Tenuta di Monaciano

I stayed at Monaciano with my family for a wedding, and while the property photographs beautifully, the experience as a guest was disappointing. The location is fairly remote—transportation to and from the property cost at least €75 each time. There’s no food on-site, and even getting a simple bottle of water required a 15-minute walk from the country houses to the main villa, often in complete darkness along unlit paths. To make matters worse, when we asked the staff for help finding food, they suggested my dad and brother walk 25 minutes downhill to a supermarket—again, in the dark, along roads where wild animals are known to cross. Completely unsafe and unreasonable. The property was also full of bugs, and the staff was consistently unfriendly and unhelpful. We were given no warning about how difficult it would be to meet basic needs or get around. To brides: while I was a guest and can’t speak to the experience from your side, the wedding itself was visually stunning and the photos will be beautiful. But as a guest, the lack of hospitality and basic care made the experience fall far below expectations.

Despite the description provided, this is not a hotel. It has no hotel services: no meals, no maid service. There is a main building with minimal air conditioning and a group of outbuildings, converted farm houses, none with air conditioning, just weak ceiling fans. Only two of the outbuildings have pools. It is chiefly a wedding venue where all the food is provided by outside caterers. We were in an outbuilding one kilometer from the main building – an up and down walk in 38C sun. It was possible to call for a bus to pick up but it was not very convenient. A car is essential to get around the property and to go to off-property restaurants. Siena is a 20-minute, €30 cab ride away. We moved to an air-conditioned Siena hotel after one night.