We went to Castiglion Del Bosco for a cooking class and it was a lot of fun. The day started with a tour of the garden where all of the vegetables are grown on premise and a glass of wine .We learned how to make a variety of fresh pasta's, tomatoe salad, fresh pomodoro sauce and Zabalione. The class ended with a lunch on the terrace restaurant where we sampled some of the foods we prepared. The chef was excellent and he had lots of patience.

This place is really special. It's way off the beaten path, with commanding views and an ultra luxurious footprint. Very few places around the world can compare. Everything is perfect. almost too perfect but not obnoxious! The food is excellent, especially in the casual osteria. We enjoyed the outdoor seating. The small spa is fitting and the services and facilities were great. This hotel is gorgeous!

Castiglion del Bosco is one of the most beautiful and amazing country hotel resorts one could hope to visit. This 800 year old 4,500 acre Tuscan estate was purchased in 2004 by Massimo Ferragamo, who spared no expense in restoring and building an incredible resort... luxurious facilities with only 22 suites and 9 villas, in a setting that is nothing short of stunning.

Our Dell' Orcio suite was one of the most luxurious suites we've stayed at this side of Trisara. Even the jaded Mrs. simonsays777 remarked "this is amazing". Absolutely gorgeous... spacious (I'm guessing 1,500 SF), beautiful finishings, furniture, colors, decor and patio.

Service by a youngish staff was excellent.

We've been coming to CdB for the last 3 years. The first two years' experience was impecable! We considered it 'The Best Hotel in the World' - and we know what we're talking about!

But this year we've, sadly, noticed that the quality is starting to decrease.

Maybe they've changed the General Manager or the core concept, but the fact is: The quality is going down.

The views and panoramas opening from practically all the windows and balconies are fabulous! You can spend hours sitting on the balcony of your villa with a glass of wine and enjoying. I've got a passion for beautiful scenery and this is the only place on Earth, where I can't imagine that the views can't get any better!



For both of these years breakfast was always in Osteria La Cannonica with authentic homely atmosphere, which couldn't be replicated anywhere else in the world. Now, purtroppo, they've moved it into Campo del Drago (the gastronomic restaurant), where it lost its' originality and became just a standard 5-star hotel breakfast... It's impossible to order the same breakfarst selection as they had last year, because the products weren't 'Typical Tuscan'. But how are Cereals and Bagels a part of Italian cuisine at all?! there're also interfering nasty mouches there....

We initially have booked a suite with a connected double, but afterwards we decided to move into a villa. However, the hotel staff was more reluctant to show us all the different options, than to tell us that for everything that one orders one is charged additional 30 Euros for Villa Service (in other words, delivery from the kitchen to the villa. The distance is approximately 5 mins leisurely walking).

Also, room service isn't available until 12 am for the villas and pre-order isn't either. The only option is cooking breakfast yourself, which is quite weird for a hotel trying to create the best luxury experience in Tuscany. We asked for a chef to come and cook us breakfast, but he never arrived. (we had a fantastic time cooking breakfast ourselves and eating it afterwards).

When we asked the reception to organise fishing for us, which is suggested by their Official Activity Guide they said that they were 'doing it for the first time', thus they had equipment only for three, because they found out that fourth was 'not good'.
When we finally caught A vegetarian carp. La Cannonica refused continuously to cook it, not wanting to take the responsibility and proposing us to sign a paper, that we won't have any questions to the restaurant. In the end, we decided not to eat it.

The rooms and villas are very cozy and very well thought-out. But the level of service is now coming down, so that it's not so much of a pleasure staying here now.

However, it's SUCH a pity, that such an idea and concept is now being killed. It's SO difficult to create something and SO easy to destroy it...