather negative. First off, to check in you have to find an agency in a village about 5km away, which was inconvenient after a long drive although the agent herself was charming. The house is attractive on the outside but dated inside. On arrival we were met with an overpowering sickly smell, caused by incense sticks which we had to remove. It took a day or so for the smell to go. The gas cooker also gave off a strong smell of gas, which again took a day or so to disappear. The beds are very hard and the bedding was inadequate for the cool weather (mid-September). We found duvets in a wooden chest but no covers for them. There is an ironing board but no iron, there were no swimming towels and the lighting throughout is inadequate except for the kitchen. For the most part the kitchen is well equipped, although one ring of the gas cooker doesn’t work. Rather too many of the owner’s personal belongings, including a wheelchair, were left in the house. It felt as though the owner had just moved out for a week without really thinking about visitors’ expectations. A shame, because the house has huge potential, but the furnishing needs a lot of attention to bring it up to a good standard.