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Casale Luisa - Tuscany/Chianti
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Accommodates 9 -- 5 bedrooms --
5 baths
Swimming Pool - Air-Conditioned Bedrooms - Housekeeping -
Satellite TV
Here is a truly lovely, free-standing, restored -- but not OVER-restored
-- farmhouse in the heart of Chianti country, about 30-40
minutes to either Florence or Siena. You'll definitely need
a car at Casale Luisa, just as with any country rental you
consider, but you can in fact walk to the nearby village of
Fiano, a little over a kilometer away, with a good grocery
store and other simple shops, coffee bar, and trattoria. Tavarnelle
and Montespertoli are the more important villages in the neighborhood.
We just love the fact that Casale Luisa lies nestled right
off the paved road -- no 10-mile drives down a dirt road --
and yet feels totally removed the madding crowd. Moreover,
while it's fully free-standing and has its own lovely round
swimming pool set in a spectacular position, Casale Luisa
is part of a tiny compound of buildings (maybe 5 structures
in all), in one of which the extremely welcoming and helpful
owner resides. So you're not totally isolated in the event
of need.
Very atmospheric old home, with modern conveniences. Beamed
ceilings and terracotta floors throughout. Also good lighting
and closet space throughout, and nice rugs as well. Ground
floor: Big welcoming foyer/entry hall. Down three steps from
the entry hall: cozy family room with sofa, chairs, satellite
TV. Through the family room: Bedroom with excellent-quality
indivisible matrimonial bed and bathroom en-suite with shower
over tub. In effect, this bedroom/bath and family room form
a sort of master suite, also accessible directly from the
outside, without any stairs from the outside, rendering it
accessible to less-able guests (who need to remember, however,
that the rest of the house has short flights of stairs throughout)
Also on this level: rustic eat-in kitchen with 6-burner gas
stovetop; electric oven; microwave; dishwasher; big fridge/freezer
with icemaker; Italian and American coffeemakers; toaster;
dishwasher; pizza oven; washer/dryer. Like the bedroom suite,
the kitchen has immediate independent access to the outside
where a table is set up for alfresco dining in an especially
panoramic position. Also, about 5 feet OUTSIDE the kitchen,
you'll find a tiny but complete full bathroom with shower.
Upstairs: A second big landing/hall with an attractive rolltop
desk. Off this landing, Casale Luisa's formal living/dining
room with fireplace, stereo/CD, and comfortable seating for
all. Also off the landing are 3 bedrooms: one matrimonial
with its own brand-new en-suite bathroom; one twin (not unifiable)
and one single, with these last two bedrooms sharing a bathroom
between them.
Upstairs again from the second-floor landing (watch your
head going up these stairs!) lies Casale Luisa's fifth, final
bedroom, pretty much a second master bedroom, with an indivisible
matrimonial bed, plus an en-suite bathroom, with a sort of
Alpine-style woodwork, with tub, separate shower stall, double
sinks, and tons of storage space.
With 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, Casale Luisa must be perfect
for 5 couples, right? No. One of the bedrooms is most definitely
a single, so 5 couples are out no matter what. So what about
4 couples? Four couples are definitely doable IF one accepts
some fairly significant inequality in the bedrooms. The beds
in the twin bedroom, for example, are NOT unifiable: they
sit against opposite walls with a doorway in between. What
you've really got is two master bedroom suites and two perfectly
decent, but less good, other bedrooms for couples, all with
their own bathrooms. So yes, 4 couples, but ....
Amenities? Daily housekeeping included; cooking possible
but not in an overly formal sense; air-conditioning units
in all bedrooms; phone for incoming calls and LOCAL outgoing
calls; internet point; satellite TV; window screens; stereo/CD.
And in this location, with these amenities, we have to say
that Casale Luisa is one of the most reasonably priced properties
we know. It gets our highest recommendation. PLEASE NOTE:
A maximum of 3 children under 12 at any one time.
| Rates: |
June 28-Aug 30 |
Mar 22-29;
May 3-June 28;
Aug 30-Oct 4; Dec 20-Jan 10, 2009 |
Other periods |
| 4,950
euros / week |
4,300
euros / week
|
3,500
euros / week |
| Extras: |
Crib 100 euros/wk; late arrival 50 euros; final cleaning 220 euros; air conditioning in bedrooms as metered |
| Arrival: |
Saturday
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Minimum stay:
|
1 week
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