Dear Trudy,

we are so glad you have been sharing your feedback with us. Many thanks for all your notes.

We are pleased to learn that you have loved your room and the amazing view.

Looking forward to welcoming you soon again, we thank you for the special attention and interest.
Warmest regards.

SORRY, YOU ARE NOT IN THE CLUB REAL FRIENDS OF LA RIPA.

First of all for this and other reviews on T.A. we do thank you the public administrations of San quirico d’Orcia and Castiglione d’orcia, owners of the road that leads to the castle. Thanks to them and to their politics and ideology made of social hatred and envy, ideas defeated by the History, we are forced to work and invest money to keep this precious medieval fortress up without any possibility to update our touristic offer with more flexible services.
The funny thing is that they talk about “cooperation” and “public use” of the castle … with the money and the commitment of the others!

Secondly, we have to thank this gentleman for his anonymous review made after his departure : in fact he never complained or shown any problems while here with us. Open and honest people, in our opinion, should tell their ideas and critics in person and not hiding behind the home computer.
Anyway we must specify some details :

We don’t understand why this gentleman put the title “Amazing HOTEL …” given that nowhere (in our official site, in other sites, in our emails to him) we refer to us as an hotel, never! On the contrary, especially in the emails, we write “Ripa d'orcia is NOT a hotel : therefore we don't offer services generally found in standard hotels. The owners offer the carefully restored old houses of its little hamlet for rent to vacationers seeking a quiet country atmosphere. The old houses are turned to rooms on b&b basis (2-night minimum stay) and selfcatering apartments for a longer stay. No A/C, tv sets and phone/wifi etc. in the lodgings. Internet point in town (S. Quirico d’Orcia). Children welcome in apartments only, not in the B&B's rooms.
For your privacy & relax access reserved to resident guests only. TOWER’S VISITS/TOURS ARE NOT AVAILABLE.”
What we can offer for the rate (135 euro per night per room on b&b basis) is well described both in the first reply email and in the confirmation notice. So we hardly catch the reason why this gentleman decided, despite he knew and disliked the offer, to confirm his request. Maybe he dreamt about a 4/5 star hotel in a medieval castle at 135 euro/night? If so, we wish to remind him that his expected and beloved services in a real castle in Europe (not a American fake one) generally are offered starting from a rate of 200/250 euro.

We can’t understand why he invites the readers to read the negative reviews on T.A. This gentleman believes to know the truth reading those reviews? Did he meet, as we unfortunately did, that bunch of reviewers with their bad manners and unbearable grins? (by the way reading T.A. it seems that the bad reviewers are almost one third of our guests : in fact they are a dozen out of 20000 satisfied guests… This is the truth! Let’s see who are these … (here we are obliged to call them) “Gentlemen” : they were people whose attitude is “I have money hence I have the right to”, “I pay, so I want and I’m on the right side” and “consumer is always right”; those who deal with the workers as if they are slaves, those who demand with arrogance and rudeness services never offered and promised.

We can’t understand why this gentleman is annoyed by the fact that he couldn’t enter the main tower. No one has ever written, offered or promised the tower tour: in fact both in our official site and in the emails sent to the guests (in English language … maybe in the Usa it’s no longer used) we write : “TOWER'S VISITS/TOURS ARE NOT AVAILABLE”. Maybe this gentleman dreamt about a tour included in the same rate of 135 euro per night.

It’s absolutely untrue that if a guest gets here after 6 p.m. he loses the room and the money. We ask for the good manners and we say : our office is open between 3 and 6 p.m. ; if you are going to be later than 6 p.m. please let us know the time of the foreseen arrival. We don’t think this is a strict rule, it’s just a matter of good behavior and respect for the work of the others.
It’s not true that the guest is thrown out if he doesn’t leave the room by 10 a.m.. As in any other place, we inform the guests (both by email and on site) about the check-out time. We have only 6 rooms and as per our location and organization check-out time is at 10 a.m.; in other places with other rates and different location it can be at 11 a.m. or at 12 … we don’t force anyone to this; anyone can choose freely the place most suitable for its own needs.

Regarding the fact to eat foods in the rooms we wish to say that the Real Friends of La Ripa are different and they have the right habits : after a relaxing time next to the pool surrounded by the secular Tuscan cypresses ( not pines!!!) up to the 7 p.m. or so, they use to join the other Friends for the dinner. Alternatively, if they like to have a more independent holiday the Real Friends book a selfcatered apartment where they can prepare their own meals. The Real Friends of La Ripa don’t make a fuss for these or other puerile and meaningless aspects; The Real Friends of La Ripa come here to enjoy this rare treasure with its unique setting and landscapes. The Real Friend of La Ripa are smart people, intellectually amazed by the history and the emotions that spread out from every angle of this hamlet; The Real Friends of La Ripa are so pleased to be part of this fascination so to forget about these not so important things.

In the end we thank you anyway. We regrettably have to inform you that you are not entitled to join the Club “Real Friends of La Ripa” that counts over 20000 satisfied guests. In case you wish to give to yourself a second try please read the comments written in our official sites where some Real Friends left some righteous thoughts.

P.s. : for those who read these reviews and think that this dozen of dreadful comments are right, please don’t show up and don’t try to join the Club. Thank you.

ARROGANCE AS RULE OF LIFE.
Dear Guests, thank you for your review, We like to say that this place is for everyone but those who here we must kindly call “Gentlemen”… those arrogant, bad mannered people whose philosophy is : “money buys everything”, “guests are always right”, “I work, I earn money, I pay so I WANT…”. Those who treat the staff as slaves, who want arrogantly times and services never offered or promised. Those who think to be always right and then they are surprised if the property (that doesn’t work for necessity or begging for tips …) advise them to find another more suitable property.
….. Maybe among some social levels it goes this way… arrogance as rule of life.
Luckily in 20 yrs. just a dozen of this kind of … “Gentlemen” (among 20000 guests) with their bad attitude, their dreadful grins and their lies got to enter our Home. What can we say? No surprise for us … nowadays as in the past and ever, such people used to siege the Castles’ Walls … they always came and so they do it in the present times.

CUT A PINE TREE CLOSE TO THE POOL .
Dear Guest, thanking for your review we need to inform you that, during your stay, our pool robot at the end of the day checked and found only 5 pine tree leaves (maybe due to the water refraction the view was deceived), 2 Tuscan cypress berries, 1 poppy flower and one butterfly. In order to prevent such an unbecoming event we had to, regretfully, cut the guilty pine tree.