Corte dei Tusci - Village Palace — Hotel in Scarlino

The place should be called Corte Dei Turchi, as it has the charm of a three-star Turkish all-inclusive (but not the price, of course, which is Tuscany price). Went there on short notice to be with some friends, bought the tickets on booking.com for a week, but did not read the reviews – big mistake. ||After a couple of days, once we got used to it and seeing that the kids seem to enjoy the trip, we managed to relax, went out for lunch and dinners to some lovely places in the area and actually had a good time. But the initial impression was hard to erase. It all went wrong from the first contact: the parking lot was across the street from the courtyard of the hotel, at about 100 - 150 meters. We were told at the gate to park there, come to the hotel and do the check-in, then go back to the car and bring it in front of the hotel to unload the luggage, and then take it back to the parking. It made no sense not to unload first since we were at the gate, but we had to take the walk from the parking to the hotel and then from the hotel to the car and then back from the car to the hotel in the scorching sun. At the reception, we found out that we had to pay 210 EURO extra for use of the swimming pools and entertainment (mandatory payments), 126 EURO to use the beach of the hotel and another 140 EURO for the extra child in the triple room (although the advertising on the booking.com website said that a child would pay only if it uses and extra bed). ||We had a triple room facing the pools and the sea, which was large enough, but looked very cheap, with pressed wood and a TV that would make my grandmother be nostalgic. The furniture in the restaurant, the bar and around the pool was made either of cheap plastic or bare metal. ||The mandatory entertainment was in Italian, and anyone who has zapped Italian TV channels knows that Italians are no people to refrain from non-stop chattering and loud music. Since the entertainment took place in the courtyard of the hotel, it was impossible for all the rooms facing that yard not to hear the loudspeakers shouting from 10 AM until 11.30 PM, with some short breaks. Breakfast was one of the worst I had, with poor choices and no variation whatsoever. Beach was OK, although crowded, with very fine sand (but no beach bar). The water was ankle-deep for about 100 meters, which made it ideal for small kids, but barely practicable for adults going for a swim. The rules were that you had to leave the beach chairs of the hotel by 7 PM, and you were not allowed to access the pools outside 09.00-19.00 hours. ||On the positive side, staff was generally very friendly (although English was in some cases very poor), the place was very clean and the room proved to be comfortable once we got used to its looks. Another nice thing about the place was the huge pine forest surrounding it, which gave it a special green, lush feeling.||Our conclusion was that this place is more appropriate for Italian families looking for all-inclusive deals, but far from what one would expect to see in Tuscany. Tourists looking for this kind of vacation, but who have to fly to get there, would probably find more value for money in places like Turkey, Greece...

The place should be called Corte Dei Turchi, as it has the charm of a three-star Turkish all-inclusive (but not the price, of course, which is Tuscany price). Went there on short notice to be with some friends, bought the tickets on booking.com for a week, but did not read the reviews – big mistake. ||After a couple of days, once we got used to it and seeing that the kids seem to enjoy the trip, we managed to relax, went out for lunch and dinners to some lovely places in the area and actually had a good time. But the initial impression was hard to erase. It all went wrong from the first contact: the parking lot was across the street from the courtyard of the hotel, at about 100 - 150 meters. We were told at the gate to park there, come to the hotel and do the check-in, then go back to the car and bring it in front of the hotel to unload the luggage, and then take it back to the parking. It made no sense not to unload first since we were at the gate, but we had to take the walk from the parking to the hotel and then from the hotel to the car and then back from the car to the hotel in the scorching sun. At the reception, we found out that we had to pay 210 EURO extra for use of the swimming pools and entertainment (mandatory payments), 126 EURO to use the beach of the hotel and another 140 EURO for the extra child in the triple room (although the advertising on the booking.com website said that a child would pay only if it uses and extra bed). ||We had a triple room facing the pools and the sea, which was large enough, but looked very cheap, with pressed wood and a TV that would make my grandmother be nostalgic. The furniture in the restaurant, the bar and around the pool was made either of cheap plastic or bare metal. ||The mandatory entertainment was in Italian, and anyone who has zapped Italian TV channels knows that Italians are no people to refrain from non-stop chattering and loud music. Since the entertainment took place in the courtyard of the hotel, it was impossible for all the rooms facing that yard not to hear the loudspeakers shouting from 10 AM until 11.30 PM, with some short breaks. Breakfast was one of the worst I had, with poor choices and no variation whatsoever. Beach was OK, although crowded, with very fine sand (but no beach bar). The water was ankle-deep for about 100 meters, which made it ideal for small kids, but barely practicable for adults going for a swim. The rules were that you had to leave the beach chairs of the hotel by 7 PM, and you were not allowed to access the pools outside 09.00-19.00 hours. ||On the positive side, staff was generally very friendly (although English was in some cases very poor), the place was very clean and the room proved to be comfortable once we got used to its looks. Another nice thing about the place was the huge pine forest surrounding it, which gave it a special green, lush feeling.||Our conclusion was that this place is more appropriate for Italian families looking for all-inclusive deals, but far from what one would expect to see in Tuscany. Tourists looking for this kind of vacation, but who have to fly to get there, would probably find more value for money in places like Turkey, Greece...

This village is really beautiful; the rooms are big and clean, the hotel is into a forest, then very cool, the pools are nice even if not very big, it's 20meters far from the beach, the sea is pretty clean even if the beach is not that big. Overall a very nice place with a wonderful animation team. The animation team is great; if you want to join, you can but, if you just want to relax, they invite you and when you reply "no thanks", they don't further bother you. It's a very entertaining animation team which allows you to either rest or join their funny games & shows (especially the "E fuori nevica" and "the beauthy and the beast" are so nice and well prepared which you hardly will see anywhere else. So congratulations......the structure is not either that expensive considering what it offers.....the restaurant is extremely good, food is well cooked and with variety of meat and fish.....overall, a great summer break!!! The only weak part if the wi-fi connection; every time the handy goes on key protection, you have to enter again id and password.....it should be...