Relais San Pietro

Ultra traditional family-run hotel with rustic deluxe rooms, in beautiful countryside between Arezzo and Cortona

When Luigi Protti retired from industrial Milan to Tuscany, he set out to find “a beautiful house in a quiet place, for the relax”, to share with others. He found the perfect spot: on the crown of a steep hill, a tumble-down farm overlooking woodland and olive groves. From the upper floors, you could even see Castiglion Fiorentino - his wife's home town.

The 17th century farm, with its priests' house and stables, has since been restored to offer 10 comfortable rooms, a restaurant and a pool-with-a-view. Still home to the Protti family, who live upstairs (Luigi’s wife Antonietta runs the restaurant, daughter-in-law does the cooking), it’s all brick arches, white-wash, terracotta and old timbers - traditional to the point of old-fashioned, and run like a well-oiled machine. Neat paths meander between stone buildings through gardens of fig trees, jasmine and potted geraniums; there are lawns trimmed with rosemary. And you can watch the sunset from wicker chairs on a terrace overlooking the green slopes of the Chio Valley. Heaven indeed.

Highs

• Peaceful, secluded and very beautiful Tuscan setting
• Owned and run by a delightful family
• Well-kept colourful gardens with tubs of bright flowers; doors framed by jasmine, olive, fig and cypress trees
• Breakfast is a feast and delicious 5-course dinners are an all-evening affair
• Exceptional attention to detail - from the crisp bedlinen and fruit and flowers in the rooms to the evening turn-down service
• A cool pool on a lawned terrace overlooking glorious open countryside

Lows

• Modernists, fashionistas and jet-setters may find the pace slow and the décor old-fashioned
• No television (a high, if you want to get away from it all!)
• The road between Polvano and Castiglion Fiorentino: beware of hairpin bends and Italian motorcyclists doing an Evil Knievel on hump-back bridges
• The restaurant does not serve lunch and the nearest eateries are a 15-minute drive