“An unwelcome stay. Good people but not cut out for running a B&B. Seek elsewhere.”
Bottom line: do not fall for this place. They are good people, and they have restored a beautiful building in a beautiful manner. Our experience however would lead me to say that they are not cut out for running a B&B, it was simply one of his architecture projects. No signs no welcome no decent food for breakfast no hellos and no feeling like this can be your place for a few days. To give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe we showed up the wrong week? But would you risk it? Seek other accommodations. We visited the nearby Agroturismo Ristorante Calagrana and were blown away by the rustic style and amazing cuisine and the true proper Italian hospitality which was warm, welcoming, and brought us back the next three nights. But, if you want to know why Terzo di Danciano was our worst experience among 15 different stays over a 6 week trip through Europe, please read on to hear of our experience…which still hurts over a month later. We are nice, flexible, unassuming people…and we did nothing to deserve such hostile treatment from the lady of the house.
Smitten by the rustic style gorgeously shown in the photography on the property’s website, we expectantly booked a reservation on the morning we left for a six-week trip to Europe. Indeed, the room reserved was nice as hoped. Great architecture and stunning design. But that was the only pleasure of this stay that left our spirits empty and raw halfway through a six week vacation through Europe. The hospitality was so rushed and hostile that we wish we never stayed there. First, there were troubles arriving. The turn off the highway was unclear, and the property has no signage en route or even in front. Next, from the moment we were greeted, we quickly felt like an unwelcome intrusion on someone’s private property. No sympathy for the difficulties finding our way, or apology for the moving truck blocking the entrance cleaning up chairs from a weekend wedding. It did not matter to the owner either that Google maps has an icon for the property several kilometers away in Mercatale. No welcome or cold drink offered on a hot day or offer to help with bags up the 3 flights of stairs. If arriving was an offence, our first question became a grave offence. “Is there internet?”…“Sorry this is *not* a hotel” she shot back nastily. Why? Perhaps because we are a younger married couple, the owner acted as though we were spoiled Americans not accustomed to travel or B&Bs. Otherwise we have no idea why we were treated as intruders. Note that we love B&Bs and have stayed at them in a dozen developed and developing countries in both the most Spartan and luxurious of sites. We had already stayed in a half dozen of them immediately before this stay. We know that each is different and we are always careful to respect the balance between this being the owner’s place vs. our’s to enjoy. We were merely asking a simple question! The next big offense came at asking about our breakfast, which was only store-bought industrial pre-sliced bread and cereal the first morning. “You must understand, this is a typical Italian breakfast” we were told brusquely after asking if anything else might be coming out. This was all too much. Had the website not shown beautiful fruits, smiles, and claims to be the “genuine article?” Arriving in Siena, we sat in the rental car for doing something we never imagined doing on the trip: composing a letter to the owner. Little changed, we still were dealt with curtly. The owner did help my wife with a favor involving a piece of clothing that needed some sewing, and we were “given” access to the pool even though the kids and cousins wanted to swim, but guests should still never feel so nervous to ask for help or use facilities for them. Overall, this is a beautiful property, but running a B&B is absolutely not the pride and joy for these proprietors (and guest are only received part of the year) and it’s simply unconscionable that guest should feel so unwelcome. The final morning finished us off. A housekeeper brought our breakfast and the owner was nowhere to be found when we wanted to say goodbye. Apparently since we had paid cash in advance through PayPal (note: do NOT do this!) there was nothing else the owner had to say to us. We walked around looking for her, but apparently even a farewell could not be found here. We certainly hope that our stay was an exception. But it was such a disappointment and upsetting experience that we are obligated to communicate this to the TripAdvisor community. A response from the owner would also be welcome. Even part way through the stay, we fully communicated these concerns to the owner by e-mail. This was a sad waste of our 120 euros and the bad taste remains over a month later with this only dark spot in an otherwise brilliant six week trip through Europe. No reviews since February? Hmm, maybe others feel the same but are reluctant to share similar sympathies so bluntly.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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