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Fagiolari.

Total Number of Comments in this list: 9


Combined User Ratings:
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4.25		 Quality Rating:
5		 Welcome Rating:
5		 Charm Rating:
4.83

Overall Rating:
5		 Quality Rating:
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5

Fagiolari B&B, just outside the village of Panzano, in the Greve area of Chianti, was indeed a great & wise selection for our 8 night stay in Tuscany. We spent our 8 nights at Fagiolari after a 7 night stay in Provence.

Approx. 3.5 hour drive up from Roma we came upon the delightful Village of Panzano, which is situated about 20 minutes up from the Town of Greve, and then a fun ride on the dirt road from the village for a little over a mile, through vineyards & past other homes, to Fagiolari. Pay no mind to comments about a long & bumpy dirt road to get to Fagiolari. The 5 minute drive is fun & exciting & added an element of anticipation & adventure ( we always have a car when we travel ).

We ( the wife & I from Northeast USA ) are very particular re accommodations & meals, and we were very pleased with both at Fagiolari. Panzano is perfectly / centrally located for all day trips & driving is easy once you understand the road signs, although all Chianti roads are very winding, adding to the thrills & excitement of the region. Firenze is 1 hour by car or bus from the Village of Panzano. We took the bus on 2 separate days to Firenze & very glad we did.

Castellina, Siena, San Gimignano. Radda, Greve, Volterra, Montalcino , Montepulciano, Monteriggioni, and all the other towns & villages in between are easy to reach. Our favorite small town ( 35 minutes from Panzano ) is Radda, with it\’s local charm & wonderfully maintained ancient buildings ( maintenance is mandated by the Village ).

The Village of Panzano has several excellent restaurants only 5 minutes from Fagiolari. The Village butcher, Dario Cecchini, is quite the area attraction... do not miss time at his shop & be sure to eat at one of his 3 restaurants in the Village, esp. if you love Bistecca..

Fagiolari, located on a hillside in one of the valleys, provides fantastic views of Panzano & the local vineyards ( no rain fell in the area for 5 months, so we were careful with water use ), and the very relaxed, quiet atmosphere at the lovely pool was exceptional. The main house is approx. 800 yrs. old & beautifully restored by Giulietta over many years. We stayed in the charming, rustic & very private air-conditioned cottage with kitchen & good mattress, a short stroll from the main house. The included breakfasts in the main house were prepared & served with much love and attention, and served in the communal large dining room, or you can take your breakfast al fresco on the cover patio.

Our delightful host / owner, Giulietta ( fluent in English & well known in the USA for her cooking ), was gracious & helpful in every respect. Dinners are not part of the program on a daily basis. We and another couple from Australia took a cooking class with Giulietta, and from 17:00 - 22:00 ( 5 -10 PM ) created ( everything from scratch ) & enjoyed our wonderful Tuscan meal of Ravioli di Ricotta e Spinaci; Zucchini, Pomodoro e Basilico al forno; Arista al Latte ( pork loin cooked in milk ); and to top it all off, Giulietta\’s family recipe for Il Tiramisu. Wow !! What a dinner that was !!

September was the perfect time !

Everything was wonderful & we would be most pleased to stay again at Fagiolari. And to Giulietta: ’Bravissimo e Grazie mille’.

Dennis & Rita

-- DHealey (September 24, 2011)
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5
We just returned from our stay at Fagiolari. This inn exceeded all our expectations. I booked this inn, because of the low price, and couldn’t believe how nice it was! I am almost afraid to tell how nice our stay was, for fear we won’t be able to get a reservation next year! Our room was room "M". It was very large, and we had our own heater in the room, so complaints of coldness in other reviews are not true in this room. The bathroom is modern and beautiful. The breakfasts consisted of homemade cakes and breads, yogurt, homemade jam, corn flakes, etc. A perfectly acceptable Italian breakfast. The landscape surrounding this inn is picturesque and serene. My husband and I just wish we had planned to stay longer! We did day trips to Florence (less then 1 hour drive) Pisa (2 hr drive), Montalcino, and Montelpulciano, which was a great base for these trips, but we need to go back just to visit Chianti where Fagiolari is situated. We had a meal at Fagiolari, made by Guiletta, which was absolutely fabulous, and a great value. I highly recommend Fagiolari!
-- Lisa Rutt (November 2, 2009)
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We have just returned from a wonderful European vacation which began at Fagiolari, Panzano in Chianti. We were delighted by the quiet, relaxing, spectacular location of the farmhouse, and equally impressed by Giulietta\’s low-profile gracious hospitality, and her outstanding culinary skills. Our only suggestion for improvement would be a greater variety of fresh bread and fresh fruit at breakfast.

We will cherish the memory of our return to Tuscany in 2009.

-- Pam & John Charlesworth (July 11, 2009)
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I happen to book my stay thru AAA and knew nothing specific about my ’Tuscan B&B with Cooking Classes’. This was really my first experience with a B & B. But.....the vacation gods were shining on me! My husband and I had a fabulous experience...the scenery, the food, the wine, the new friends we made around the dining table. Really not one thing wrong except that we had to leave. I’ve since learned that this is a highly recommended place (Karen Brown’s rating as well as others) and Giulietta is an international chef/educator. While I don’t really like to cook, I thoroughly enjoyed the classes and have used some of the recipes at home. Really surprised my family! Now that is a talented teacher. I read Sandra Monk’s review and can’t possibly relate. During our time on property, Giulietta was a perfect hostess. She showed concerned for how her guests were treated. I think we got asked every day either what we were up to or what we had done. And when we asked for some advice on local things, she shared what she could. I’m afraid Ms Monk is traveling to Europe but not willing to take in the European experience, quite possibly adding to the bad sterotype of an American tourist. It’s that bad tourist image that probably lead to the request to leave Giulietta alone prior to cooking classes and the meal preparation. Isn’t it reasonable that she needs uninterrupted time to prepare so classes run smoothly and dinner is served or breakfast is out so people can start their day? Aren’t we taught that better communication occurs when expectations are established. In reading Giulietta’s response, it just goes to show you how much she does think of her actions. This place is fabulous. I highly recommend it to all. I can’t wait until I can travel back and bring my friends who I know would enjoy all it it’s charms.
-- Karen Berthiaume (July 6, 2009)
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Although I would agree with all of the statements in the review below about the property, we found this B and B very disappointing for several reasons and we actually cut short our stay there and left two days early. We found Guilietta to be welcoming but in no way helpful to foreign travelers in the way we have come to expect from B and B hosts. Our rooms were very charming in decor but were uncomfortably cold. There was no room service as warned in the information booklet provided but since the rooms were not heated through the day we couldn’t get our towels dry! We found the booklet’s ’warnings’ not to ask questions before breakfast or for early breakfast or for help with travel planning to be very off putting. Problems using the telephone and managing the front door key were not handled very graciously. Although, we were welcomed by a good morning at breakfast the hostess showed no other interest in us whatsoever: she never learned our names , asked where we were from, where we had been or where we were going and never offered any advice about the area. After the morning greeting, she retreated to the kitchen where she talked to her assistant all the while ignoring her guests. Although we had indicated an interest in doing a cooking lesson, no information or interest in accommodating us was offered. Although she sold wine , olive oil and some local products, no information was offered though we probably would have bought some things. For an establishment offering cooking lessons in Tuscany, the only food we were given was the dullest and poorest of any continental breakfast we received anywhere in Italy! I do not mean to unkind to our hostess but perhaps she is not aware of what people expect from a Band B host. On her behalf, it was the off season and she was busy working on the property but we really had the feeling that we weren’t really wanted there except for the money we were paying. I must also tell you that we used several other of your recommendations as I have on previous trips to Italy and have been more than satisfied with all places selected. I don’t generally write reviews of any kind on my travel experiences and have wavered for several weeks about whether to write you about this, but finally came to the conclusion with the agreement of the three other women I traveled with that we should let you know about our experience.
-- Sandra Monk (June 15, 2009)
PROPERTY RESPONSE:
Dear Karen, Sorry for my English. In 14 years I have received few bad reviews and I never answered, but I accepted them trying to improve my behavour with the guests. This time it is really too much and I need to write my review on these 4 guests, whose names, they say, I did not remember. If this is true....is this a horrible fault?? They left two days earlier because not interested in touring the area, visiting historical places, arts etc etc. Their only interest was to list my faults and bad things on me and on my B&B. Why they did not talk to me during their stay ? In each room there is a very helpful booklet, in a very good English, with suggestions for restaurants, shopping, wine tasting, bus and taxi service, laundry etc etc etc and not withstanding this I always answer the many many questions and requests of my guests (sometimes I feel like a baby sitter). I really don’t know what I promise in the booklet that I don’t give ?! I cannot be available all day long, 24 hours per day to help my guests. In the area there is a very bad signal for the cell-phones: is this my fault ?? I let my guest use my telephone and I never charge for the calls. This is written in the helpful booklet. The front door key is perfectly working and is not my fault if few guests, including these 4, are awkward. I usually serve breakfast to 10-12 foreign people and I cannot talk with them during that time because I am busy in serving breakfast, but I do it the rest of the day!! I don’t think it is a fault to talk with my assistant to plan our busy busy day. I serve a typical Italian breakfast: milk, coffee, tea, corn flakes, yogurt, toasted bread, butter, 3 different kind of home made jams, fresh fruits, orange juice and every day a fresh home made breakfast cake. Why they did not ask me for something else ?...just to add some to their list of complains. About the cooking class and the ’little shopping’, I am happy when the guests ask me to do a lesson or buy oil, wine and all the other things displayed in the dining room, but if they decide to spend their money and time in another way, this is their choice. I can only imagine the review should I press the guests to buy something. It is not true that my only interest is the money: they left 2 days earlier and even is written on my site that the guests have anyway to pay for all the days reserved, I did not charge them any money.!! About the temperature in the rooms, we usually live at 20° Celsius all year round and not at 34° in Winter abusing the heating and wear only a T-shirt, and at 15° Celsius in Summer abusing the air conditioning. We are very concerned and respectful of energy saving. But believe me, I always try to comply with their requests, if they do the requests and not only list them for a future bad review. I still love my job and try to do my best even sometimes I am tired and stressed. Unfortunately, the guests quality is changing and more and more CHEAP and demanding persons are traveling: they expect and pretend a 5 stars hotel services in a B&B but they like the price of a B&B. I hope I will continue to welcome people appreciating my B&B with all its beautiful things, like the good location in the area, the old stone building, the garden, the pool, the view and many things to do here. I will be happy to cook for these people and as usual will remember their name!! The cheap guests can stay out of Chianti and out of my business. I mostly hope to continue with our good cooperation. Best regards, Giulietta - B&B Fagiolari
-- Giulietta Giovannoni (November 4, 2009)
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The Karen Brown guide has never steered us wrong, but our favorite place in Italy is Fagiolari. It is a restored eight hundred year old stone farmhouse located just outside the charming village of Panzano. It is in a great location in the heart of the Chianti wine country. The views from Fagiolari look like a painting; a patchwork quilt of vineyards, olive groves and cyprus trees. You can easily visit Florence, Sienna or Tuscan hill towns like San Gimignano from Fagiolari, but leave time to drive the scenic back roads of Chianti. Stop in at several vineyards, taste the wine, take a long walk...but don’t miss Giulietta’s cooking class. You can sip wine as you prepare fresh pasta, a meat dish, a side and a dessert...then sit down and enjoy! If you are looking for the true Tuscan experience, this is it.
-- Carin Roy (April 20, 2009)
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4
Our second visit was just as enjoyable as out first. This central location is perfect for visiting the entire Chianti region. Being there on the second or third weekends of Sept allow sipping some fine Chianti at the Greve and Panzano wine fests.
-- Anonymous (September 23, 2008)
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5
A perfect location in the center of Chianti country with easy access to Siena, San Gimignano, Montalcino for day trips. Only an hour from the Florence airport. The last 1.5 km down to the property is a real adventure through vineyards and olive groves, but what awaits you is worth it. Our room was large with a great bathroom (especially the shower). Giulietta was very welcoming and helpful. Each room has a booklet with exceptional detail about local sights and driving directions (down to the tenth of a km) to all the principal tourist attractions. And, of course, there are the home cooked dinners - yummy - frequently put together with the help of her daily cooking class students;also her own wine, grapa, soap, cookbook, aprons, etc. A keeper and we’ll be there again some day.
-- Terrence Lapierre (February 7, 2008)