72 Hours at the Hotel Il Pellicano

First of all I have to admit: the Il Pellicano is on every luxury taveler's top list. So of course I had certain (high) expectations and of course I was preparing myself for the stay by reading some reviews of recent guests on tripadvisor. Due to the fact that a very bad review of 2014 showed up, I immediately contacted the hotel not to get a room in a cottage. 

As mentioned on the previous post, we were staying in the luxurious, yet more romantic, Il Salviatino above the majestic city Florence - by the way my favourite place in Italy! After a two hours drive through the Chianti and Maremma regions we finally ended up driving a winding country road from the unspectacular Porto Ercole to the amazingly located Il Pellicano. The iron gates opened and we entered a very different world. A very nice lady greeted us, checked us in and offered a glass of ice tea. After a few minutes, one golf cart finally arrived and brought us to our cottage (Right, I did NOT get a room in the main building!!!). 

The room was really really small for a beach resort and also very dark. The only highlight of our room itself was the very huge garden and the half meters of sea view. Inside the bathroom, the smallest and narrowest I have experienced all summer long (where I mainly stayed at Leading Hotels) there was a shower without any glass door nor a curtain. It might look nice but after using it, the whole floor was under water and the toilet was full of water, too! The bathroom toiletries were quite nice, but remember more like medicine than a fresh summer breeze. Also the wardrobe made a very used impression and did not invite us to put our things inside. I would have wished to find a welcome present like a wine or something like that. 

We really appreciated the fact that all soft drinks and snacks from the minibar were free of charge, they refilled it every day and the products were of high quality and very generously filled. They have excellent lemonades, chips, nuts and chocolate. I also feel that the housekeeping does a good job and they are very correct, towels and amenities have been replaced twice a day. We had also a loggia next to the garden with two chairs and a table as well as two sun beds in the garden. We were really spoilt by the excellent beds of Il Salviatino, so we did not like the pillows and the sheets of Il Pellicano. In my opinion they should offer a pillow menu or duvet sheets!

On the first morning we all got surprised when we wanted to have breakfast. The whole terrace was full and we had to wait 15 minutes. It was no problem at all because they served capuccino and we could have had the possibility to eat inside. Personally, the buffet was of high quality (except the Mozzarella), the omlettes excellent and the service very kind and attentive. 

After breakfast we were ready to discover the resort and its facilities. One highlight was the beach with complimentary refreshments twice a day and excellent cocktails. The sun beds are quite comfortable and the staff was also very helpful. When we experienced that the entrance to the beach costs 95 Euros per Person for non-hotel guests we were quite shoked. If you think that the most famous beach in Europe, the Monte Carlo Beach, charges 100 Euros per Person/Day, then you might know that this hotel is likely to overcharge you.

When the sun was gone, we visited the pool. They have a generously sized salt water pool with breath-taking views of the Mediterranean Sea. They have towel service and lifeguards as well. In addition to these facilities we tried the hairdresser in the Spa. He was very efficient, but again 50 Euros for just 30 minutes is simply overpriced. The gym is on the small side but therefore equiptment is by TechnoGym.

We also had dinner in the PelliGrill Restaurant one day. The experience was very good and the food delicious as it should be for this kind of restaurant. We had a very special wine from Giglio in addition to excellent Octopus Salad and Lemon Risotto. The service could have been a bit more attentive but otherwise this experience was worth its price. When we did not dine in the hotel we got excellent restaurant recommendations by Alessia (She was wonderful and so kind, like the lady who spoke German - sorry for forgetting the name)!

In fact it is a elegant seaside hotel with an elderly aged clientele and high prices but high class service, well maintained rooms and suites as well as a excellent location for everyone seeking for nature and remoteness. Don't expect Porto Ercole to be like Portofino - it is a silent place.

I can rate this hotel with only 7,5 points out of 10 because I find it very rude, not to accept guest requests and furthermore it is inexcusable to offer such a room for a standard rate of 790 Euros per night in high season.

We would like to thank Kiwi Collection (kiwicollection.com) for providing us with such a special price. The Hotel Il Pellicano has not sponsored this review in any way. Our above written review is our personal opinion and hasn't been influenced.

Capannelle Winery - Gaiole in Chianti

Our second vineyard was the “Capannelle” a very young winery was bought in 1974 from Raffaele Rosetti who actually didn’t want to produce wine. After a few years of producing excellent wine, the original owner sold this wonderful property to Mr. James Sherwood, the owner of the Orient Express Hotels, know called Belmond Collection. Mr. Sherwood expanded the winery and added a stunning wine cellar with a unique wine safe. After a small tour through the cellars Giulia prepared a winetasting with four different wines (one Rosé wine, one refreshing Chardonnay, one typical Chianti Classico and one Solare 2006). During this tasting we were treated with some Tuscany specialties.

Make sure that you also purchase the renowned 50&50 which is produced in cooperation with the vineyard “Avignonesi” near Montepulciano.

We wooul like to thank the Capannelle winery for the nice tour and the unforgettable wine tasting! We were completely invited by Capannelle. Our above written review is our personal opinion and hasn't been influenced.

Castello di Brolio - Barone Ricasoli

The best start for a picture perfect day in the most wonderful area of the Chianti - was the “Castello Brolio - Barone Ricasoli”, the oldest winery of whole Italy. It is a beautiful castle between Florence and Siena and was in the past a very important place for Florence. They could spy out their enemy Siena because it was the last castle belonged to the city Florence.Barone Bettino Ricasoli, who lived around the 19^th century, was the founder of the well-known Chianti Classico (80% Sangiovese, 15% merlot and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon). They are one of the biggest wine exports with 3 million bottles, of which 80% are going to the United States.

We would like to thank the Barone Ricasoli winery tor the invitation to join the interesting Classic Tour for free. 

72 Hours at the Castel Monastero in Tuscany

Located on the southern part of Chianti, next to Castelnuovo Berardegna, there used to be a castle, the name of this castle was Castel Monastero.

You're lucky, because this luxurious holiday retreat is still alive and even more luxurious then before the expensive renovation. If you ever find this place without a navigation system which is just confusing you even more, you will arrive at this place, just one hour south of Florence. After 13 hours of travelling from Munich, including one lunch break in Modena (at La Quercia di Rosa) and one longer shopping stop at Barberino Fashion Outlet, 30 minutes before Florence. 

After our arrival we were greeted by the kind front desk staff member Stefano who showed us around and even accompanied us to the room. The room itself, a Prestige Room, was very dark upon entering and the layout made the room even smaller then it used to be. A real highlight of our room was the enormous bathroom with double basin, bath tub, separated room with toilet, bidet and a huge shower. Don't worry, you will never run out of these luxury toiletries by no other then Lorenzo Villoresi, the nose of Italy - there are plenty of them inside the bathroom.

When you forgot your wake up call, then you might be awake due to some gardener cutting the greens around the buildings. If not, it's not really bad as the breakfast is nothing impressive. I have stayed in many luxury hotels and this breakfast is alright, but there are lot more products to offer even in Tuscany. We found the female service chef a bit rude, because we wanted to order Scrambled eggs with ham and not to take the cold and foamy scrambled eggs from the buffet! She did not accommodate our request and seemed to be more hectic than helpful.

The bar is a very nice place to chill out in the evenings and all staff members were quite nice and helpful. The snacks and the wines served at the bar are also very good. A real problem was the cocktails we ordered. We wanted to have Pina Colada. Unfortunately there is no barkeeper at the bar and therefore the Pina Colada was disgusting. I complained one time and they immediately served another one, far better but with little rum only and still the wrong glass. It is absolutely not the fault of the staff but for the price of 12 euros per cocktail we expected a real highlight. In fact it was a disappointment.

Due to the fact that the staff members are not teached how to make a perfect cocktail, they do not have a shuttle service (which is more then necessary for tourists coming without a car), the Wi-Fi did not work properly and because of the fact that our room was smaller than expected, we can only grant 7/10 points. 

Nonetheless, Stefano was the highlight of our stay and made us feel welcome.