Fattoria San Martino - Montepulciano, Italy 

We stayed here at the end of summer in 2005 - and 2 years later I still very much remember out stay. Very welcoming family. We had two large rooms for four of us, which were lovely and very comfortable. A lovely sense of peace within the rooms. Large bowl of lavender as you walked through the front door was wonderful. All organic and natural linen, and amazing beds. Lovely food and breakfast. Montepulciano is just a few minutes away and we stayed at Fattoria San Martino on our 2nd visit to this lovely village. One of the reasons for returning was to buy another handbag. Both handbags still years on still get many comments. The views from the hotel and the village are spectucular.

We chose to stop over at Montepulciano for 1 night on our way from central Tuscany to Rome. Fattoria San Martino is located in the outskirt of Montepulciano, just 5 minutes away, at the bottom of the hill. It was a little difficult to find as we had to drive through this small dirt road to get to the house, but it's worth it. However, I wouldn't recommend walking up to the town from the house as the road is quite steep. The house has a very quiet surrounding (although the dog next door was barking quite often during the day) and panoramic view of Montepulciano. In the morning, we saw the sunrise in the valley behind the house. It was very pretty and relaxing! The host family was very nice. They have 2 dogs at the property - Luna and Pasca - the latter is very young and likes to follow the guests around; both didn't bark much. We got a very spacious room on the second floor. It has a writing desk, a sofa, and a big bed. The bathroom is simple and modern. There are windows in the room that look out to 3 different directions; one side has an unobstructed view of Montepulciano. Breakfast is served in the dining room next door. Food is quite good, with cake, warm bread, hot tea/coffee, and cereal. The only problem we encountered in the house was that it didn't seem to have a heating system, so it was quite chilly when we got out of bed.