Borgo il Melone — Hotel in Cortona

I would actually give this 4 1/2 stars. This is a spectacular villa with many well kept buildings and an olive orchard, along with many other fruit bearing trees on the property. I picked fresh figs every day. The pool and pool area is gorgeous and clean. The best part is you can see the old city of Cortona from the side of the pool. It is truly awe-inspiring.||The room was beautiful and very clean. ||The bed was fine and it's true, the A/C could have been better, but the weather wasn't that hot and we didn't need it that often. The bedroom was plenty big enough and the bathroom was huge, with a separate shower and tub. ||The front desk staff were polite at best, but Giacomo was excellent and made up for the rest of them and their lack of friendliness. I don't know why they are like that, but they are. ||Ilaria is there during the day and she is a bit more friendly and helpful, so it was fine, but the others staff just gave the bare bones of service. Giacomo went above and beyond for my sister and I. We got stuck in a 4 hour traffic jam, leaving Sorrento and didn't arrive in Cortona until 2:40a.m. Giacomo went out of his way to give us his cell phone number and had us call him so he could meet us at the Villa and let us in our rooms. He was so wonderful!!||The food was delicious at the restaurant. We did find the staff to be somewhat unfriendly, but if you make small talk with them, they come around a bit. The coffee and the breakfast buffet were delicious. I highly recommend the tomatoes and mozzarella along with the cakes. So good! A great way to start your day. We had dinner in the restaurant at night and it was delicious. The weather was beautiful, so we were able to eat outside fir almost every meal. It made everything so much better! ||||In speaking to the staff, I found out that the restaurant is run separately from the hotel and they don't really have much to do with each other. Though the staff were a bit unfriendly, I just chose to ignore it and enjoy my time there. The service wasn't bad and the food was really good. We didn't let it ruin our stay and there were so, so many good things that outweighed the lack of friendly service, I would go back again and again! If the owner reads these reviews, he has a "winner" with Giacomo and should do everything he can to keep him. He makes the place wonderful...

I would actually give this 4 1/2 stars. This is a spectacular villa with many well kept buildings and an olive orchard, along with many other fruit bearing trees on the property. I picked fresh figs every day. The pool and pool area is gorgeous and clean. The best part is you can see the old city of Cortona from the side of the pool. It is truly awe-inspiring. The room was beautiful and very clean. The bed was fine and it's true, the A/C could have been better, but the weather wasn't that hot and we didn't need it that often. The bedroom was plenty big enough and the bathroom was huge, with a separate shower and tub. The front desk staff were polite at best, but Giacomo was excellent and made up for the rest of them and their lack of friendliness. I don't know why they are like that, but they are. Ilaria is there during the day and she is a bit more friendly and helpful, so it was fine, but the others staff just gave the bare bones of service. Giacomo went above and beyond for my sister and I. We got stuck in a 4 hour traffic jam, leaving Sorrento and didn't arrive in Cortona until 2:40a.m. Giacomo went out of his way to give us his cell phone number and had us call him so he could meet us at the Villa and let us in our rooms. He was so wonderful!! The food was delicious at the restaurant. We did find the staff to be somewhat unfriendly, but if you make small talk with them, they come around a bit. The coffee and the breakfast buffet were delicious. I highly recommend the tomatoes and mozzarella along with the cakes. So good! A great way to start your day. We had dinner in the restaurant at night and it was delicious. The weather was beautiful, so we were able to eat outside fir almost every meal. It made everything so much better!

In speaking to the staff, I found out that the restaurant is run separately from the hotel and they don't really have much to do with each other. Though the staff were a bit unfriendly, I just chose to ignore it and enjoy my time there. The service wasn't bad and the food was really good. We didn't let it ruin our stay and there were so, so many good things that outweighed the lack of friendly service, I would go back again and again! If the owner reads these reviews, he has a "winner" with Giacomo and should do everything he can to keep him. He makes the place wonderful...

At first I was a little wary, the reviews about this place are either glowing or horrid. Honestly though, the negative ones couldn't be farther from the truth. The locale is perfect, the onsite restaurant is moderately spendy, but the food is spectacular. The olive oil is grown on site and is amazing. They also sell it in beautiful glass bottles for souvenirs. The breakfast is included in the rate, and like some reviewers, does not include eggs, however it does include some of the best prosciutto I have ever had, really. I probably spent more time around the pool than was healthy, but the water was so inviting and the wifi made it so easy to just sit by the pool and soak up some sun than go back to the room to check email. I've left the best for last: the staff. The staff at Borgo Il Melone are phenomenal, the concierge was almost too friendly, always smiling. They're always happy to jump up and help, whether it's assisting planning travel or local recommendations, they're on top of it. One time I was taking two bottles of aforementioned olive oil back to the room and stopped by the desk to see if they had any materials to help me pack them in, they offered me two bag and one of them had a unknown tear in the bottom, needless to say in short order there was an entire bottle of olive oil in the middle of the lobby in short order, the concierge quickly asked if I was alright and went right to work cleaning it up, I offered to help since it was my bottle and my mess, but they wouldn't hear it. I felt so bad walking by them for the next two days, but they were happy to see me as ever. In short, would I go back there again? In...