We visited just to swim in the thermal pools 15euro for the day.

On our recent trip to Florence we made a day trip to Bagno Vignoni (about 1.5 hours south by car). We spent the bulk of our day relaxing here at the Hotel Posta Marcucci thermal pool.... The pool is fed by a natural hot spring. For 15 Euro, you can spend the afternoon swimming in the pool and relaxing in the shade of the many trees. There is a little bar that serves drinks so you can get something while you relax.

No need to bring a towel, you can rent one for 5 euro.

If you are looking for a nice relaxing day, go and visit the small town of Bagno Vignoni in the morning, have lunch in town, and then head over to the spa and just reeeelllllaaaaxxxx....

My parents used to take me to this hotel 30 years ago when I was a teenager and the place was run by two elderly sisters in pure Tuscan family style. It was a rare gem. Today their nephew took over and he did some nice renovations , but the hotel lost completely its charm. The pool is now open to general public , so you get these crowds of noisy day packers ..not exclusive at all considering that the pool is the only plus you are willing to pay for an overpriced three stars room. The restaurant is terrible : waiters are rude and unprofessional, food is a wannabe international chef kind of thing , when the main thing of going to Tuscany is to taste the local earthy cuisine. Unfortunately everything change. I will not go again. Very disappointing.

If you are looking for an American-style luxury experience, please look for another place. One of the reasons that we love this small, family run hotel is that we hardly ever run into other Americans here. We are always looking for an authentic Italian experience. We love interacting with the Italian and European guests who also love it for about a million trillion reasons.

This place is a great base for making day trips throughout Tuscany. Posta Marcucci is in a teensy little town in the countryside but it is also in the middle of anywhere you want to visit in southern Tuscany. From here, you can be in Pienza in 17 minutes, in Montalcino in 20 minutes, Montepulciano in 30 minutes, Siena in 45 minutes and San Gimigniano in 1 hour 15 minutes. Chiusi is also half an hour. OMG, don't get me started, in fact... there is San Quirico d'Orchia a few minutes away (with a COOP store for provisions, also Pienza, Buonconvento, Montepulciano and Montalcino) as well. We have even driven into Florence for a day trip but it does take an hour and a half. We have also driven to the Marremma and to Bulgary from here. so, it's in a great position. Find Bagno Vignoni on a map and draw a circle 30 to 50 miles out and you see what you can access from here!

Bagno Vignoni is a tiny town but it still offers several (5-6) spectacular shops and also some terrific restaurants. (all within a 90 second walk from the hotel.) The town piazza is a centuries old pool filled with hot water bubbling up from the underground hots springs. It is no longer used for bathing but it's beautiful and astonishing to see. Saints, popes and Etruscans have visited and bathed here.

But, this hotel has a wonderful restaurant with wonderful food and also a wonderful wine list. Some friends of ours stayed here in August and told us they ate all their meals at the hotel and were extremely happy. Breakfast is served buffet style and includes hot scrambled eggs and bacon amongst choices of cold meats, yogurt, cereals, fruit, toasts and many home-baked dangerous pastries and croissants (Italian ones, dusted with sugar, not the French style.) Lunch and dinner menus are posted daily and you are asked at breakfast which meals you'll be attending so that the chefs can plan. Lunch is also buffet but they usually serve one main course from the kitchen. Please note that lunch (1-2pm) and dinner (8-9pm) are served for 1 hour only; so be there!

The place is clean and comfortable with a cheerful staff who will help you in any way. English is spoken but sometimes is also charmingly misspoken... we were once surprised to be served something other than the cauliflower dish that was on the menu because someone hadn't remembered the correct word. The rooms are comfortable and "spacious" by European standards. The bathrooms are updated and are also clean and comfortable. (again, by European standards.) Bare floors, windows that open, views to enjoy especially on the side that faces "La Rocca." They provide nice toiletries, terry slippers and bathrobes which are essential for your visits to the pool, which is one of the main attractions to this place. No gym, no concierge (it's small)

The only thing you need to know is that some sort of bathing cap is required and the hotel provides plastic shower caps, which most guests wear. The newsstand sells alternatives along with affordable bathing suits and flip flops. You can always wear the terry slippers to the pool, though. The pool is accessed through the first floor hallway one floor above floor "terra" the main ground floor, then down a set of stairs or a small elevator to the "water rooms" level. You go through the Stanze dell' Aqua where there is an indoor pool, solarium, sauna and jet spa, though for the life of me, I have not been able to figure out why so many people love this area when the outdoor experience is steps away! (The lounge chairs are often full of people dozing and lazing around. ) We go through a glass door (push the red button and it slides open) into a little hallway where you hang your bathrobe on the hook that corresponds to your room number. Leave your flip-flops one the side and go down the stairs that immerse you in the water. So you access the outdoor pools without having to go outside! Honestly, it's divine.

The pool is divided into two parts. The larger section is for swimming; I estimate the water temperature (which can vary with weather or cleaning) to be in the low to mid-80s. Perfect for swimming laps, especially in winter when the outside air may be in the 30s. The other section is the hot section; water pours off two spouts that you can stand under for a hydro massage, if you can stand the heat. Benches are built into this section in different places; you can swim, paddle around or just sit and soak away your aches. Pool opens 8am and closes at 7.30pm and is closed in the midday during lunch. (12.30-2pm or something like that, I was just there and already can't remember.) It is IMPORTANT to know that alternating sections of the pool get closed on Thursdays for cleaning. This production is also an amazing thing to watch; the section is pumped out and men in galoshes scrub it down. We plan all day trips on Thursdays because of this. The indoor pool in the "Water Rooms" is open though, if you need a nice warm soak. I should also say that the water is amazing. No chlorine or chemicals are added. It's a little milky from the minerals and it feels fabulous. We've tried several other hot springs and found them to be too hot for swimming laps or to stay in for long and some have sulfur smells that are noxious and overpowering. Not so here. You can also stay elsewhere and buy a day pass to this pool but it's really expensive and the hours are shorter for day-trippers and the experience of coming in and out of the water through the stairway into the water rooms is lost. (You have to use the outside daytripper section.)

So, if you are like us and are looking for a more authentic Italian experience (short of staying somewhere with a family) with access to every tourist destination and then some, consider staying at "Marcucci's Place." (The pool alone is, as they say in the Michelin guides, worth the journey.)

A wonderful warm welcome from Simona the receptionist, her helpfulness was constant throughout our two night stay. Our room, 105, was a very good sized double, nice fresh bed linen with the usual extra blankets and pillows. The bathroom was a decent size with very powerful shower and plentiful hot water. We were supplied with some wonderfully fluffy white robes for use in the spa.

We were on a walking holiday and had planned a days rest here which proved to be a very good move. The pool was fed by a hot spring which despite earlier reviews on trip advisor was just like a hot bath, in fact the feed to the pool was by a small double waterfall which you could sit under giving you a heavenly neck and back massage it was almost too hot to bear so I'm not sure if the temperature varies at different times of the year but I certainly wouldn't have like it any hotter.

The spa facilities within the hotel were very good with direct access from inside the hotel through a screen to the pool outside. There was also a jacussi, turkish steam room and two saunas with the accompanying showers, loungers and drinks facilites, the only critism was that there wasn't much space indoors for lounging but saying that there was a huge amount of space outdoors for this but we were a bit unlucky with the weather.

Unfortunately the breakfast was disappointing, usual continental fayre with a limited choice of cereals and yoghurt no rolls ham or cheese selection only sliced bread, salami and the local cheese not sure what it was but it resembled tasteless refined cottage cheese! There were a lot of cakes and pastries but if that's not your thing for breakfast which it isn't mine then it was a struggle to find something to eat, with a better selection of ham and cheese it would have been fine, a shame as everything else about the hotel was very good certainly not bad enough though to put me off coming here again or recommending it to other travellers.

The village of Bagno Vignoni is very small and quaint with a couple of shops, restaurants and one bar. I can recommend L'Osteria La Parata, we had very attentive service there and the local food was absolutely delicious, for 3 courses with wine we paid approx 25 euro per person.