Holiday rentals near Sanctuary of Santa Gemma

Please run dont walk to book this most amazing Villa. Earlier this month our party of 8 had the privilege to be able to stay there for a week for a special birthday celebration. Right from the initial booking contact to a lovely follow up after we checked out, Fifi & Barbara were so wonderful to deal with. Nothing was too much trouble & they were very patient in answering all of our questions. They also put us in touch with the most amazing caterers at “Cooking in Toscana” who did an absolutely delicious 4 course birthday dinner complete with wine. The villa itself, the surrounding gardens & the pool far exceeded what we had hoped from the listing. We had so much fun in the pool & playing bocce in the designated area overlooking the olive groves & tuscan hills. The table tennis was also enjoyed. The villa was simply stunning & had everything we needed to make our stay so memorable. We only used the downstairs kitchen & aside from the catered birthday dinner (the caterers cooked it all there), we cooked delicious dinners enjoyed around the long dining table every night. There were fabric insect screens outside the windows which did a great job of keeping the mosquitoes away. We did not want to leave this beautiful place at the end of the stay and cannot thank Fifi & Barbara & “Cooking in Toscana” (Tze’ela & Mauro) for making our dream come true. One very happy birthday girl & her family & friends, all from Australia who still can’t stop smiling! Bellissimo🌟

We loved staying there. Monica and Giovanni were wonderful hosts as were their 3 puppies. Beautiful location, Stunning building and Monica is a fantastic chef as well.

We loved our stay at the Bricks Oven. Isabella is a fantastic host! She was excellent at helping us order a taxi and provided lots of information to help us explore the area. The place itself is set in a pretty Olive grove and has views of the surrounding hills and glimpses down the valley to Lucca. We found the bed a little uncomfortable but everything was great other than that.

A fantastic experience - stayed here for a week - initially a bit scary because of the drive up the narrow road to get to the villa, but after doing it once all was ok - very little traffic - Massimo was an excellent host, met us in Lucca and we followed him out to the villa - very high up in the hills with magnificent views - we only had one small problem with the wifi but Massimo responded very quickly to sort it out I would highly recommend this villa

Good points: weather permitting the rear verandah is superb for outdoor dining with a fantastic view overlooking Lucca. Bedroom accommodation size was good and pleasantly decorated. Upstairs bedroom windows equipped with flyscreens and shutters. The kitchen and laundry was adequate for small numbers. The water spring at the bottom of the hill was refreshing and provided many a bottle of fresh water. The Bad: on arrival and departure luggage transfers was possible via a deteriorated steep pathway or many stairs through an adjoining private property which proved difficult. Daily movements through neighbours property felt uncomfortable and intrusive. The internal living area in the property is too small for the suggested number of people to be comfortably accommodated. The ugly: In our opinion driving on the access road to the property after dark is not safe and prohibited our movement in the evenings. The dishwasher filter was extremely dirty and was in need of a good clean. The mould around the shower recess was given a good clean together with the tiles on the kitchen bench as they were mouldy and unhygenic. The toilet brushes require replacing.