For 20+ years, I've been dreaming of an Italian vacation that included a luxurious, well-appointed villa, with kind and helpful staff, stunning views, and proximity to the best of Tuscany. You can imagine my happiness, when Villa Del Cardinale made all those dreams come true.
We were met by the charming "key keeper," Aurora, who presented us with bottles of local prosecco and Fabio's organic olive oil, pressed from the trees surrounding his magnificent property. Aurora took us on a tour of the 4 suites--perfect for my family of five: husband, 2 sons and girlfriend. (There's actually room for 8.) Each room had its own en-suite bathroom; every room had air conditioning (a must!) including the master bath with huge jacuzzi tub. That night, Maria & Aurora cooked us an amazing 4-course dinner of local specialities, highlighting tomatoes from Maria's own garden & Aurora's homemade Tiramisu with berries! We ate on the terrace to candlelight, serenaded by cicadas. Heaven!
It was a 10 minute walk down the hill to Bar La Perla, where we could drop in for a cappuccino, a breakfast pastry, a sandwich, gelato--or a full bar with local wines. Aurora set up a wine tasting for us at a lovely wine coop neabry. It was helpful to have a rental car though, for jaunts into Lucca (10 min) and Florence (60 min)--since taxis were hard to convince to come to fetch us.
Honestly, when you are in heaven--why leave? Many of our crew spent the entire week right at the Villa! We barely left. We swam, napped, made music, read. Maria left enough supplies to create a 2nd dinner and we found a great Salumeria in Lucca. We breakfasted each morning under the olive trees soaking in the view. A few times we ate in Lucca (lovely walled town) and a few of us went to Florence, which was an easy drive. But mostly we enjoyed the luxury of a 4-bedroom villa high above the Tuscan hills. It was the most relaxing vacation of my life! Fabio and Mari are consummate hosts--they communicated thoroughly and promptly at every juncture. Aurora was a dream. The house, grounds, pool were immaculate. Maria (who cleans as well as cooks) came 3 times that week to clean and change the linens, as did the gardener/pool attendant. Everyone was so helpful and attentive and kind.
I wasn't looking for nightlife or sightseeing--I dreamt of comfort and the ability to understand--to taste--the life of Tuscany. If you seek serenity--l'd say: look no further. Villa Del Cardinale is hard to beat.