I’ve never been one for a fly-and-flop holiday
The idea of lying still for a week makes me restless. Typically, I prefer to book a hotel, then spend hours researching the best places for X, Y, and Z in the area before creating a hit list of 10 places to go each day of my so-called holiday. Maybe it’s a hangover from the day job, where visiting a city or country for just a few days means getting under the skin of it fast and turning around a punchy insight report just as quickly.
So, after a rather frenzied two weeks bouncing around the U.S., we decided to do the unthinkable: escape to Tuscany and not plan a single thing. No lists. No restaurant bookings. No saved Google Maps. We simply checked in to Hotel Castelfalfi, a 5-star resort in the heart of the Tuscan hills – and didn’t get in the car once.
To call Castelfalfi a hotel doesn’t quite do it justice. It’s a whole village – an ancient medieval borgo that’s been meticulously restored and reimagined after being abandoned for 800 years. The estate, spread across 2,700 hectares of vineyard- dotted countryside, features four restaurants and bars, a pizza shop, a gelateria, a street of fashion boutiques, two swimming pools, a swishy spa, a winery, a massive gym, bikes, hikes, and a million other activities. It’s a Tuscan playground!
Over two nights we managed not to do anything twice – well, except drinking our favourite Castelfalfi-labelled wines, but that doesn’t count. Our room came with a picture-perfect view of the Tuscan hills and a cute terrace just made for aperitivo hour. The complimentary minibar (yes, you read that right) of snacks and soft drinks will see you through to dinner.
Talking of dinner, we enjoyed the famous Bistecca alla Fiorentina – all 1kg of it – at the Tuscan trattoria Il Rosmarino, a beautiful restaurant with a terrace serving up classic Tuscan dishes. We ate ice cream from Latte e Menta, the small gelateria in the old village, in the beautifully manicured botanical park with views over those famous hills. We had sundowners on the terrace with anchovies on toast from Bar Ecrù. We had a wine tasting in the cellar and discovered our favourite labels to drink later at dinner at the Mediterranean restaurant, Olivina, with big bowls of pasta and breads soaked in their own-label olive oils (there are no fewer than 10,000 olive trees on the estate).
We wandered through the vineyards at sunset and biked the lakes early in the morning. The hotel has four hiking and biking routes, which are great for getting out into the countryside and at least getting a few steps in, even if you are mostly trying to relax.
Sadly, we didn’t make any of the more “active” activities – think padel (yes, it’s even landed here too), tennis, clay pigeon shooting, fishing, and more – but we did have a very nice massage in the Rakxa Wellness Spa, sister to the holistic healing retreat in Bangkok and the first Rakxa spa outside of Thailand. Recently refurbished, the brand-new spa features beautifully designed interiors and incredible facilities: a steam room, two saunas, and a cold plunge, all open to every guest, every day, plus a salty indoor-outdoor pool.
The hotel is owned by Indian-Indonesian investor Sri Prakash Lohia and his family, which explains all the ambitious pipeline plans, including plush new villas set to be developed across the estate. Whilst the resort already feels complete, we have a feeling Castelfalfi is only just getting started…
Località Castelfalfi, 50050 Montaione, Firenze, Italia
castelfalfi.com
