We arrived for the most anticipated part of our trip via our ITA Airways flight from Brussels and, after picking up our rental car, we made the roughly two and a half hour drive up from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport to the tiny village of Ronzano and our home for the week.
Booking
This trip initially came to fruition thanks to a charity auction through my local alumni association. Mrs. ATX Jetsetter bid and won a villa in the Tuscan countryside for a week. The company running the auction contracted with Hill Town Tours which is who we worked with to determine the dates of our stay. They offered us a number of villas around Tuscany to choose from during our stay and ultimately we settled on Villa Ronzano.
With the booking covered through the auction, we just had to give them a headcount for the tourist tax that would be collected when we arrived. The team at Hill Town was great in communicating with us prior to our stay. Our dedicated advisor also reached out to us via WhatsApp in the weeks leading up to our visit almost daily regarding the status of reservations and activities.
Location
Villa Ronzano is located in the village of Ronzano, a 15 minute drive from the train station in nearby Camucia. Camucia has a few restaurants as well as a couple of supermarkets and mainly serves to support the hilltop town of Cortona just to the east. While there is technically a bus that takes locals to the nearby city of Arezzo, you absolutely need a rental car or to have hired a car service if staying here.
The villa itself is located at the end of a long, gravel driveway that is surrounded by fields with olives, vines, and hay. The driveway got very steep towards the end and we were happy to have gotten an upgrade to an SUV from Avis instead of our initially booked sedan.
One item of note, the villa address is almost impossible to locate using any of the mapping services (Google Maps, Waze, etc.) so it’s best to drop a pin upon arrival or navigate to the village of Ronzano and navigate from sight once there. If you want a place to get away from it all and relax, this is your place.
Arrival
Mrs. ATX Jetsetter and I arrived at the villa shortly before 5:00p. While the drive up was pleasant, we had a massive thunderstorm dump on us for the last 15 minutes after getting off the Autostrade which wasn’t much fun on the narrow country roads. We pulled into the gravel drive of the villa which had become washed out by the storm and parked in the covered carport made of vines.
A representative from Hill Town Tours was at the house to meet us and she walked us through the property and the grounds. She collected the tourist tax for our group and confirmed our itinerary for the week and provided us with the Wi-Fi information.
Villa Interior
Stepping into the villa, through the kitchen, its rustic charm and age were apparent. The villa had also been upgraded with 21st century appliances, bathrooms, and other fixtures that provided a good blend of rustic and modern.
The main house was laid out in a square, with 4 rooms on the ground floor and 4 bedrooms with separate bathrooms upstairs. The kitchen was galley style but there was plenty of room for us to move around. On one side was a cooktop and the oven while the other side had the sink and dishwasher. The refrigerator and freezer was hidden behind the cabinet doors and had enough space to store food for the week (though we mainly filled it with beer and wine).
Past the living room was the dining room which featured a large table that could seat 8 comfortably. The cabinets along the wall held the bulk of the glassware and dishes that we used throughout our stay.
Moving further into the main house there was a spacious living room area with a couch, loveseat, and a chair. There was also a TV and a fireplace in the corner though we didn’t use either one during our stay, it was July after all and we were here to relax and unwind.
On the rear of the ground floor, in what was clearly an addition to the original house, was a spa area that featured an in ground jacuzzi, lounge chairs, a dry sauna, and large windows overlooking the property and surrounding fields. Unfortunately, the sauna was not working at the beginning of our stay but after we notified HTT they sent someone out the next day to fix it.
Upstairs, there were four bedrooms, each with its own private bathroom. While the beds weren’t the most comfortable in the world, especially if you dislike firm mattresses, the rooms were spacious and allowed us all to spread out a bit.
The bathrooms were on the smaller side but were functional. Each was stocked with toiletries from Bath and Body Works provided in a small pouch.
Separated from the main house, there was a pool house located nearby that also featured a bedroom, seating area and a full bath. It was a great setup if someone wanted to have a little more privacy from the group, though nobody stayed here during our stay.
The layout of the villa was great for a large group and provided plenty of space for our group to hang out together while also providing privacy when needed.
The only downside of our stay was the fact that the home is extremely old and things don’t always want to function properly, like the air conditioner upstairs that decided a hot Tuscan Summer was too much for it to handle. The rental company did their best to make us comfortable and brough in a ton of fans to keep the upstairs cool while they waited on the part needed to repair the A/C. Thankfully they got it fixed within a couple of days.
Grounds
Villa Ronzano is surrounded by farmland, which means you’re far away from your neighbors and the only houses visible are way off in the distance. The grounds of the property itself are also quite large and featured a number of outdoor spaces.
The main focal point, and the one we used the most during our trip, was the pool located in the back garden. There were 10 lounge chairs scattered around the pool deck and though it was the middle of the hot Tuscan summer, the water stayed nice and cool throughout our stay.
On the side of the house, close to the kitchen, was a large 10 person outdoor dining table shaded by grape vines. When the weather allowed, we ate the majority of our meals out here and enjoyed the view.
In addition to the two main outdoor spaces, there was also a small gazebo to the side of the pool that had a couple of seats. With our large group, we never really spent any time over there though and I didn’t think to grab a picture. The property also had a couple of gardeners that came by twice during our stay to keep everything looking neat and tidy.
Summary
Our stay at Villa Ronzano was very pleasant and, aside from the air conditioning issue mentioned above, we really enjoyed our time at the property. While our trips are typically more hectic and “on the go”, Villa Ronzano gave us a great opportunity to unplug and unwind for the week. If we find ourselves back in Tuscany and looking for another relaxing experience with a group, I wouldn’t hesitate to book Villa Ronzano or another one of the Hill Town Tours properties again.
In this Trip Report
