We loved the Villa! This is an incredible place to stay. Our family of 7 (5 teenagers) loved the villa. Large rooms, nice cool pool to come home to, good breakfast and beautiful surroundings. Would recommend this to just about anyone. The family is incredibly nice, the location beautiful, and the train station a short drive away. We will be back!

The Villa Rucellai is the "real thing" - a 15th century Tuscan villa that has been in the same family for more than 400 years. Moreover, the latest generation of family members still live in part of the villa. The 80-year old patriarch of the family (his deceased wife was a Rucellai) greeted us on our arrival and carried our bags up the windy staircase to the third-floor garret where we slept. The room was quite large, consisting of a main room where our two teenage daughters slept and a loft with a large bed where my wife and I slept. The room originally was home to the family's daughter, before she left home for medical school and the United States - some of her childhood things still can be found in the room. The irony is that she now has moved back to the Villa to raise her own children there!
The room looked out on the Villa's olive groves, pear orchard, vineyard, etc. Moreover, it is a working Fattoria, bottling their own olive oil and wine, and creating various kinds of pear preserves and honey, which is applied to the loaves of freshly-baked bread that are served with hard-boiled eggs and cheeses at breakfast. The main hall of the villa is adorned with busts and paintings of generations of Rucellai family members, and one can almost sense their presence as you sip your evening sherry. Centuries ago, the Rucellai were near equals of the Medici. The villa even has an ancient swimming pool, which is a pleasure on hot summer days.
The Villa is a 10-minute taxi ride from the center of Prato, a town that itself is a 20-minute train ride from Florence. Some of the best and most authentic restaurants in all of Tuscany are a 15-minute walk (or 5-minute taxi ride) from the Villa.
It's a bit out of the way for those who want the typical tourist hotel and surroundings. But, for anyone wanting to experience a Tuscan villa, and for a few days to live the life of an Italian noble of days gone by, the Villa Rucellai is the place to do it. I would stay there again!