This is your chance, as a bonus perfect views of the centro storico of sorana. Extra bonus (hardly) any tourists !

This hotel fulfilled all the dreams of staying in a castle - the views were spectacular; the room very comfortable; the bathroom almost as big as the bedroom and plenty of good pressure hot water for the top of a fortress at the top of the town. We arrived after walking from Pitigliano - well worth the effort - and left here to walk to Sovana. Very helpful staff who gave us directions to various locations.

Looking for an amazing hotel in Tuscany? Look no further! This hidden gem lies in the beautiful friendly town of Sorano. This renovated hotel was once a castle and lies on the top of the hills of Tuscany. The rooms have breathtaking views of the town and Tuscany itself. The rooms are so clean and are just beautiful. Coming from NY and living in Chicago...this easily could be the boutique hotel of Tuscany. The rooms are a perfect size and the bed is amazing with beautiful clean crisp white sheets. The bathrooms are spacious and totally updated with beautiful stone and marble. Aside from the rooms being so perfect, the staff is wonderful. I'm actually going back after almost four years being that I kept in touch with the friends I made in the town. The breakfasts are perfect and the staff was so friendly we all became friends. The town itself is filled with great restaurants, lovely local artists, great bars and cafes and the best restaurants. Sorano is really perfectly located in Tuscany and many towns are just a few minutes away. Most importantly though the people here are just incredible. They made me feel like a part of their extended family.

The Hotel della Fortezza sits right at the very top of the picturesque hill town of Sorano in the Maremma area of Tuscany. The hotel has been created from the refurbishment of a medieval fortress, la Fortezza Orsini. The Orsini was a powerful Tuscan family in the medieval and Renaissance periods.

The refurbishment was done only a few years ago, and the quality of the work is evident in the comfortable bedrooms and attractive foyer and breakfast room. Despite the vast size of the fortress, the hotel is not large. Rather it is small, intimate and suprisingly cozy (considering how much ancient stone surrounds you).

My room was simple, tastefully funished and well appointed apart from a noisy bar fridge. The small bathroom was located on a mezzanine level inside the room, and was clean and fresh. The breakfast room served a delicious buffet breakfast, with the chance to look out over the breathtaking views of the town and valley, if you were fortunate to sit at a window table.

The Maremma is a very interesting part of Tuscany, and well worth visiting. You need your own car though - my impression is that there is not a huge amount of public transport available. Sorano is not a major tourist destination, so there were no crowds and our group had the opportunity to wander through the medieval streets at leisure. The other two towns close by, Pitigliano and Sovana, are equally attractive and quiet.

One of the great attractions of this area is the rich heritage of Etruscan sites. The ancient pre-Roman Etruscans carved into the soft local stone, called tufo, and their ruins can be seen and appreciated today as archaeological sites. (There are several important Etruscan sites around Tuscany, including Perugia and Volterra. Siena has a wonderful Etruscan Museum.) Sorano is a fantastic place from which to tour the area, which is distinctly different from areas like Florence and Chianti. Another part of the extensive Fortezza itself has been converted into an interesting local museum which includes some Etruscan artifacts.

The Hotel della Fortezza was a very pleasant place to stay for two nights while touring the area. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Note that there is no elevator and the steps are steep in some sections of the building. Nor can you drive your car right up to the entrance - there is a stone bridge across the former moat, which is pedestrian access only. There is adequate carparking in the outer keep of the fortress. There are also long flights of stone steps leading from the fortress down to the town - easy enough to walk down but rather steep to walk up. The feeling of being perched above the views of the town and surrounding countryside was exhilarating.