Living like a lord under the Tuscan sun

Middle East expatriates have long enjoyed summer months under the Tuscan sun. There is an enviable combination of sunshine, cool hill-tops and wonderful food and wine. This summer I investigated two apartment complexes offering near five-star apartment accommodation.

Only opened this Easter, the Poggio Al Casone near Pisa is already popular with expats from the Gulf, and this attractive collection of spacious, air-conditioned apartments around a swimming pool, and in the middle of a hill-top vineyard certainly seemed close to heaven for families.

It was more difficult for couples as perhaps unsurprisingly screaming children tended to take over the pool. But this was hardly the fault of the owners, although a quieter area for sunbathing could be provided. The accommodation too had its oddities with some of the smallest showers we had ever experienced and not enough storage space.

Great deal

But this is close to five-star standard, and for a fraction of what you would pay in a major hotel. The beds are large and comfortable, the fixtures and furnishings to a high standard, including a flat-screen LCD TV, DVD player and free library; and you get a full sized kitchen-dining room, adequate for cooking main meals as well as breakfast.

The Poggio Al Casone also helpfully provides maps to find some of the excellent local restaurants. Some are tucked away in small medieval villages and without a menu but the food is out of this world. Internet access can be unreliable, with a wireless link to a main station sometimes down.

Pisa is on the edge of the traditional Tuscan heartland for tourists and our second choice the Residence Gavillaccio outside Figline Valderno offered more dramatic scenery and is perched high in the rolling hills above the town. The current owners bought the residence as a derelict farm building 14 years ago and have transformed it into a complex of spacious luxury apartments of rustic style.

There is no air-conditioning, except that if you open the windows a cool breeze can always be found, even in the hottest summer months. Furnishing is simple but comfortable, and the beds would get a five-star rating. Bathrooms are beautifully tiled as you find almost everywhere in Italy; the wireless broadband connection is excellent.

Home comforts

The precise facilities vary with the apartments but the larger units are on two floors and very well equipped indeed. And all the apartments have terraces for individual al fresco meals. The swimming pool was again dominated by children. Nice if you are a family looking to make summer holiday friends. Not so good if you are in search of peace and quiet.

Nearby attractions include Florence: best accessed via the train from Figline Valdarno as parking is a nightmare in the busy season. The designer outlet mall 15 kilometres from the residence also attracts busloads of tourists who even come from cruise liners for the bargains. But then who could resist a Tod’s handbag at 60 per cent off, and with the sales tax refunded on top?