Our GPS had a bit of trouble finding the the Granducato hotel, and when we did arrive, our initial impression was that the receptionist really couldn't be bothered with us. Our room was big, with its own balcony but very basic.

The bed was a queen size, and comfortable enough, unfortunately the shower was very small (hardly big enough to get into (and we're not big people)). The nozzle holder was broken too so that you actually needed to hold the nozzle otherwise it sprayed randomly.

Breakfast was great though, and we didn't have any problems finding car parks outside.
All in all, just an okay hotel, but a great location just outside the town walls, we really enjoyed exploring. The town is definitely worth a visit and an overnight stay - and if you're not too fussy the Granducato will suit you just fine.

The Hotel Granducato was close to the bus station and easy to find. Our room was spacious and clean, and we had a balcony overlooking the lovely surrounding countryside. The hotel is just outside the old city walls within easy walking distance to the old city. Breakfast was good. Overall a good place to stay.

We stumbled on this hotel whilst searching for a parking space in Montepulciano. The hotel, located just outside the confines of the old town, has a limited number of free parking spaces at the front so we bagged one and decided to make this hotel our base for two nights. Sadly this added some stress to our visit. Not only was there some doubt that we would be able to park again on our return from a sightseeing trip to another town but also there was the problem of unloading our boot since the rear of the car jutted out into a busy road due to a lack of pavement. Notwithstanding this factor, the hotel's location is perfect for fit and able-bodied people to access the old town on foot up a steep incline. Our room,clean and quiet, was filled with sunshine and had an excellent view of the town below and the countryside. The only drawback was poor lay out to the furniture in it which resulted in several bruises to my leg because of contact with the protruding metal base of a single bed around which one had to move to enter the bathroom.If this bed had not been covered with a bedspread I might have seen the metal, moved more cautiously and avoided the injuries.Breakfast was good with a pleasing variety of offerings and staff were helpful. Even though the hotel website states that free wifi is available throughout the hotel, I found that this was not the case and I was not able to use my netbook. Montepulciano is old and very beautiful. Eating in the centro storico is a joy, with many delicacies on offer and the opportunity to linger over your meal if you stay so close to the centre. However, should fatigue or poor weather persuade you to eat closer to the hotel, the Chinese restaurant next door serves excellent food at very competitive prices.To sum up, Hotel Granducato is an excellent choice for tourists with cars who wish to find a comfortable hotel close to Montepulciano. My advice however is as follows: arrive early, grab your parking spot,. hang on to it and enjoy the delights of this entrancing town, especially an early morning walk up its steep inclines when you will meet the locals with their shopping bags before the tourists arrive.

Recently I traveled to Rome to visit my friend who teaches English there as a second language. On my flight to Rome from Miami I read an article about the town in Italy, Montepulciano, where they had filmed the second Twilight movie, “New Moon”. My friend and I had planned on taking an overnight trip and so we decided we just had to see Montepulciano.
I had a lovely first day in Rome visiting with my friend’s boyfriend’s family, who live outside of Rome in the beautiful town of Formello. None of them speak English and I had studied some Italian beforehand. What a fun, and challenging, experience communicating with them! The next morning we took the train to Montepulciano. Beautiful scenery on the way, through the Tuscan countryside. Our train arrived at the Montepulciano station and we tried to exit the train. To our surprise, the train left the station before we got off! We learned that we needed to be at the front of the train since it was a short train platform in this small town. We got off at the next station, Torrita di Sienna and just missed the bus to Montepulciano. At a nearby bank (the first establishment we saw) we inquired in Italian, since no one spoke English, about a cab to Montepulciano. There were none in this small town, but a customer at the bank offered to drive us up the hill. The lovely banker told us in Italian that this was a good guy; he would not kill us on the way! We accepted his kind offer and took off with him through the beautiful Tuscan countryside to the hilltop medieval village of Montepulciano, a truly spectacular drive! We arrived and said arrivederci to our kind driver. Montepulciano is a beautiful town full of very steep streets filled with shopkeepers offering tastes of the local wines, cheeses and meats. We were told Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is one of the best of the wines in all of Italy. After some great wine tastings we went to Osterio Acquacheto for a delicious lunch of pasta, local beef, wine, and superb ricotta cheese for dessert. Buono!
Following lunch we made our way to the Piazza Grande where the main scene in “New Moon” was filmed. Magnifico! The flag throwing scene in the movie, “Under the Tuscan Sun” was also filmed in this piazza. We wandered up and down beautiful streets of town, stopping for breathtaking views of the Tuscan hills, and ended up at the Fortezza at the very top of the hill. A gentleman there told us this had been the production center for “New Moon”. What fun! We worked our way back down the winding streets through town and watched a magnificent Tuscan sunset from Piazza San Francesco, enjoying a glass of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Just magical. We found a room at the Hotel Granducato and spent a delightful evening in Montepulciano. It was truly a wonderful Tuscan holiday!
One final note – back in Roma I spent a few evenings in the charming Tatanka Pub waiting for my friend to finish work. A great place to get away from the maddening crowd in Roma, in the lovely neighborhood of Prati. If you have a chance go and visit Antonio at Tatanka Pub on Via Fabio Massimo.