Siena Italy Hotel Reviews - Hotel Certosa di Maggiano, Siena, Italy

"One of the most romantic small luxury hotels in Tuscany"

Outdoor dining at Hotel Certosa di Maggiano, Siena, Italy A member of Relais and Châteaux since 1978

In chilly weather, dinner at Hotel Certosa di Maggiano is served at the sprinkling of tables in the dining room with its vaulted ceilings, paintings, mirrors and crystal chandelier, but for much of the year it is presented outdoors in the serenely romantic surroundings of the moonlit cloister, overlooked by the chapel bell tower.

Lunch is provided in another cloistered area overlooking the manicured lawns and gardens of the estate and the rolling Tuscan farms beyond. Breakfast can be had in your room, in the villa's historic kitchen, decorated in a rustic style with age-old tree branches or on a small, sunny terrace overhung by a rose arbour and jasmine vines. Between meals, if you're not inclined to explore Siena, a fifteen-minute walk away, you can relax on the grass verges of the swimming pool beneath huge white canvas parasols.

Lunch setting at Hotel Certosa di Maggiano, Siena, Italy Photo © Christine Collie

While food and the physical surroundings are important to the small hotel experience, what brings it all together into a memorable occasion is the staff. Or not.

In a small establishment you see a lot of them, because they are on hand from breakfast through to after-dinner drinks. (They typically work long hours, but take extended vacations in the off-season.) Particularly important are the on-site manager (often the owner) who usually doubles as concierge, and the maitre d', who is your host at each meal.

Staff numbers are important as well - at Certosa di Maggianno there are 34 employees for six rooms and eleven suites, an unusually high ratio of about one staff person for each guest.

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