Cignella Resort

Stayed at the Cignella resort whilst in Tuscany and overall, felt that it was the attention to detail that was missing and the place generally lacked some love. It wouldn't take much to make this place a whole lot better. Positives first, we had a 2 bedroom apartment, which was spacious, modern and clean. 3 months travelling around Italy was nice to do some washing, cook our own meals and generally just have a chill out in the gardens. Negatives - On arrival, you have to drive down a 1.2km dirt road that is very unkept, lots of potholes, overflowing rubbish bins etc (the pic attached of the bins was after a couple of days when most of it had been run over and not as bad). We had a brand new car, that we had just taken through Car wash, which wasn’t ideal and would probably not have chosen the property had we known this. It would take so little to put some gravel on the road and fill the many potholes. Once at the property, the parking is around 200-300 metres away from the room. The hosts sent a buggy to pick up the luggage but only had room for one person so they told one of us we would have to walk. When we arrived at the apartment, we were given absolutely no instructions on how to use anything, heating, TV, fireplace etc or information on local attractions, etc. This is the only property that has failed to do this out of the already 15 we have stayed in on this trip to Italy. They basically gave us the keys and we never saw anyone again until we checked out. The garden around the apartment (which you had to walk through to get anywhere), was very overgrown with weeds, which was not only unsightly and unpleasant if we wanted to sit in the garden but also a lot of bugs came into the apartment when we had the doors open. Plus, there were two doors out on to terraces and neither of them worked, we asked for the keys but they told us they were broken so we could not open (pic of the doors from the lounge attached). Finally, the property is a 20 minute drive to both Montepulciano or Sinalunga, both of which are towns with restaurants, shopping and food stores etc. This was probably a little far for our liking as we wanted to explore every day and had to drive the pot holed driveway, then another 20 minutes to get anywhere. Lots of other options closer to towns.

This beautiful retreat just hosted my 7-day writing retreat and took wonderful care of all 22 of us. They ordered desks and a projector and set up a teaching room for us and provided three meals a day (the breakfast buffet is spectacular). The airy, spacious villas are gorgeous, and the whole resort is so isolated that it was perfect for writing, reflection, and relaxation (the pool was a nice bonus). For when we wanted to explore the area, the resort arranged for a shuttle to bring us to a wine tasting (which they also arranged) and a shopping excursion to Montepulciano as well as a shuttle to go truffle hunting. They also set up a roundtrip shuttle to pick up/drop off our group in Rome. The whole experience was wonderful, start to finish! They are great at organizing large events.

I found Cignella through a Travelzoo deal and am so happy I did! My family rented a 2 bedroom Villa and a 3 bedroom Villa for 4 nights. The villas were enormous and beautifully decorated. The staff was wonderful and catering. The location is perfect for exploring Montelcino, Pienza and Montepulciano. Breakfast was served on a patio with a gorgeous view of the Tuscan landscape. We also went on a wine tasting and truffle hunt organized by the resort. Both were great activities. Pool are looked beautiful and well tended but, being late May, it wasn’t quite pool weather. The vibe there is very laid back and we were very happy to return from a long day of exploring to relax on our patio with wine, cheese and charcuterie before heading out to dinner. All that being said, this is not a luxury resort. Amenities are sparse, there is no housekeeping, we had to request a corkscrew, sharp knife and silverware for our happy hours, many of the windows don’t have screens so fresh air comes with bugs and some of the shower heads pump out more water than the drains can accommodate so the bathrooms flooded if we weren’t very quick or very careful. Overall, I loved our time there, I feel like with a few tweaks this place could level up and really be spectacular, as it is, I would still highly recommend it and would go back in a heartbeat.

Liked · Huge apartment. You hardly get that elsewhere for that price. Although apartment as big as 150m2 for two people is way too big, it provides a lot of comfort (we did not use two out of three rooms, but still). Apartment was having this Mediterranean feel coming out of it, yet it was modern. Location is perfect, it is away from everything and during the night it was really peaceful and quiet. Breakfast was also very good, staff is very kind and at the end of the stay we were already greeting each other from a distance (even if we met our cook in the nearby city shopping for groceries (15min by car)). Disliked · There is stone quarry maybe two kilometers away and if you have rooms facing it, you will hear it a bit. Nothing terrible, just they work until 5pm and then it´s silent everywhere. Pool is also there, but it could use some cleaning from here and there. maybe we came too early in the season (end of may/beginning of June). Last thing - something a person reserving accommodation in the middle of forest must understand - ants, bees, moths are part of the stay as well :)

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