Pietralta

An amazing wine tasting!!! Thank you to Stefan and your family for hosting us. It was wonderful and we are so happy to have done this at your home!

We stayed here in August with our family. The location is great, and very quiet. About 5 minutes away from the main road, little bit rocky but easily doable in a normal car. The apartment was outdated, beds uncomfortable. Kitchen is quite well equipped but could do with some new pans. Swimming pool area is quite nice, pitty about the uncomfortable lounge beds. We were also given only 2 for our family of 4. Strange since there were many empty ones! We took 1 extra and were told off! That brings me to the final point. The host was really quite unwelcoming and moody. I read somewhere about weekly dinners, cooking and wine tasting with guest, the others were invited, we didn’t even get an invite.

Our stay at Pietralta was one of the most disappointing travel experiences we’ve ever had. We had been looking forward to a peaceful, relaxing holiday in Tuscany — but what we found on arrival was so far from what was promised, it felt like a bad dream. Despite giving advance notice of our arrival time (19:50 local time) after a long car journey from Austria to Italy, we were met without any warmth or welcome. In fact, to this day we don’t even know the name of the owner - she never introduced herself to us. I read some comments here about a nice welcome, with a bottle of wine - nope, not for us. The apartment itself was in a shockingly neglected state, a world away from their advertised photos on booking.com: - The terrace pergola was full of holes, and the garden was so overgrown that the beautiful view we had seen in the listing was completely hidden. - The windows to the terrace were filthy (you can actually see in the pictures) - Spider webs covered the dining table and chairs - it was clear they hadn’t been touched or cleaned in quite some time. - Inside, the coffee table was dusty, the couch was in poor condition, and its pillows were thick with dust. - The bathroom was dirty, with grime in the shower seams, fixtures that hadn’t been cleaned, and what appeared to be mould. - The kitchen was falling apart: broken fridge shelf, freezer door hanging off, and dirty utensils like the cutting board. - The overall smell in the apartment - horrific. Musty, mossy, rotting, moldy. We agree, things in the countryside can smell different due to humidity, but not like this. Adding to our frustration, the place is advertised as dog-friendly - but on arrival we were told off quite harshly that our small dog (a Westie, who doesn’t shed) shouldn’t go on the couch or bed for hygiene reasons. We immediately assured them we could absolutely prevent him from getting on the bed, but since we’d be out exploring Tuscany during the day, we couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t jump on the couch. That’s why we brought our own protective blanket - to keep everything clean. We tried, repeatedly, to resolve this matter peacefully, in a respect also towards the owners of this place in trying, potentially, to maintain the image of their accommodation. We explained our concerns on-site, and we followed up with numerous emails afterwards, sharing photo evidence of the conditions. But the owner has refused to take responsibility - instead, she insists that we are at fault, that our expectations were unreasonable, and that no refund is warranted. We left after just one night because we simply couldn’t stay in a place that felt so neglected and uncomfortable. We had to find alternative accommodation at extra cost, and we requested a fair refund for the unused nights (€791.80) - but Pietralta continues to deny this. It’s deeply upsetting when a business shows no accountability and no care for its guests. I would not wish this experience on anyone else. We hope Pietralta will choose decency and do the right thing - not only for us, but to preserve their reputation. Mistakes happen, but how you handle them defines you. We’re still hoping they will show some integrity and resolve this matter properly with the asked refund for the unused nights.