Rental villa in Tuscany

We spent the last week of August in a rental villa in Tuscany with family and friends to celebrate my 50^th birthday. The rental period was Saturday-Saturday and we had people arriving between Saturday and Wednesday.

How I found the villa

I had dreamt of doing something like this to celebrate my 50^th for a few years. With COVID I was concerned that my plan would fall through. Luckily by early 2022, I felt the situation was stable enough to start making the plans. I had a few criteria for the villa. It had to have accommodation for around 15 people, a pool and be at most an hour’s drive from Florence. The budget was also an issue as I wanted to pay for the villa myself and I’m not rolling in money. After incessant googling and browsing through numerous villa rental sites it was time to send out inquiries. I sent several inquiries in April and many of the properties ended up being unavailable for the desired dates. The villa I rented was found at https://www.tuscany-villas.it/. Communication with the service provider was easy and they responded quickly.

The villa

The villa I rented was called Villa Mugello. I was very happy with the villa and the owner was extremely helpful and responsive. We had some problems finding the villa as there was no address to enter into GPS. We got written instructions but our GPS decided to use a different route so we couldn’t really follow the instructions. Eventually, we did find the right place and were welcomed by the owner. After a quick tour of the villa and the premises, we settled in. The main villa had 5 double bedrooms and one single bedroom, two bathrooms, and a separate toilet. There was a nice kitchen, a huge dining room, and a lounge. Our rental also included a separate annex with two double bedrooms, a bathroom, a separate toilet, a kitchen, and a lounge.

The grounds

The grounds were massive with various seating areas. There was a pool and small jacuzzi, an outdoor gas stove, and a wood-burning barbeque. There were fig trees, pear trees, plum trees, olive trees, and lemons growing on the property, which you could enjoy freely. Only the figs and plums were ripe but both were delicious. The views from the villa were spectacular as it was perched on top of a high hill.

The only small downside with the villa was that some of the appliances were outdated or rather worn. This was only a slight nuisance and we managed nicely with what was available. Had I been willing and able to rent a more expensive property such issues would probably not have occurred. All in all the entire renting experience and the villa itself were pleasant surprises and I would do this again given the chance.

I will soon post actual travel stories from our trip so stay tuned.