カステル モナステロ(Castel Monastero - the Leading Hotels of the World)

This is an amazing place. A little off the beaten path which we love. Yep had many different buildings so you could get different experiences depending where you stay. It’s a beautiful Tuscan delight! We would highly recommend if staying in Tuscany.

I loved this hotel- the grounds were beautiful and the pool has fountains with the most relaxing sound. I loved the outdoor gym and our room with bathtub was very nice. The staff was so lovely and helpful, and the spa was beautiful. The only thing I’ll say is: eat somewhere else. You’ll find way better food outside of the hotel. Otherwise I would recommend!

Beautiful hotel but they have overpriced their food and drink menus. €25 for a Gin and Tonic is ridiculous given what you are already spending for the hotel rooms. Their restaurant and dining menus are very limited. €30 for a basic burger and fries!?!! No salads at all on the lunch menu and when we did order a green salad for dinner it was literally a plate of romaine lettuce. Just lettuce!!! Beware that the drink service at the pool bar is very slow. It’s not the staff it’s the set up. When you order wine they have to walk across the property to go to the restaurant to get the wine and then come back. It makes no sense. The hotel bar service before dinner was dreadfully slow and poorly trained. It’s a shame as the staff are all so friendly and nice but the management and set up needs some tweaks to make your stay better. There is no coffee or tea in your room so getting a coffee when you wake up is a bit of an ordeal. They need to review their service in order to call themselves a leading hotel of the world and review their prices so you don’t feel like you’re being hosed at every turn.

The property was nice but the front desk reception staff was a bit rude. Didn’t explain any procedures to us when we arrived such as how to use the room key (not intuitive), when and how breakfast was served. Unable to get continental breakfast figured out for us after two tries (two mornings). No paper menu on the second day so we couldn’t order as we got in pretty late. Then they charged us €50 for room service because we didn’t fill out the form. What?? Spa services were a different story. They were amazing, accommodating, warm, friendly, nice, respectful. Best experience on the property bar far! Lastly, I needed a few articles of clothing to get cleaned/laundered and they said they could take care of that. It appeared that afternoon in a pretty box and the clothes smelled so fresh. However, at checkout I was appalled to find a €315 bill for clothes cleaning. Come on! No way a half load of laundry cost that much to get clean! I take full responsibility for not asking more questions on the front end, but seriously. I’ll never go back or recommend this place for a stay to a friend. Spa services were amazing! Everything else wasn’t.

It is a very unique experience, and might not be for everyone, but we loved the monastery restored from the 1100's turned into a hotel. The staff was friendly, and the restaurant on site was good. We loved the pools and spa area. It was a beautiful setting and a great place to relax. It is farther from the central buzz of everything, but we managed to visit Siena, not far for a day, the Castle Brollio and other sites. The scenery was breathtaking the hotel itself was very relaxing. We would visit again.

This hotel is isolated - not in a town or anything you can walk to. Room: Our room looked nothing like the ones in the photos on their web or their official trip advisor. I understand that all of the rooms are different, but the furniture in ours was quite tired and run down. The overall design was cumbersome and the bathroom was treacherous. It was down a few steps from the bed to the bathroom and the slate floor made it treacherous if it had even the smallest water. Same for the shower/bath, it was slippery and water pressure was mediocre. Most interesting was no soundproofing at all. You can hear the people in the room next to you breathing/sighing. Staff: the pool bar staff was great. The front desk was fine sometimes and very unhelpful other times. The restaurant staff was good but certainly not enough staff for the restaurant and it led to long waits. housekeeping was dismal. When we checked in one of the robes tied up for use had makeup from a prior guest. The toiletries in the bathroom were also 90% gone and clearly not replaced from the prior guest. And our water glasses were not replaced in the 4 days we were there. Housekeeping is dismal. It was by far the worst part of our stay. Overall I think they run it very lean for staff and that leads to mixed service, I would not recommend. I would definitely stay elsewhere.

Traveler beware! 5-star appearance. 3-star experience. Pros: Beautiful property with scenic views of Chianti hills, 3 gorgeous swimming pools, spacious well-appointed room (24 Blue), substantial variety of savory and sweet breakfast offerings, restaurant staff is friendly and capable. The porter is perhaps the hardest working staff so tip him generously. Cons: Lack of full service. There is no concierge and front desk staff is borderline rude and not especially helpful. (for example: twice did not book restaurant reservations despite assuring us they did). It was late September, so staff were likely exhausted from a record breaking summer onslaught of tourists. In part, who can blame them as sadly most guests here are the typical "ugly American tourist.” Noisy and loud is also a problem as many rooms face inwards toward the main courtyard entrance where the sound of people gathering, luggage being dragged across cobblestone, breakfast service, and taxi car doors slamming shut reverberates and is amplified. On site food menu is extremely limited, extremely overpriced, and flavorless. €23 for a tiny portion of pici pasta that in Siena cost €12; €22 for Aperol Spritz, €25 service fee per person for room service. Best to rent a car as the 20-minute ride to/from Siena is €60 one-way by taxi and €110 by private driver. One expects a markup but not this high of one. Lots of steep stone steps with no ADA accessibility. We had the added misfortune that our stay coincided with a buyout of the property for a wedding, of which we were not made aware at the time of our booking. Setup was a messy loud chaotic affair and the wedding guests were obnoxiously entitled American bros and their hoes. If we had known then we would not have booked here. One day prior, the hotel offered us a complimentary spa treatment as a gesture of apology. There are many superior properties in Tuscany. Look elsewhere for one that offers truly 5-star service and don't be fooled by the beauty of this one as the overall experience is sub-par for the price you will pay (minimum €900/night)

On my honeymoon across most of Italy, I had my highest expectations for our stay at Castel Monastero. I now refer to it as Castel Disappointment. This was the most expensive hotel we stayed in during our 2 week vacation, but also the worst one of them all. I don’t even know where to being, but I’ll Start with the good: Rooms are big, courtyard area of hotel very pretty, nice pool area, and located in beautiful Tuscany. That’s about it. Prepare to be trapped and price gouged for everything you want or need to do here. The food-sucks. This hotel had the highest priced food in all of Italy and it was the worst Tasting. I had a comparable dish in Ambra which was a 1/4 of the price and twice the size. The waitress at Cantina, recommended a pasta dish, but no amount of salt or grated cheese could remotely save this dish. My entree, consisted of 5 meatballs in a bowl For 34 euro, no pasta, No veggies etc. Olive Garden would’ve been a better tasting Italian dish than this ripoff from cantina. 25 euro for an old fashioned, or Aperol spritz; I Went to a Michelin Star restaurant in Rome and didn’t pay more than 15. The complimentary breakfast was mediocre. The previous 2 hotels we stayed at in Sorrento and Rome, for Half the price, had a much better complimentary breakfast. Now the worst part of our stay: The hotel arranged excursions for us and dinner reservations. We did this wonderful vineyard tour. The hotel arranged for a driver to get us there and back. The vineyard tour was worth every penny at 60 euro per person. The van proceeds to drop us off at the hotel and informs Is that it would be 600,00 euro for the ride…completely ruined our day and our experience at the vineyard. We also needed transportation to our dinner reservation in Ambra which was not even a 10 minute drive away. The hotel informed us they could provide a taxi for 85 euro one way, and then 85 euro to return. So my 10 minute drive to dinner would cost me three times the price of my meal. The staff at the restaurant in Ambra was so baffled by the hotels taxi service that the waitress ended up driving us back to the hotel. In 24 hours at the resort, I spent 1000 euro on transportation to and from The hotel. This is not a 5 star resort, it’s maybe a 4 start but with little amenities, but it’s priced like it’s the worlds best 5 star resort. We ended up Checking out early, eating the cost, and returning to Florence because it was cheaper To find a new hotel and things to do in Florence then be captive to the hotel and their taxi/car service companies in order to do anything. Also, this hotel offers almost nothing to do. None of the packages or excursions or rentals are on site. You get a pool, tennis court, and comp breakfast…that is it. No water, no mini fridge, no iron. The internet pictures are deceiving, the property is much much smaller than it appears. Didn’t ruin my honeymoon, but definitely soured a couple days it that we won’t be able to get back. Avoid this place at all costs,

Stay was okay but was expecting more out of this resort, felt kind of stuck there with such a lack of activities compared to some other similar places, and the management takes advantage of this with price gauging at every F&B outlet which is short-sighted and not good for the place's reputation.