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Review 2435: Rentvillas, Villa La Torretta

www.rentvillas.com

Recommended
Review by Jeff from CA

8bed/6bath villa near Lucca, Tuscany North

When

September 30, 2006 to October 14, 2006, two weeks

Location

Villa La Torretta is in the hills overlooking Lucca. It is very rural/agricultural around the villa (olive groves, vineyards etc.). There are beautiful views from the villa of the hills and the city. There are a couple of homes near the villa, yet the property is mostly private. The caretaker and his wife and child live in rooms on the ground floor.

We definitely liked the area. Just far enough away from Lucca to be removed from the city traffic. The country roads are very narrow though!

Nearby Amenities

There is a very nice restaurant within walking distance of the villa. There is another restaurant that is just a short drive into Marlia which was excellent. Groceries can be purchased at a very modern supermarket about five-minutes drive into Marlia.

The House/Apartment

Although the exact age of the villa is unknown to me, the caretaker and cook told us that the villa was used by Napoleon's officers when he had taken control of this area of Tuscany in the 1790-1800's.

The villa is in great shape for its age. The kitchen and baths have been updated, and the outbuildings and pool are very well maintained. The owners appear to be doing renovations/painting in stages as the front windows and shutters were freshly done, but the back ones were in need of repair and paint.

The house has all the main living areas (living room, office, music room, dining room, kitchen, kitchen eating area, nursery, family rooms and computer room, two half-baths) on the main level. Upstairs are where all the bedrooms are. Downstairs basement includes laundry area, another eating area and wine cellar).

Garden

Several outside seating areas were available and the pool was very nice. All the outside areas were private.

Furnishings/Cleanliness/Living Areas

The furniture was generally in good shape and clean. Some of the lamps were for decorative purposes only (we learned this by trial and error).

Bedrooms/Bathrooms

The beds were very comfortable and clean. The baths were a little quirky by US standards (small), but very clean and usable. We did have a little bit of a plumbing problem with the stall showers, but the staff resolved the problems very quickly for us.

Kitchen

The kitchen was very nice with two dishwashers and two cook-tops. It made cooking (and cleaning up) for 12 easy.

Problems or Bonuses

No problems really, except for the previously mentioned plumbing issues.

Agency and Representatives (and price)

Everyone at the property and with Rentvillas were great to work with. The caretaker and his family (his mother and his wife's mother cooked for us) were just perfect! What nice people!

Do you recommend this vacation rental to others?

I absolutely would recommend this villa to anyone! I would have loved to have stayed much longer!

Things to do in this area

Lucca is a very interesting medieval city that begs to be explored. The Puccini festival is a must see. The location is a great home base to see the almost all of Tuscany (Pisa, Florence, Siena etc.).

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.

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