Cignella Resort

Not a Luxury Resort. To me a Luxury Resort is a place that offers excellent accommodations in a relaxing setting with good food and welcoming staff. Cignella Resort is none of these things. Our accommodations were in need of repairs and when we requested those repairs they were not done. The staff seemed to barely tolerate us being here and seemed to ignore us when they saw us. The food was barely edible. The access road to the ‘resort’ was so full of pot holes that our small rental car bottomed out even when we went very slow. The ‘cooking class’ was about 45 min (not two hours) and consisted of you following the demonstration of the chef - who did not speak or provide information on how to do what she was doing. Dinner with the cooking class was one dish - the pasta you made during cooking school and the only option for additional food was to order the antipasta at your own expense. There were so many things that were wrong/problems this review would be pages. Let me summarizing by saying we really did give it a fair try. We had reservations for 5 nights but after 4, could not take any more. We left. This was a TravelZoo deal and as a result, I will be much more careful when purchasing on TravelZoo.

Where to start… All looks good at first sight and the place does have a huge potential. The surroundings are beautiful, the view, the apartment was modern and spacious. Our family of four (children 7 and 1) spent 10 days here in Oct 2024. Here are however some problems we encountered (pls read the bottom, there is the biggest fault): - Very bad cleaning: dust and (cat) hair everywhere, specially under the beds and sofas, dirty sofa and pillows. The cleaning meant that sheets and towels were changed (and only 2 times during our 9-nights-stay), but on our baby’s bed/cot the sheets were not changed, not once! The owen was dirty and made smell. After the second time of cleaning part of my clothes were thrown on the floor and our baby’s two new pacifiers were taken. So strange!! - Cats (and cats’ poop) are everywhere, at least 6 different of them running around and laying on sun beds. Not a nice thing when you have a toddler learning to walk outside. - Apartment (and the outdoors) needs overall better maintainance: broken door handles, broken shower door, drain was blocked, TV channels doesn’t work, the fridge had to be swiped many times a day because it had water in the bottom, the lawn and the swimming pool could not have been more messy. Couldn’t use the swimming pool at all, bloodsuckers at the bottom and very untidy. Way too little kitchenware, and for example the boilers were in very bad shape. - The place is full with crawling and/or flying bugs, that had to be cleaned inside the apartment all the time, although we kept all doors closed. - They arrange ”happy hour” at some nights, but no proper pricelist were shown and for us it meant that our 4 glasses of prosecco got pretty expensive. The waiter made us to pay extra from opening the bottle (I assume because we were the only customers that night): first glasses were 7€ per glass and the second ones were 5,5€. And as we have travelled in Italy for 20 years now, we are used to the common habit of aperitivo and that in many places they do give you chips/cheese/salami or something like that for free alongside with the drinks. So when in this place the waiter asked us would we like to have something small to eat with the drinks we of course were delighted. Never have we experienced this before that at the end of our stay we had to pay for the little snack (that was 3 slices of cheese and salami). The waiter should have atleast say beforehand that they are not free and will cost us 6€. Not a big cost but anyway, strange again! BUT NOW: The biggest problem at this place is however the unpolite reception staff and the lack of service and the most rude and hostile attitude towards customers. We had originally booked our stay via ***********. As our travel plans changed we then asked for the price of three extra nights directly from the hotel staff by messaging via *********** app. I asked (in written) couple of times how much will the extra nights (3) cost and what is the total amount to be paid.

This beautiful retreat just hosted my 7-day writing retreat and took wonderful care of all 22 of us. They ordered desks and a projector and set up a teaching room for us and provided three meals a day (the breakfast buffet is spectacular). The airy, spacious villas are gorgeous, and the whole resort is so isolated that it was perfect for writing, reflection, and relaxation (the pool was a nice bonus). For when we wanted to explore the area, the resort arranged for a shuttle to bring us to a wine tasting (which they also arranged) and a shopping excursion to Montepulciano as well as a shuttle to go truffle hunting. They also set up a roundtrip shuttle to pick up/drop off our group in Rome. The whole experience was wonderful, start to finish! They are great at organizing large events.

I found Cignella through a Travelzoo deal and am so happy I did! My family rented a 2 bedroom Villa and a 3 bedroom Villa for 4 nights. The villas were enormous and beautifully decorated. The staff was wonderful and catering. The location is perfect for exploring Montelcino, Pienza and Montepulciano. Breakfast was served on a patio with a gorgeous view of the Tuscan landscape. We also went on a wine tasting and truffle hunt organized by the resort. Both were great activities. Pool are looked beautiful and well tended but, being late May, it wasn’t quite pool weather. The vibe there is very laid back and we were very happy to return from a long day of exploring to relax on our patio with wine, cheese and charcuterie before heading out to dinner. All that being said, this is not a luxury resort. Amenities are sparse, there is no housekeeping, we had to request a corkscrew, sharp knife and silverware for our happy hours, many of the windows don’t have screens so fresh air comes with bugs and some of the shower heads pump out more water than the drains can accommodate so the bathrooms flooded if we weren’t very quick or very careful. Overall, I loved our time there, I feel like with a few tweaks this place could level up and really be spectacular, as it is, I would still highly recommend it and would go back in a heartbeat.