La Monastica Resort & Spa — Hotel in Buggiano

Visited the hotel restaurant with my girlfriend for dinner, we didn’t stay at the hotel itself.

The short version. If you are looking for a Restaurant with excellent service, simple but very precise and tasteful Italian food in an astonishingly beautiful location. This is the place, you should consider traveling there for at least a dinner or a drink at the bar. Making the effort driving from Florence or Pisa is certainly worth it.

The long Version. The Resort is located in a very small medieval village overlooking the surrounding area. The village itself is untouched and seems frozen in time. Against the expections of a resort of this size, you can easily oversee it. It fits into the surrounding perfectly giving it true seclusion. The hotel itself is an old ministry, carefully restored and converted into a beautiful hotel. Look at instagram to see the process. The sense of arrival from the first step into the lobby to the walk to the restaurant is something special and hard to find in other destinations, you feel and see the love, craftsmanship and will to create perfection and harmony between old and new.

The view from one of the terraces, at which the outdoor restaurant is located, is beautiful, overseeing the surroundings and the village below. The food and beverage experience is excellent. simple but precise Italian dishes, carefully put together and decorated. The majority of ingredients is homegrown and the whole menu follows this „estate to plate“ mentality. The overall presentation of each course is top notch, plates and cutlery are selected with the same spirit as the rest of the property, again someone with an idea and a concept created something beautiful. The service itself is extremely helpful, knowledgeable, friendly and precise. Always placing the water bottle so the label is showing to the guest and absolutely straight isn’t something you see very often. Switching the glasses based on the water you ordered, sparkling or still, is something that I never saw before. Whoever trained these guys, very well done. Be proud of them.

The rest of the service is as one wants to see hat a resort in this process range. No more words needed. Well, the price is more than fair, mocktails are very well done and created for your liking, treats given with the espresso are extremely tasty.

We had the chance to get a quick tour through the rest of the property, I could explain in detail how good and well made everything is, but I think the pictures on the website and social provide the same quality of information. It’s absolutely well done down to the smallest details. The gardens with the old trees and the hidden spots truly invite you to relax. The privat and public pool are created out of natural stone and look more like nature made than crafted.

Since working for and with hotels in our profession and therefore knowing hotels in this price range, we can’t look at a hotel purely from the consumer side. So, trust me/us if we say, this is a remarkable Resort. We didn’t see the rooms but I don’t expect them to lack quality.

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It’s started from the google reviews where I found this place being 5* resort. I got very excited and decided to visit this hotel with my husband. How can it go wrong? It was freshly renovated, used to be a monastery, located in some “lovely area” (judging by the pictures from their site). I booked the best room for €1300+ and couldn’t wait to visit it.|How big was my disappointment to find out that there is no way you can sleep and relax (aren’t the spas and resorts all about that?) in that place.|There is an old tower that actually belongs not to the hotel but the city (even though it’s located on the tiny parcel of land that hotel owns, so don’t even bother to wish to have a pleasant morning walk around, there is nowhere to walk) with an old bell that rings whenever it wants. Not every 30 mins, not every hour but any time it desires! The sound is absolutely unbearable too. It’s very sharp and unpleasant. Imagine someone is smashing the frying pan near your ear at night and you will understand. Don’t forget about €1300+ price for the room…|A HUGE NO for the people who want to rest during their stay.|Next: our room had a pre-set AC temperature that was impossible to change from inside the room - only from a central dashboard somewhere, but for some reason the management of the hotel was not able to change it too. They told us they didn’t know how to do it, so me and my husband had to freeze in our room, yet again - keep in mind all that for €1300+ per night..|Next: breakfast buffet was a bit of a joke. Lots of chocolate (but who on earth would want to eat chocolate for breakfast?), two types of cheeses, one type of meat, and a chocolate puffed rice with some dry fruits?. I mean…. for €1300.. Really?|The shower was leaking and the lamp in our room was broken.|So let me summarise it for you. DON’T go there unless your want to stay at a very basic hotel with almost zero land (nearby home owners almost can see you using a shower), near a tiny dilapidated town with zero “flavour” and dangerous-looking to walk at night, in the overpriced room with a loud bell that will never (unless you spent all your life leaving in Manhattan) let you sleep and enjoy any type of peace you imagine you would have staying in that area of Italy.|Good effort by the owners who tried hard to make it pretty, but the renovation is not impressive (please, don’t forget to put carpet on the stairs, it belongs there), the pink velvet divans will look outdated very soon and the giant painting in the middle of the hall is just pathetic. I am sure in about 10 years garden will look great and oranges will pick up but for now…Unfortunately it’s not enough when you have to pay €1300+ per night. We booked this place for 2nights but left the first morning. Really...

It’s difficult to fully capture the scale of transformation an abandoned 16th-century monastery must have undergone to become the luxurious hotel it is today. Suffice it to say, no expense has been spared in creating this serene retreat perched atop a hill, overlooking the town of Montecatini Terme and the breathtaking Tuscan countryside.

Every detail has been carefully considered, and everything you see and touch is of the highest quality. Their linens are Italian-made, the softest and most luxurious I’ve encountered. The plates are crafted in England, the blankets are cashmere, and the wine glasses are Czech crystal. It’s hard to find a single piece of furniture or decor that isn’t of the utmost quality.

The views from the breakfast area and our room were simply stunning. You won’t stop taking photos while you’re there. The grounds are beautifully manicured, and the property even includes two 11th-century towers.

The breakfast was both amazing and plentiful, offering a variety of delicious options.

Our room was spectacular—well-appointed with ample storage and thoughtful design. Even the smallest details, such as placing the shower controls closer to the entrance, showed careful attention to comfort. As mentioned, the bed and bedding were the best I’ve ever slept in.

The spa area, while on the smaller side, was never crowded. It was impeccably clean, and we enjoyed visiting it every day.

Our only regret is not dining at the resort’s restaurant more. We had dinner there once, and the experience was on par with dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Every dish was exquisite, and the service was exceptional.

I also want to highlight the impeccable customer service we experienced. Every staff member was incredibly helpful, always going above and beyond to ensure our comfort.

There are many wonderful destinations within a short drive of the hotel, including Lucca, Pisa, and Florence.

We had a fantastic time at La Monastica and look forward to returning soon.

Thank you for the...