Everybody reading this post must keep in mind that I am not a B&B fan, but due to previous excellent opinions expressed here, my husband and I decided to give this place a chance.
We will never be interested in coming back to Al Tondone, even though Lucca is a great place to visit.

First, the location- even with our performant GPS we barely found it. Also, the road to Lucca passes through unpleasant sites; you can’t enjoy a bike ride in an industrial area!

The room was very basic, no air conditioning, no TV, nor the mentioned balcony. We couldn’t spend any time in the praised garden because mosquitoes would attack even during the day hours.

The breakfast, except some bruschetta, consisted mainly in some groceries (cheese and ham) you can buy from a gas station, nothing cooked or home-made.
The first day we had to wait more than an hour on the front gate, no one cared about our previous mail announcing the estimated time of our arrival.

All in all it was a disappointing accommodation, meeting only budget requirements.

This place is a gem. We loved that it was outside the city of Lucca, but with bikes provided so we could ride into Lucca through the countryside. Anna was a delight. The breakfast was superior to other places we stayed, served in a great porch roomoverlooking the gardens. Would stay here again just to see Anna. Benito was a gem, too.

My husband and I had a lovely time staying at Al Tondone outside of Lucca. The house was charming as was Anna, one of sweetest hostesses we've ever met. She went out of her way with everything. The breakfast was very thorough (from cereal, tea, coffee, cheeses, yogurt etc) and our room was clean, pretty and well maintained. My husband and I also shared a bottle of wine on the porch listening to classical music and crickets...very surreal. The walk into town is far so use the bikes (which are free) or take your car. If we are ever able to stay in Lucca we will most definitely be returning to Al Tondone.

Expectations were high after everything everybody has posted about this place and we were not disappointed. Anna & Benito were so incredibly welcoming and lovely it really made our visit to the lovely city of Lucca special. Their home is beautiful with a great garden. The room was spacious and clean with a good en-suite bathroom. Hot water was a bit hit & miss but in July this wasn't an issue as we mostly wanted cool showers. Breakfast was good and plentiful, they lent us bikes to get into town and showed us all the interesting places to go on the map they gave us. It's not a top-end hotel, it's a B&B, but it's great. Would love to go back.