I liked my stay in Villa Acquaviva so much, I returned two weeks later to spend another weekend. The vinery grounds are vast and beautiful; it's just so relaxing to stay in what feels like a guesthouse at a country estate instead of a commercial hotel...

I slept like a baby with my window open and fresh air pouring in. What better way to wake up than listening to the birds singing, take a nature walk (the grounds are HUGE!), enjoy fresh breakfast, and then off you go to explore the nearby countryside.

Location is perfect if you want to be close to Saturnia. It was a 10 minute drive.

How does Villa Acquaviva compare to 4 and 5 star spa hotel properties in Tuscany? It's 3 stars in size of the room (tiny), but the grounds and ambience more than make up for it (5 stars). Also, the price is much cheaper, and location is great. Villa Acquaviva is a very good value.

I liked:

Beauty, nature, and "relaxation" factor.
Morning and evening walks.
Breakfast (awesome cottage cheese, yummy home made jams and cakes, fruits, good coffee).
Location.
Swimming pool looked inviting, although I had no time to try it because I went to Saturnia thermal pools instead.
Dinner - I ate at Acquaviva once, and the lamb was very good.

What I think could be improved:

1) PILLOWS! The hardest pillows I've ever encountered. A softer pillow was needed.

2) Breakfast: I loved it... However, for longer stays more variety (some eggs, for example) would be nice.

3) Dinner: Meat was great, but add more vegetable choices.

OVERALL: Recommended, would definitely stay again.

We stayed 2 nights at the property to spend New Years in Tuscany with another couple. We were shocked by some of the other reviews stating that AC didn't work and intrusive owners. Each unit had their own heating and AC controls and even though we of course don't know the whole situation, we found the staff and owners to be fantastic. The restaurant was closed for the winter, so we didn't have an opportunity to dine at the Relais. There was a mini-fridge in the room which was nice.
We travel extensively in Italy and stay at many properties and this was one of the best for an agriturismo/hotel. The breakfast in the morning had fresh cakes and jams and other cold foods. We found the place very, very clean and secure as you needed to enter a gate with key card in order to drive into the estate.
They have excellent wine and olive oil, which we purchased to take home to the US. We ventured out to many of the small towns surrounding the area and we can definitely recommend 2 restaurants in particular-la solina and i due cippi da michele, the first on the way to Saturnia and the latter in the main square of Saturnia. The property is about 3 miles to the Saturnia Terme and 6 miles to Saturnia. We would stay at this property again in a heartbeat. Our pictures show the two different rooms we had, a deluxe and superior. I would also say the rooms that we had are better than what the pictures show on their web site.

The grounds and pool of the hotel were beautiful but the hotel owners have a system to adjust the air conditioning in your room and when we returned to our room after dinner it was hot and no way to get it adjusted back to being cool. We paid extra to get a suite and ended up with two hot rooms. I will not return unless I have a guarantee that they will not cut off the A/C.

Although this hotel was billed as a lovely relaxing place to unwind, certain things made this rather difficult. The husband and wife owners' dour and watchful presence, both at mealtimes and within the grounds of their hotel, such as round the pool left us feeling somewhat on edge. We felt like the house guests of some fussy owners rather than welcome paying guests at a hotel.

The food in the pleasantly built restaurant was particularly poor and of an amateur quality, especially when compared with the splendid local restaurants. We didn't have a decent bowl of pasta the whole time of our week's pre-booked stay. Instead we received a stodgy, tasteless mess regardless of what type of pasta (picci, tagliatelle, papardelle etc) was attempted to be cooked. What should have been examples of typical Tuscan dishes such as lamb or meat turned out to be simply gristle or bony and insufficient cuts of poor quality meat. The owners insisted on eating in the restaurant at the same time next to our and other guest's tables and it was extraordinary how much better their food was (and in the case of the meat in larger quantities) than the regular guests!!

There is no room service, nor any pool service, so (apart from a 300 meter return walk in 30~ heat from the pool to raid the drinks in the mini-bar in our bedroom) there was nothing to eat or drink at all during the day, should one want to simply relax by the pool.

Finally, we were 'hit' with some shocking hidden charges when we checked out. These included 7 euros for washing a towel we took to the beach, a further charge for our making and taking cups of tea on a tray to the bedroom at breakfast instead of drinking it in the dining room (which would have been free had we drunk it there). Those watchful vigilant eyes of the owners really were everywhere.

Tuscany is full of the warmest hospitality. But not, I'm afraid, at the hotel Acquaviva-which is a shame since it is in a lovely part of Southern Tuscany and in a delightful setting. However until the owners correct the poor food, change their petty charging system, keep out of the way of guests at mealtimes and expand and improve their service we would not recommend a stay there.