Borgo Santo Pietro

An opulent but wonderfully informal country retreat - medieval buildings, divine gardens, exquisite food

After lengthy renovation and entangling Italian red tape, what was originally meant as a family escape for Claus and Jeanette Thottrup quickly became a hotel project - and Borgo Santo Pietro was born. We should be glad. A restored 13th-century Tuscan villa, this 11-bedroom hideaway stands in quiet isolation just outside the village of Palazzetto, and all around are views over the Serena valley.

It’s an elegant building with stone walls, sweeping staircases, high ceilings and cosy nooks. Deep velvet sofas, swagged silk curtains, hand painted frescoes and 18th-century portraits (cleverly hiding flat-screen TVs) give the place a Medici-worthy decadence. Everything is tailored towards complete relaxation and romance, from the his and hers iPods, to the huge antique beds. Add extraordinary food, a well-stocked wine cellar, tennis courts, a lawn-embedded trampoline, an infinity pool and an outdoor cocktail bar, and there’s little incentive to ever leave.

Highs

• Beautifully landscaped grounds impart a feeling of peace and isolation - cypress-shaded lanes, rose gardens, herb gardens, wild flowered fields and fruit orchards
• Sumptuous, antique-filled interiors
• Claus and Jeanette’s personalities set the tone: fun, sociable, informal
• Modernity mixed with grandeur – club sandwiches and chill-out tunes around the pool by day / a sommelier, pianist and exquisite menu at night
• A great little spa, housed in an 800-year-old former bakery
• The romance: it’s as if you’re a character in a Petrarch sonnet

Lows

• Some of the passageways in the house are quite dark, as you’d expect from an old building
• Not for minimalists!
• Tricky to find and on Sundays your journey might be slowed by cycle races