If you are going to be in Tuscany, between Florence and Viareggio, I highly recommend you treat yourself to a half a day, an entire day or a few days at the Grotta Giusti Spa! I have been visiting this Spa for several years, and between the service, facilities, and food, it's a nice break from all the touring. The Grotta Giusti is villa which has been renovated into a small hotel and spa. They have golf too, but I've not taken the time to visit the course. The spa has a focus on water therapy, and the Grotta (cave) that you enter to sauna is worth the visit alone.

You put on these warm white robes and enter the caves... Limbo first (warm), then proceed to purgatory (warmer) and end up in Hell (hot) to sweat out all the toxins in your body. You can stay in there for 50 minutes and then proceed to the large, outdoor thermal pool with jets running every 20 minutes, Everyone must wear a cloth bathing cap which you buy for 2 euros. Our grandson loves wearing it when he's in our hot tub!
All in all, a very interesting experience. You can also get massages there and they have very nice locker rooms, although there was no soap or shampoo in the showers.

I bought a day pass to use the outdoor pool and thermal caves last week. I should state firstly that I live in Italy, speak Italian, and am a huge fan of spas and thermal waters. Here were the pros and cons of the day:

Pros: staff at reception were friendly, the reservation clerk I dealt with was also very friendly. The bathrobe, towel, slipper kit I rented was very comfortable, the pool area was very pretty. The staff at the pool side bar were friendly and the salads we ordered were very nicely prepared.

Cons:

Called on a Monday to book spa treatments for myself and family members, we were 4 in total, for a Friday, and they had no morning appointments available, only a few slots at lunch time. I was told all the massage rooms were booked. Too bad, as we would have gladly paid to have treatments done. So instead, we just did the pool and thermal caves.

The life guard who took us to the thermal caves chatted on a personal call on his cell as he accompanied us to the caves, and ignored us. The attendant at the entrance to the caves was surly, and impatient with us. He gave quick instructions, never smiled and seemed to be preoccupied that he needed to be somewhere else. The thermal caves are just warm, not hot, so the only way to get a good sweat of any kind is to wear these weird monk robes made of rough cotton that are uncomfortable and scratch the skin. I have been in thermal caves near Naples that were truly thermal caves with steam. These are more just a warm cave. No big deal. I'd skip it entirely if I had to do it over again. Also, inside the cave is poorly signed, you have no idea where to go next. A few signs in crucial crossroads would have been appreciated as I ended up in dead ends three times.

After the caves we needed the bathroom. We were directed to three bathrooms between the caves and the pool, in a corridor. All three bathrooms had over flowing trash cans, two had no toilet paper, and two had no soap in the dispenser. This was at about noon. For a place of this level, not cleaning the toilets and refilling basics like TP and soap is a huge let down. I've been to campsites that were better maintained.

The pool area has jacuzzi like jets for massage but they are on a timer. So you had to hang around to wait until they started working again. In other places I've stayed in Tuscany and Veneto there was a button provided so you could get the jets to work when you wanted to. Much nicer than waiting around for it.

This is a personal thing, but to me, in October, only heating the water to 28C/82F, is not sufficient. I was cold after a while in the pool. I have been to hot springs in Ischia, Veneto, and Tuscany, where the water was heated to between 33 and 39 C, depending on the weather outdoors, and these were much more pleasant to soak in. If you are going to swim, then 28 is fine, but if you are there to just soak, I think that on a cold day without sun, you are going to be cold mighty fast and the experience will not bring the feeling of wellness intended.

Which brings me to my final point, if you go when it's cold outside be forewarned that there is no internal entrance to this pool. That means that you disrobe in the cold, get into luke warm water, and get out in the cold as well. Unless they put a proper heated winter weather closed internal entrance to the pool, as they do in other parts of Tuscany, I don't think I would come here in colder months. It would be o.k if the weather is warm and fine, but in bad weather, I'd avoid this place all together.

In summary, I expected a lot of this structure. I live close enough that if I had had a good experience with the day pass, I would have gladly laid down money to stay at the hotel and have the full spa experience. But this place really disappointed me. I think that under better management, it could be completely different. But as is, I'd avoid it. Fonteverde, owned by the same chain, is a much better overall experience, and I would recommend them over this spa in a heartbeat.

This was one of the most unique spa experiences I ever had. The underground, natural sauna was breathtaking to see and relax in. The hydromassage after that was refreshing, and the massage was relazing on the muscles after a long flight. Highly recommend.