I definitely could not expect more! It was exactly what I was looking for! After browsing and browsing through the top-luxury and non-top-luxury castles & medieval villages in the Montalcino area I picked Castello di Velona.

Not only it met my expectations, but it completely exceeded them! I will definitely go back! Hope soon because places like these are a must see in a life time! They don’t come cheap for sure but you will not regret it!

I was trying to stay away from traffic and crowds of tourists and I was also a little lucky to have vacation days in October, a perfect month for food lovers. It’s the end of the harvesting of the grapes and olives but the beginning of the mushrooms, truffles and game delicacies. No more rushing after the crowded August months and September busy months! The weather can be sometimes little tricky but I was lucky too and temperatures in Tuscany are not so cold usually in October.

When I picked Castello di Velona I was also considering Castiglion del Bosco and Castello Banfi, all beautiful properties, all very popular places also for the price tag but I expected them to be a little overpriced for my budget and also a little too touristic and fake may be. I chose Castello di Velona because I expected it to be a little more remote and quiet. I got so lucky as in fact that's how it was. A lot of privacy and all in a very authentic Tuscan style! The perfect place to relax after a full day on the roads, after visiting some of the most famous wine cellars and medieval villages like Montepulciano, Pienza, San Quirico d’Orcia, Bagno Vignoni.

After all day out it’s the place where you really want to go back at night and…you don’t want to leave in the mornings!

During my stay I was also considering to spend a few nights in the San Gimigniano and Siena (Chianti) area but Castello di Velona was too appealing for me not to stay there the extra nights and eventually take short daily rides by car to Siena, San Gimigniano, Cortona etc. That worked perfectly too.

I found Castello di Velona to be a very authentic Tuscan resort and the perfect mix of old or rural and contemporary architecture.

The Hotel consists of a main unite with towers where the more traditional and cheaper rooms are and a lower and newer area with the more expensive and larger rooms, surrounding the lower walls of the fortress, and communicating directly with the SPA and the Pools.

All views from any room are amazing. The newer rooms also offer an open garden deck with table and chairs if you would like to enjoy a nice glass of wine while enjoying the 180 degrees views of the Val d’Orcia valley, it’s vineyards and the Amiata Mountain.

All staff proved to be all very kind and professional and made my stay even more pleasant. From Guido at the reception to Ciro, Simona and all the other personnel that worked during my stay.

Breakfast is excellent and is served in a very cute room with fire place near the reception area in the main tower.

Dinner was excellent too and was served at a lower floor not far away from the pool area. I had dinner there just one night simply because I was looking for a more "old fashioned" traditional Tuscan cuisine but the quality of food and presentation and service was amazing.

Another point in favor of Castello di Velona is that it’s near some of the best Montalcino wine producers like Biondi-Santi and Fanti are right there on the road to Montalcino downtown, and Argiano and Banfi and others are a few miles away.

The beautiful San Antimo Abbey is 2 miles away to, between Castello di Velona and Montalcino. They have a daily mass with Gregorian Chants for an unique experience and good start of you day.

A few tips for a better stay:

Rent a small car, you move better, and make sure you always have gas as sometimes at night there are no gas stations open.

Get a navigation.

Castello di Velona is in a town called Castelnuovo dell’Abate. Castelnuovo dell’Abate is easy to reach from Montalcino. You can’t miss the castle but you can miss the entrance to it!... as there are no big signs indicating it. When you get in Castelnuovo from Montalcino on route SP55 make a left and follow the signs to Monte Amiata. The entrance is may be 1 mile down on the right and on a left bend, you will see a brick or stone wall with an iron gate(at night illuminated by some COOL but low lights)! It almost looks like a privare residence entrance, that’s why you may miss it ! (I missed it!)!

Many cellars offer tours but you need to book in advance.

MALEDETTI TOSCANI!

I will never forget swimming in the pools of Castello di Velona with the sunset over those vineyards! OMG!

We first saw Castello di Velona in what photographers call the "golden hour" when the setting sun gives near perfect light. It was a vision of beauty high on a hill with the setting sun lending a golden hue to the cream coloured marble. It was gorgeous. The front entrance and reception enhanced the illusion.

It was a bit of a labrynth to get to the room located in the relatively new 19 room annex and then to find your around. The room was huge by European standards and the well lit bathroom clearly reflects North American tastes. It is all done in Italian marble. The kingsize bed is a little low to the floor for my taste. Garden doors lead to chairs overlooking the valley which was cloaked in low mist early in the mornings. Free WiFi reception does not work in the room for our Tab. It would only work in an area directly adjacent to the office. Others in our party had no trouble with their laptops.

We stayed for four days so we were able to get a good sense of the property. We were surprised to get a maid asking if we wanted more towels every night. However, when we showered in the morning, it became obvious. The shower does not drain and overflows the small lip and floods the floor. The caverous bath takes an even longer time to drain. We think they have plumbing problems. Whether this is new or dates back to construction is a moot point.

The small restaurant immediately across from reception is self-serve for breakfast and is very good. Service for coffee and table clearing is quick and efficient. We think it is open for lunch but we were never there at that time. The main restaurant opens about 8:00 pm and will be covered under a separate review. A short preview, in light of the other restaurants we visited, this was not the best example of Italian haute cuisine.

There are operational problems that irked a lot of people in our party. For example, we arrived back from a day's activities and planned to go to the bar. It was 4:30 and the bar hours show it is open to 6:30 "subject to management". Well the bar was closed at 4:45.

Every other hotel we stayed at in Italy had free bottled water which was continuously replaced. Not so at Castello di Velona. I think in the room, the small bottled water was 2 Euros and the larger one from room service was 6 Euros. Room service was good but 25 Euros for a club sandwich ( with sliced hard boiled egg???) was a tad steep. But then consider a bowl of soup in the restaurant was 20 Euros.

Once at Castello di Velona, you are stuck unless you have a car. Even then it is a drive down winding country roads to Montalcino. In short, this beautiful marble edifice is a stunning jail with expensive and comparatively mediocre food.

The pool and spa were wonderful. They are a hedonistic delight.

This hotel is ideally suited for young lovers, couples getting some alone time away from children and those seeking to relax away from the pressures of everyday life. If you fit in to these groups, then this is a must visit location.

Its not the best place to use as a base for exploration and sight seeing. Given the stairs and other obstructions, we would judge that it is not the best place for handicapped people either.

we stayed here 10 days in july - amazing place - great friendly staff - quite place - fantastic spa - can not wait to come back.
The nearby town Montalcino is cozy with lots of great restaurant and wine shops

We spent three weeks in Italy last year and stumbled upon this hotel while driving around Tuscany. This year we went back and stayed there three days. This castle is visible from a distance, as it sits on top of a hill overlooking the countryside. As beautiful as it is during the daytime, at night when it is lit up, well, as one person already said, it is "jaw dropping".
The interior of the castle, and the rooms, are simple, and very unlike the "old world" decor that we had grown used to in the other hotels where we stayed in Venice, sorrento, lake como, and Perugia. The bedrooms are large and well appointed,(we stayed in the newer lower section which is on the ground floor). One plus or minus, depending on you, is that some of the rooms have a large window in the bedroom which looks directly into the shower/bath area.
The hotel staff is excellent and very friendly. They could not do enough.
The pool, both indoor and out, was gorgeous.
We ate dinner in the dining room and the food, we all agreed was excellent. (We did ask the front desk staff to show us a menu and we were perplexed when we were presented a different and more expensive menu in the dining room).