Federico Forquet of Cetona; one of Italy’s most renowned designers, worked with the Mariani family to create the elegant and comfortable interiors of the rooms and suites as well as the surrounding gardens.
“Castello Banfi – il Borgo” offers 14 rooms and suites, varying in size, location and décor, all with carefully selected furnishings and fabrics, classic fixtures and luxuriant amenities. Each offers a King-sized bed, while the five designated suites are additionally furnished with a Queen-size sofa bed in a separate room. The beds in three of the rooms and one of the suites can be separated to Twin beds.
Each room is equipped with flat screen television featuring international satellite programming and radio with a selection of jazz, classical and contemporary music; high-speed internet connection, direct telephone lines, valuables safe, and a selection of complementary estate wines as well as a well-stocked mini bar with water, beverages, and light snacks. Well-equipped bathrooms feature professional hair driers, towel warmers, large showers with oversized rainfall heads; several have an additional bathtub, and bath amenities include bath foam, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion made from Sangiovese grapes grown on the estate. Each spacious room is painted and furnished in a different color scheme and appointed with eclectic themed artwork; several include a separate dressing area, writing desk and breakfast table.
Il Borgo was recently reviewed in the May 2008 Hot List Issue of Condé Nast Traveler
Castello Banfi – Il Borgo was recently reviewed in the May 2008 Hot List Issue of Condé Nast Traveler and received two out of three flames. (One flame = Hot, two flames = Hotter, three flames = Hottest)
“Set amid 7,100 undulating acres of vineyards and olive groves near Montalcino, Castello Banfi , maker of some of the region’s bestknown wines, has opened its doors to overnight guests, having converted its former workers’ lodgings into sumptuous accommodations that embody Tuscanstyle good living. The 14 individually styled rooms, housed in conjoined eighteenthcentury stone buildings adjacent to the estate’s twelfth century castello, have retained some atmospheric elements of the original structures, from woodbeam ceilings to deepset windows to terracotta floors, and are done in a cheerful, elegant Tuscan palette, including softly patterned silk draperies, plump couches, and absurdly comfortable beds with romantic baldachins. Special touches include a gratis bottle of Brunello, an LCD TV hidden in a false bookcase, and free highspeed Internet – a rarity in these parts. The large, welllit bathrooms also come with comfort in mind, equipped with heated towel racks, sizable glasswalled showers with rain showerheads, and toiletries made with Sangiovese grapes grown on the estate. The service throughout is warm and efficient, and the hearty breakfast (included in the room rate) exceeds the typical Continentalstyle offerings, while the two excellent onsite restaurants – the intimate Michelinstarred Ristorante, and the more casual Taverna – offer well prepared Tuscan dishes and, naturally, a strong house wine list. A small pool overlooks the bucolic landscape of vineyards. When to go: The harvest time months of September and October, with their fall colors and still warm days. Which room to book: No. 16 comes with a large dressing area and both a soaking tub and a shower. The loft style No. 17 faces a rose garden, while No. 31 has stone arches.”
A host of hotel and spa openings is breathing new life into the region-a reminder of why we keep going back.
There’s a type of traveler who, on the subject of Tuscany, offers up the party line: “It may be beautiful, but it’s too discovered,” which happens to be the best way to elicit discerning smiles from those who truly know the area-the chic Romans and Milanese who’ve been spending weekends here since they were knee-high to a Sangiovese vine; the repeat renters who call it home for some of the year. Tuscany’s 9,000 square miles of rolling hills and lush vineyards, pine tree-lined beaches and palazzo-encircled squares contain the best of what draws people here again and again-and to consider it “discovered” would be to sell the region short.
Against the canvas of the timeless Tuscan landscape, a vibrant style and culture have emerged, some of it brought to you by transplants who couldn’t leave. You can admire a view of Monte Amiata from the minimalist terrace at the B&B La Bandita, opened last May by John Voigtmann, an erstwhile Manhattan music executive. Or in Montalcino, relax by the pool at Castello Banfi’s ll Borgo, a 14-room hotel in a 19th-century building restored to gorgeous effect by American Cristina Mariani-May, a co-CEO of the family winery. A handful of Tuscany’s thermal baths-among them Terme di Saturnia in the Maremma and Adler Thermae at Bagno Vignoni-have shed their dowdy images and emerged with sleek rooms and amenities. And then there’s Florence, moving apace with the rest of the region: the Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, which opens in July, could exist only here-housed in a palace designed by the Renaissance architect Sangallo, and painstakingly restored under the aegis of the Ministry of Fine Arts and Culture.
How to tackle Tuscany’s multitude of attractions? Don’t try to do it all at once; it does, after all, contain 10 distinct provinces. And do leave time for a detour along one of the strade bianche, the “white roads” that often lead to delightful vistas. Tuscany is simultaneously luxurious and worlds-away rustic, resolutely provincial and firmly forward-thinking. Expect to be surprised. And who knows? You may even make a discovery or two.
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