L'Andana

Wonderful atmosphere of the countryside. L'Andana have very nice staff who can help and know the wines. It has a spacious spa that also has nice staff. They make a great Sunday grill brunch here /Gratinated potatoes yummy...To Castiglione della Pescaia it's about 10 minutes so the sea is around the corner. Michelin's restaurant offers high quality raw materials on the evening, but when cooking for two hours, I recommend restaurants in the city where they are well-equipped and have a large selection of wines.

What a beautiful, peaceful and relaxing setting. Great friendly professional staff complimented by great food, great wine and superb olive oil (all produced from the onsite vineyard and olive groves). If you like good food, good wine and piece and quiet this is the place to stay in Grosseto.

I have just ended a week long corporate event at this supremely impressive property. We took it over exclusively and given the guests have stayed in some of the best hotels around the world their response to L'Andana was stunning! They were just knocked out by the location, by the grounds, by the rooms, by the service and the quality of everything they touched or consumed. And we were delighted by the response of the entire team here - they were with us every step of the way during our event and we really could not have asked for anything more. The property is beautiful - the raised location of the main house and it's adjoined building gives it an immediately impressive look. The grounds are simply stunning with vineyards and olive groves either side. The Casa Badiola just a short walk away from the main property proved to be an ideal spot for staff - close by, but ideal for morning meetings and evening staff meals. The facilities were excellent - the Spa area was an indulgence for guests and staff alike. There are three swimming pools - two outdoor - plus a vitality pool, sauna and steam. Excellent treatments are available and there is a good, small gym too. The decor and fittings of rooms are relaxing but impressive and envy room has fantastic views either towards the coast or over the estate. Although this was a corporate event it is clear the hotel would be ideal for an indulgent and romantic break. Golf lovers have a practice range and there is also a kids club - far enough away from the hotel to allow adults to relax quietly. The hotel is also well located for touring - Sienna, Florence and Pisa are not too far away for day trips and nearby Grosetto is small but interesting. Also on site is the estate's wine shop selling wines grown on the property and Trattoria Enrico Bertolini - a one Michelin star outlet of this famous enough Italian chef. Headed by chef Marco, it was a privilege to enjoy superb food and he was kind enough to show me around the magnificent kitchens. I must go back soon without the encumbrance of 90 guests!

This was supposed to be the final stop on our tour of Tuscany and should have been the best hotel but it actually turned out to be the worst, it was very disappointing. To put this context, we had travelled from Florence down to Siena, over to Cortona and then headed west through the mountains and then down to this flat lowland area near Grosseto and the coast. For us the next stop would be travelling up the coast to Pisa & Lucca then home. So basically by the time we reached this hotel we had already experienced a LOT of Tuscany so I have the experience to accurately review this place & compare it to the rest of our trip. The hotel is set in a vineyard which is lovely but that location is actually about 15 minutes from anything else, which is a small town. This means that unless you want to get in your car you are trapped and it feels like the hotel takes advantage of this. They stop the food service in the hotel at about 6pm so when you want to have dinner you are forced to dine in their 'Michelin starred' restaurant. Of course you don't know this when you first arrive so when the staff book you into the restaurant you just go with it but as soon as our first course came we instantly knew we were in trouble, the food is not as good as they make out and went had to send our first courses back. It is certainly not worthy of any claimed michelin star status. (& before the hotel tries some clever response to this, Yes, we have eaten in plenty genuine Michelin starred places before.) When you arrive you think the hotel is going to be good and the upgrade definitely helps, but then they take you up to the room and you see a sign telling you how much the room should have cost? Weird. Just a cheap tactic and either way the room wasn't worth it. The spa facilities are below average and look tired. The swimming pool is small and dark. In the end we decided to drive 3 hours each way to visit the Adler spa in the mountains which was good. Had the club sandwich one day by the pool, see pictures, more overpriced terrible food. Breakfast, pretty average buffet style & I noticed the fruit and some of the other bits weren't changed every day which says it all. (Yes, Mr Management response, I know it wasn't changed because when I saw how tired some of it looked I took a picture and it was the same the next day.). Also, how can the staff of a 5 star hotel who supposedly work in a michelin star restaurant in the evenings not even know how to make a cup of tea?! The best dinner we had was when we left the hotel and found a restaurant (Locanda Mossa dei Barbari) in a nearby town, genuine home cooked Italian food.) This is the kind of hotel that thinks if they charge high prices for everything then it must make them good but in reality you end up paying over the odds for average rooms, poor facilities and rubbish food - all topped off by insincere staff. The hotel itself and the grounds are fine but the service & food is very poor. In the end we decided we would rather leave a night early & not only forfeit the money we had paid but also drive through a thunderstorm so we would at least have a chance of enjoying our last couple of nights in Italy. Glad we did. I took this up with the hotel after our holiday & had all the usual responses but I know one thing for sure, we will never go back. Tuscany offers much better hotels than this. Proceed with caution.

L’Andana is in a fantastic spot in Castiglione della Pescia. What we loved most about the hotel was the privacy, the surrounding acres, the sounds of the birds and bees buzzing. It is a very special place. Our room was perfect – with everything we needed, including sufficient closet space as we always tend to overpack. The bathroom was large and had a nice big tub. We were so exhausted and jet lagged when we arrived and we got a full night’s sleep with the blackout curtains – we were completely refreshed in the morning. The grounds of L’Andana are stunning. Olive trees, vineyards, lots of walking paths. The staff were very helpful in providing info for local beaches and packed a tote with towels for us to take along. We visited a private beach, which was fun and then a not so secret but hard to find beach a few miles through the woods from a parking lot. We also LOVED the spa, the bubbly personality of the spa manager and – the pools, sauna and the treatments were absolutely wonderful. We had an amazing couples massage. There is a restaurant in a lovely trattoria that felt magical at night, talking the stroll through the canopy of olive trees from the main house to the other building. The only snafu we had was our flight to Rome was cancelled and we arrived a day late and were charged for our no-show despite the fact that I had emailed from the plane about the bad weather. Sweet Federica at the front desk was able to help us come to a suitable restitution upon our departure and all was well with the world.