Il Podere

Hey Nic, Just a quick note to say thank you so much for our wonderful stay. 
We all had a truly relaxing, peaceful week and loved your fantastic farmhouse, region and country. We really do hope to return one day and see you again. We read about the truffle hunting in the guest book and would love to try that! What time of year is best for that… Many thanks also to Sylvia. Hope your trip went well.
Best of luck and grazie! 
Ian, Jo, Isla and Zachy, September 2024

We loved our stay! What an amazing Estate. Everyvday was a treat to enjoy Tuscany and return to our private and beautiful oasis. Sylvia was wonderful and so helpful!. Many Thanks
Vivian and Bob, September 2024

We have all enjoyed our stay and Italy, Thank you for having us. We will be back. Fallen in love with Italy.
Jenny and Scott C.+ family, September 2024

13-06-2016: Carney Family USA
Mamma Mia! Il Podere is a dream and Monica spoiled us with her many delicious cakes... C.F. 

Many thanks, Bettina. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here - great location. Luisa, Nick and their team have all become special friends. Ciao!
Ted & Cheryl, September 2021

What a fabulous 12 weeks! The villa, the views, the food, the wine. Thank you Nick, Susanna and team for the wonderful hospitality,you were fantastic Nick, such a host. We will be back. Salute ciao ciao a dopo. A special thanks from all our guests as well.
Peter and Kym, March 2024

Thank you for a wonderful stay at Il Podere. We had the best time having the beautiful view and exploring the area around the house. Nic was very helpful with answering questions and providing everithing we needed at all times. Thank you to Nic, Susanna and Laura for preparing the most amazing meals for us. And Francesca to keep the house tidy and wonderful to live in. 
And a very special thank you to Nic for arranging both winetasting and a fantastic truffle hunt with Robin and Jacopo and his truffle dogs. We definitely reccommend these experiences for everyone staying at la Novellina in the future. Both adults and kids had the best time. We also all apreciated Nic keeping the pool open for us an entire extra week out of season. This definitely brighten our stay here. We were a family of 10 and all 3 generations enjoied their stay!
M. Family, October 2023

What a pleasure to wake up with an amazing view with San Gimignano in the distance. We enormousely enjoied our stay. The children made the most of the swimming pool and we enjoied exploring the surroundings. An amazing place, an oasis for rest which we will fondly remember and watmly recommend.
Simon D. Family (UK and Belgium), September 2023

If what you’re looking for is a beautiful retreat in the Tuscan hills look no further. The views from the house, terrace and pool are all panoramic and spectacular - you can see the towers of San Gimignano in the distance and hot air balloons in the valley if you’re up early enough!
You will need a car to get around but you can walk into the local village for daily supplies (the village store is surprisingly well stocked) and there are plenty of towns and sights within an easy drive. That said, you could quite happily spend the whole week by the pool soaking in the sun and the view. The owner has spent years tending to the grounds around the house and it shows. The roses are beautiful and the jasmine covering the house smells divine.

The house itself is charming - around 1,000 years old in parts and done up to be comfortable but in keeping with its history. The rooms are all spacious and there is plenty of space to eat and sit inside if needed - the sitting room is probably the most beautiful room in the house, if you can tear yourself away from the views outside! We had more than enough space for 6 adults and 2 children.
The owner lives next door and was quick to respond to any queries and happy to offer tips on what to do locally but wasn’t at all intrusive.
Hannah, May 2023

The house is a dream come true, this week was years in the planning. the stay here has been more than we had dreamt, the wonderful staff, the breakfast pizzas, freshly brewed coffee, the welcome dinner, the three course farewell dinner party celebrating 60 years... thank you
John, Sue, Brett, Deb, Michael, Denise, David, September 2019

What an unforgettable experience. We celebrated my 50th birthday and we could not have asked for more. The views from the grounds of the rolling hills of Tuscany are unparalleled. We could easily make day trips to Sienna, San Gimignano, Volterra, Chianti for wine tasting etc... One could not ask for a better or more enjoyable experience. We will always remember! 
L . Torres, September 2018

20-05-2017: Harris - Australia
Thank you for a wonderful week in your villa the setting is amazing.... the house spacious yet cozy with space to relax and enjoy the local Chianti looking over the valley.. the hospitality provided by Susanna, Antonella, Nic and Laura was amazing we enjoyed many beautiful meals including sme of the best pork we have tasted....

13-05-2017: Mc Connel - Australia
Dear Nic
We were delighted to spend a beautiful week at your villain the company of our good friends. We have enjoied the comfort of the villa in such a beautiful setting. The hospitality and welcome provided by you and your staff has been excellent.... 

Charming antique villa in a very good condition with breathtaking views in the hills of Tuscany
Left on Aug 19, 2016 for a stay in Aug 2016
Absolutely perfect charming villa for a big family or two families with incredible view in the hills of Tuscany where we enjoyed our 2weeks-stay during August with five children and two friends. Well located for daytrips to Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Volterra and San Gimignano ( you can see its towers from the Villa at the other side of the valley!) The best thing was Monica, who cared about us: exellent breakfast every morning with self-made cakes and bruscettas. Then she cleaned the house, it was like in a hotel. On day she showed us how to make fresh pasta and Tiramisu, delicious! We had a really wonderful time!
D. König, Germany

28-05-2016: Russels Australia
Thank you for our Italian trip it was sensational! The flights worked out well, Cinque Terra & the Porto Rocca hotel was beautiful and the Villa Il Podere, both location and setup was perfect. However the person that was pure gold was MONICA!! She prepared our breakfast each morning except Sunday, plus 2hours of house keeping and she cooked 2 dinners ,1 free &1 paid for at € 25.00 per person which were brilliant. Her personality is outstanding, we all loved.
Susanna the "concierge " was efficient & fine.

15-04-2016: Capathia and Aishaa
Greetings from Tuscany. We have spent this day in our fabulous Villa Il Podere  enjoying the surroundings and each other's company. This morning as every morning Monica prepared a marvelous breakfast and then gifted us with an Italian bread soup which we ate for lunch and all you heard around the table was, 'mmm mmmm oooo this is so good'. This experience with these ladies is a wonderful one, we have had Susanna Civeli and her kindness from day one treat us with excellent customer service. I am a lucky girl and so very grateful. In back of our villa we look out at mountains, valleys and olive trees, where they make their own brand of Olive Oil! 

08-10-2015: Il Podere was absolutely fantastic and surpassed all expectations!
We had a wonderfully, warm greeting with Susanne and Monica when we finally arrived on the Saturday afternoon. La Novellina was absolutely fantastic and surpassed all expectations. Of course the icing on the cake was Monica and all the family fell in love with her. Her cheerful morning greetings and wonderful surprises for breakfast each morning were a highlight. Monica also prepared 3 evening meals, one in the dining room, which were all wonderful.
We thought the villa and facilities were really great and the children loved the pool as the weather was perfect. We also bumped into and had a few conversations with Nick who was very helpful - I am sure he comes from a very nice family. Helen in fact also had a chat to Luisa on the Monica's phone just as we were leaving and expressed our thoughts about our time at Il Podere.
We have many fond memories to recount and are so glad we chose this villa! Many thanks for all your help Jane and very best wishes - will be in touch again when planning our next trip to Italy - our favourite European country!
Kym - AUSTRALIA 

19-07-2015: We truly had an amazing time ...
Hi,
I want to apologize of having get a chance to get back to you earlier.
We truly had an amazing time and enjoyed our vacation very much. It was very needed and our busy lives got us back much too fast…
We were impressed by Monica, the house keeper. She was always smiling, and was extremely welcoming. She represented the hospitality of Italy extraordinarily. We felt so spoiled when she cooked two dinner’s for us and all our friends at two occasions. She arranged all the shopping for that, prepared the menu, set the table, arranged the seating, served and cleaned-amazing!
On top of things she was a wonderful person to connect with my 4 year old daughter. They two of them had a blast!
Overall, it was a very relaxing vacation with lots of help and attention to details. We can highly recommend this Villa and you and Monica’s care to anybody. We will come back in the future!
Andrea, Christian and Anna - USA 

02-08-2014: Il Podere was perfection...
“Il Podere was perfection. Beautiful house, great location and Susanna, Monica and Nick were all stellar and took great care of us. I can't say enough good about the experience. Thank you for making it happen. The trip of a lifetime!”
NG, Santa Monica (California) USA 

21-06-2014: We were made to feel welcome at all times...
Buongiorno Luisa,
May I say what a pleasure it was to visit your lovely villa once again. Everything was as I remembered and even better, when we arrived we had a wonderful welcome from Susanna, Monica and Nico, they made us feel so welcome. I did have some apprehension about a daily breakfast and cleaning, but that also was excellent, every day we looked forward to the breakfast and Monica’s daily treat. She is a terrific addition to the Villa, so helpful, pleasant and friendly. The Tuscan meal was also a special treat and was very, very good. We were made to feel welcome at all times. Susanna was very friendly and it was good to know if we needed anything she could help us. Nico is a terrific young man, so courteous and friendly and of course a very good English speaker.
My friends thought the Villa was wonderful and had a great time, we were all sad to leave and hope one day to stay again.
Roger USA