| Date | Rating | Comment
[Guest Comments: 0 positive, 0 negative]
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| 06/29/04 |
N/A |
Guest Comment Entered By Homeowner:
"Il Rifugio was wonderful!"
"Our expectations, based on your excellent website and the comments of others, were high. The site, geographic location, house and garden layout, building quality, landscaping, interior arrangements and fitout exceeded every expectation and satisfied every wish. You have been so thoughtful in catering to your visitors needs and your housekeeping team is obviously a dedicated crowd. Please pass on to Terri, the gardeners and others involved in the upkeep our thanks and admiration - it's a particular mystery how the plantings have developed (from earlier photos on the website) and look so good with the minimal rainfall of a couple of typical Tuscan summers.
Wishing you every good luck with the pool saga! I hope we may recommend Il Rifugio to our friends? We certainly couldn't imagine a better place to spend another sojourn in Italy - hope we will be able to one day."
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Trevor & Esther Hayter
Paddington NSW, Australia
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| 05/09/04 |
N/A |
Guest Comment Entered By Homeowner:
"Since our three children were little, my husband and I have always taken them on a "Father's Day Trip". It was our gift to them for being such great kids. Now that they're married, we've always invited the spouses to join us. This is a trip we've taken for many years and we've traveled to many places. However, nothing can compare to the time we spent at Il Rifugio this year.
I must admit, seeing pictures and reviewing your website, I was a bit apprehensive that the house would be too "big", or too "cold" for us. We spend most evenings during our vacation just spending time together talking, relaxing and playing games. Well, my apprehension was unnecessary. The house, with its fireplaces, cozy rooms and comfortable furniture was exactly what we wanted. We especially enjoyed the great "oversized" kitchen as one of our traditions is for each of the kids (and his/her spouse) to cook dinner for the rest of us every evening. Not only was the kitchen well equipped with sizable stove, burners, etc., it was furnished with every possible kitchen utensil the kids could think of. The rest of us could wander in and out of the kitchen at all times without disturbing them. Needless to say, our pictures of the house bring back incredibly fond memories.
The gardens, patios and olive groves gave us spectacular view over the region and watching the weather come over the mountains was incredible. It's hard to imagine a more beautiful setting for such privacy!
Your continued assistance with everything we needed was truly appreciated. From the olive oil tasting with Louise to our "in-home" meal cooked by Terri, your planning and recommendations were were the reasons our time in Cortona was such a memorable experience.
We hope all is well with you. Please give Louise and Terri our best regards (and thanks!). If we should think of returning to Tuscany for a repeat of our time there, we would not hesitate to come back to Il Rifugio for another memorable visit."
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Grace Bennington
Port St. Lucie, Florida
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| 05/13/03 |
N/A |
Guest Comment Entered By Homeowner:
"As we drove from Florence to our destination in the Tuscan hills about an hour south of the city, poppies and blue iris waved along the roadsides and in the fields. Once in the country, a rural road took us past abandoned farmhouses to the tiny village of Montanare. From here, a right turn wound the final kilometer uphill to Il Rifugio, a restored 17th century farmhouse overlooking its own olive groves, gardens, and fields. From the terraces, we could see across the cultivated valley with its copses and lines of cedars to the medieval fort above the ancient and pristine town of Cortona.
Otherworldly describes Il Rifugio: a private spot full of beauty and quiet, bird song and wildflowers. The house, elegant, spacious, and thoughtfully furnished with an artistic eye for the antique and the contemporary, offers innumerable places to draw, paint, write, and photograph. You can set off walking in almost any direction and come upon old churches, hidden glades, and patches of Mediterranean wildflowers. One favorite woodland path rose gently for about two and a half kilometers and brought us to a spectacular view overlooking Lake Trasimeno. At night, we toasted the sunsets over the valley.
While completely private, Il Rifugio is far from isolated. It lies just ten minutes from Cortona, and about the same distance to Torontolla, one of Italy’s major rail stops. We soon found that we could combine driving with public transportation to get just about anywhere. But I have to say that the charm of Il Rifugio made tourist excursions seem less than essential.
Our days passed in perfect harmony, divided between time spent luxuriating in the rural life of Il Rifugio and forays to neighboring hill towns and cities. The Italian trains glide quietly, we discovered, through richly varied countryside. One trip took us to Arezzo for the day, another to the wineries of Montepulciano; a third to the Umbrian hill town of Pacciano, and a fourth to Florence. Each excursion brought us back “home” to Il Rifugio, where we began to feel we belonged.
At Il Rifugio, many doors open out onto the terrace, many interior and outdoor places invite contemplation; many vistas ask to be lingered over and returned to in all lights. In the realm of the prosaic, let me praise the fluffy American towels, the laundry room equipped with the ultimate state-of-the-art washer and dryer, the selection of Italian sightseeing, art, and garden books, the basket of goodies including a bottle of Il Rifugio olive oil on the kitchen table awaiting our arrival, the soporific reading chairs, the comfortable beds, the perennial gardens, the spacious and thoughtfully equipped kitchen, the huge working fireplaces. We felt utterly removed from the world, yet a short drive brought us to one of the sidewalk cafes in Cortona, where we talked to various English-speaking locals, tried out our Italian.
Back in the States, a week later, all this seems quite unreal."
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Kathryn Liebowitz
Groton, Massachusetts
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| 10/30/02 |
N/A |
Guest Comment Entered By Homeowner:
"Every family fortunate enough to add their story to this farmhouse villa's rich history should begin as we did, approaching on a moonless night with an overgrowth of chestnut and olive trees pinning the car to its steep ascent, the city lights and buzzings surrendering to a silent arrival with no real hint of our whereabouts, except for the pietra serena stone walls that greeted us in the night, the thick gnarled chestnut beams suggesting 'you're secure here' and the table laiden with supertuscan wines and cheeses and meats unlike anything you've ever tasted. And then you awaken and shuffle out onto the back veranda with the sun at your back and lighting the long Tuscan valley that sweeps up to the birthplace of European civilization, the Etruscan citadel of Cortona where later in the day you'll be welcomed--without regard to position or place, deadline or commitment--arms open and with the same loving hug that everyone young and old offer each other, with time only for now."
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Lee, Josette & Zevy Troxler
Santa Barbara, California
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| 09/22/02 |
N/A |
Guest Comment Entered By Homeowner:
"We arrived at Il Refugio after an exhausting drive from France, and all the aches just melted away when we went exploring through this great old farmhouse and discovered for ourselves how lovingly you're restored it. Your hospitality and graciousness were matched only by the perfect mattresses and pillows that made our nights as wonderful as the Tuscan days. See you again next year! "
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Cassandra & Gabriel Perrignon
Lafayette, California
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| 06/15/02 |
N/A |
Guest Comment Entered By Homeowner:
"My stay at Il Rifugio was both a joy and serene. I felt so comforted by the the land and the energy thet surrounded me. My room was so warm and cozy and I slept like a baby every night of my stay. The beauty of the land was so breath-taking, it was as if I was in a constant state of meditation. Chuck was a wonderful and kindhearted host and he made my stay a joyful experience that I will always remember. I highly recommend Il Rifugio to anyone who wishes to experience Bliss!"
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Maryanne Savino
San Francisco, California
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| 04/03/02 |
N/A |
Guest Comment Entered By Homeowner:
"I just wanted to tell you that our stay at Il Rifugio was fantastic! We loved the tranquility of the house as well as its ability to spaciously and comfortably accommodate our many friends for dinners and casual gatherings. The grounds are peaceful and the views of Cortona and the valley are wonderful. I must tell you that gathering and roasting chestnuts was a Tuscan treat! I must compliment you on the Tuscan wine selections, having them available certainly contributed to our enjoyment of meals and time outside on the terrace watching the world go by. I look forward to returning every year!"
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Patrick Mahoney
Boston, Massachusetts
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| 02/02/01 |
N/A |
Guest Comment Entered By Homeowner:
"Il Rifugio is a magical place in the classic Italian stone house tradition. Exactly what we were looking for. We were there with our kids and four other friends and all felt extremely warm and comfortable."
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Perry Lang
Los Angeles, California
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