This is an absolutely fantastic B&B/agriturismo, with outstanding rooms and an excellent gourmet restaurant. It is in the hills outside of San Vincenzo with stunning views out to the sea and Elba Island. At night, the lights of San Vincenzo and Piambino sparkle in the distance below this hillside retreat. The gardens are lovely, dominated by many fruit trees and herbs, with lavender and rosemary highlighting the scents during our stay. The nicely decorated common spaces and extensive grounds are to be explored, being sure to pay some attention to the four-legged residents (we befriended 2 charming dogs, a couple of horses and 3 donkeys). A lovely and varied buffet breakfast is served each morning in the restaurant or, weather permitting, on the restaurant terrace (it is also possible to have the breakfast delivered directly to your room).

The owners and staff here really understand how to deliver quality service in a professional, thorough and warm way. It is as though the hosts are determined to see that their guests are fully accommodated as if they were old friends, not patrons. This creates a sense of calm that is an absolutely perfect blend with the surroundings. The Poggio Ai Santi website tries to convey this sense of quiet serenity which results from the place, environment, view, and service all coming together as one… but we did not “get it” until we actually experienced it. Very nicely done!

The rooms are at once rustic and modern, with attention paid to the ultimate comfort of the guests. Our room, one of 2 “Royal Suites” in the seaside building was huge with a large and comfortable bed and expansive bath (seriously, the bathroom itself is larger than most hotel rooms in Rome). The bathroom in this room has separate soaking tub and shower, but if neither of those options entice, you can always opt for a hot bath in the cast iron tub on the completely private covered terrace with views out to the coastline and sea far below. The terrace also offers loungers and a small table and chairs set to extend the possibilities for use of this intimate, panoramic outdoor space.

Poggio Ai Santi is in an area of Tuscany that is well known as a beach destination, surely packed with people on holiday during the warm weather months. We found the area to be extremely enjoyable in early October, without the beach crowds to deal with. While the beaches are beautiful (long and wide – great for walking) there are plenty of other things to do in the area. Anyone wanting to explore is rewarded with many nearby options, and even more within a 1 hour drive. There is a wonderful “wine road” very close by that winds through scenic mountain vistas and ancient hilltop villages. The abundant vineyards and olive orchards in this region are producing some of the finest wines currently coming out of Italy, along with outstanding olive oils. Poggio Ai Santi offers such wines and olive oils for sale, as well as other farm products.

San Vincenzo, only 10 minutes drive, is a pretty substantial seaside town with a nice marina and many restaurant options, although the best restaurant in the area is arguably right on site at Poggio Ai Santi. The beaches stretch for long distances both north and south from the town. The southern direction features a very nice wooded park of over 100 hectares (250+ acres) coming directly up to the dunes along much of the beach down to the pretty Gulf of Baratti, which is overlooked by the medieval Populonia castle. The castle is worth exploring if for no other reason than the fabulous photo opportunities – and there are significant historical and archeological sites there as well.

Within about an hour are Pisa (for the obligatory visit to the famous tower), Lucca, and Volterra. Lucca and Volterra are both beautiful and well-preserved ancient Etruscan towns… very different, but each well worth a day of exploration. The great thing about Poggio Ai Santi is that even if you don’t want to venture out, an outstanding holiday can be achieved by just staying put and taking advantage of all this delightful property has to offer.

We think rooms at Poggio Ai Santi are best experienced with windows open, weather permitting – some of the charm is lost when buttoned up tight. However, there are no screens and since this is a natural retreat you almost assuredly will share your space with some insects – a consideration if you are squeamish about such things.

We stayed for one week at Poggio ai Santi and had a great suite with private balcony/sea view.
Without any doubt this "agritourismo" benefits primarily from its excellent location with phantastic views to the sea incl. Elba, Corsica and other islands. The furniture of our room had a kind of modern Asian touch and that kind of minimalism we prefer. Breakfast offers a wide range of everything incl. a la minute eggs made to your choice. Also the staff is very dedicated and tries to fulfill any guest desires immediately.
Sounds phantastic, so what's wrong?
1.) On our first evening we received an invitation for a drink with the owner on the next evening. However, it turned out that this was a promotion event with the (only) intension to sell the different products of the agriturismo (wine, oil, honey etc.). We left....
2.) We understood that there should be a coffee maker in each suite, unfotunately we had none.
So we ordered our afternoon coffee at the reception. When checking out we were surprised to find these coffees charged on our room. Frankly, at that room rate an afternoon coffee shouldn't be any problem....
3.) While the breakfast offers many choices its ingrediants did not change during the time we stayed there. This means every day the same one sort of salami, bacon, cheese, jam, honey, juice etc.
Summarized we had the feeling that while on a first glance everything seems to be perfect this location misses one important thing which can't be substituted by the location, nor the orchestration of luxury, organization etc. And this is missing thing is soul.

Nestling in the wooded hills above the beach resort of San Vincenzo on the Etruscan Coast lies the Poggio ai Santi estate. The main house and other accommodation are all set in a beautiful garden with quiet niches where one can rest and relax. The rooms and studios are well appointed featuring tasteful decor, comfortable beds and good bathrooms. Most rooms have a balcony or terrace from which one can enjoy the scenery, fresh air and the quiet rustling of the wind in the pine trees.

The restaurant is excellent: the charismatic and mulitlingual head chef Denny Bruci comes to your table to take your order and tell you about the specials. The kitchen is very willing to adapt to any special requests. Displaying great commitment to the Slow Food movement and local produce, the cuisine is inventive and delicious. Estate wines are also certainly worth tasting.

The whole team at Poggio ai Santi are welcoming and helpful and we enjoyed meeting the owners and managers Dominique and Francesca.

On a hill near San Vincenzo there's a place out of a dream: Beautiful view, breathtaking surroundings, the rooms and suites outfitted with great taste !

Francecsca has a great hand collecting little things that make you feel at home and not in a hotel. The team is very nice and does everything to give you a most relexed stay .

Further plus is the restaurant "il sale" with his genius of a chef !