I was staying with friends down the road from San Sano for a couple of months to experience the Italian countryside as I had dreamt of for many years. On one of my daily walks into and through San Sano, I discovered the absolutely magical Castellare de'Noveschi. Barabara, the manager, was at the front desk when I poked my head in to see what this lovely place was all about. She greeted me with such a warm, friendly and welcoming attitude....offering with enthusiasm to show me around this lovely place. I was immediately taken by the unique and charming rooms particularly the ones that overlook the little park, the pretty restaurant with delicious food, the tranquil pool area and the "wine therapy" bath which captured my attention the most. Barbara was so engaging and helpful- I booked a massage and wine therapy treatment for myself for the following week. The massage was not good, although the wine therapy bath was amazing! It is a luxurious and atmospheric experience of soaking in a huge bubbling tub of wine salt extracts with classical music, candles and total privacy. Really special. I would stop by every now and then with questions about the area, restaurants, etc. and Barbara was a total gem. Helpful and caring, going out of her way constantly. I returned for a special dinner in their upstairs private room with a fire blazing and delicious food. Very romantic. The day before I left Chianti, I took a private cooking lesson in their restaurant kitchen with the new chefs and had a wonderful time learning how to make fresh pasta, sauce, chicken...with the warmest guidance in Italian (Barbara helped translate!). I enjoyed the meal that I/we had prepared in their pretty dining room with a delicious glass of wine and was very sad to be leaving this enchanting spot. Also, their bath products (the lotion and body oil) are incredible!I purchased several of each and will treasure them and give as gifts...really special and elegant- they smell and feel silky and beautiful. Overall, my experiences at Castellare de'Noveschi were all very positive and special...I can't wait to return!

We only got 3 out of our 7 nights as Barbara (the manager) had cocked up. So we stayed in the neighbouring San Sano Hotel, which is not the same standard at all. We were offered the wine room as an upgrade compensation for our inconvenience, but after seeing the TA comments we declined.

However, the good bits -
pool - gorgeous and hardly ever used, so it was like our own private pool.
accommodation - lovely. If only we had had it for 7 nights......(not sure if we were upgraded or not as we had booked a double suite room and that is what we seemed to be in)
food - on the whole lovely (although breakfast variable) Evening meals handled totally by Andrea the chef and are fantastic value. You get cold chianti included so the total cost is about €40. And the standard is very high, plus Andrea lets you go off piste. Go for the rosemary and red pepper pasta.

Could do better
Slightly worn around the edges in places - pool furniture was very rickety and even broken and just left there
Barbara is very enthusiastic and helpful but not massively accurate - so the trattoria in the village (which is very nice) shuts on a Wed, not a Thurs. The directions to the hotel were not great (and wrong.....the name of the interchange south of florence has changed and is called Imprenuta, or very similar). However, she does really try and get things right and was very nice. Just double check.
No air con - it was 35 degrees every day and a noisy fan did not cut it. And was too loud to keep on at night.

San Sano is very lovely. And for a fabulous lunch go to Badio di Coltibuoni ....and do the tour of the B&B/old monastery as well.

We stayed here for two nights and were dissapointed. When we arrived we were rushed into our room with a very quick tour of the property and then told we needed to make dinner reservationsw within the next 20 min or we would not be able to eat there. The chef seemed very stressed and unfriendly so we ate at the friendly Tratorria down the road later without any pressure. We had the Wine Barrel room, which was unique and quirky but cave-like and not nice to spend time in. In addition, to get any air the window needed to be open which wouldnt have been any problem at all except it was at street level and the motor scooter and strewet noise was loud, even in that little tiny town. We really didnt feel very welcome by anyone there except the nice woman who served breakfast, who was very sweet. We really didnt understand much about the facilities or what was available. We were told we could book a massage or "wine therapy" (which appears to be an experience where you soak in a jetted tub full of wine extract) but never saw anyone with whom we could have booked these with. Quite frankly, we didnt feel like valued guests, more like an inconvenience.We bought a bottle of wine and some olives at the little shop down the road and sat at the gazebo and ppol which was nice until people from the hotel came out (I assume they were hotel staff) and started lighting all the candles and setting up for something. They ignored us but were very dressed up and we felt as though maybe a private party was going to be there so we left. At check out we had to wait for about 15 minutes until Barbara came (who was the only one who spoke English) to tell us we didnt owe anything and were free to go. It wasnt a good experience overall.

We had an absolutely magical stay at the Castellare de' Noveschi. The room is just like on the website, very special. The host has done everything to make us feel like welcome guests giving lots of suggestions to discover the beautiful area. Food & wine tasting were marvellous, as well as the footing, swimming & massage (by a real physiotherapist). Highly recommended!