Fonte al Vento — Local services in Cortona

We stayed at Fonte Al Vento for 4 weeks in April and May of 2015. We were primarily travelling with another couple, and wanted to rent a villa that had extra rooms so friends could visit during our stay. All together we had 9 stay for all or part of our trip at this villa.

The villa is stunning. Sylvia and Francesco spent five years in the building of it, and did an excellent job with the design. The photos on the their website are very accurate for the house, but they simply can't capture how breathtaking the view is. It's truly incredible.

The rooms are immaculate and very up-to-date, with large bathtubs and/or showers. The beds were very comfortable. The kitchen was well stocked with kitchen supplies, which was great for us since we cooked most days. Sylvia and Francesco were also kind enough to have some food, beverages, and coffee ready for us when we checked-in so we didn't arrive to an empty fridge. The pool table and Smart TV were nice additions downstairs in the living space, especially for rainy days, and we certainly took advantage of them.

The pool, outdoor eating area, grill, and patio space was fantastic. We spent many late afternoons admiring the view of the the Val di Chiana from the pool while sipping on wine, or cooking up some meat and veggies on the grill. Wish the pool was heated, but loved it all the same, especially on our many hot days.

Sylvia and Francesco were truly wonderful. Sylvia has a lot of experience working at five-star hotels, and she really knew how to take care of us. She was very responsive, especially via text message, and paid excellent attention to detail. The tours she setup for us and the recommendations she gave for things to do or visit were spot on.

We did not have the pleasure of having a meal or cooking lesson with Francesco. My wife is a truly superb cook so we didn't feel the need to have someone else cook for us, or to have a cooking lesson. However, looking back we wish we would have had him cook for us at least once, probably the day we arrived. By all accounts he's an incredible private chef, even being featured on television shows and such. And not having to cook for ourselves or clean ourselves up and run into town for dinner that first night we arrived, would have been really nice.

Additionally, Francesco's parents, Franca and Valerio live on the property and take care of it. They were absolutely lovely people. Very warm and welcoming and willing to help us with anything we needed. It was nice having them on site for things that might come up as well. Neither of them speaks English, but we got by quite well with them using our broken Italian. :)

Lastly, the villa is only a 10 minute walk to the main squares in Cortona, where you can see all the sites, get groceries, eat at the many incredible restaurants (truly a lot of great restaurants in Cortona), and shop at some great places as well. Being so close to the city center and yet still very much having that "in the countryside" feel is something that truly sets this villa apart from nearly every other we looked at, and we researched hundreds upon hundreds. It's extremely hard to find this caliber of villa just on the outskirts of such an amazing hill town.

One thing the villa could improve on would be that sound carries quite a bit in the shared areas since nearly everything is tiled or stone. So when people are laughing down in the basement or playing pool, you can hear it in the upstairs rooms two floors up. Perhaps adding a couple area rugs in the basement would help dampen the sound. Also, the pool is not heated so if you visit during a colder stretch in fall or spring it might be too cold for your liking. None of these items were a big deal to us of course, but I thought I should point them out.

All in all, our stay at Fonte Al Vento was a magical experience we will always remember, and we would very much love to repeat. A huge thanks to Sylvia and Francesco for sharing their wonderful home with us and for being such fantastic hosts. Grazie mille e alla...

This place is truly an exceptional property. We were 4 couples who spent a week in the villa. It was spotless, beautiful and so very modern. The infinity pool was a dream. We spent late afternoons there every day. Silvia was very attentive to whatever we needed. The layout is great for couples with a lot of privacy and space. AC worked well and WiFi was better than we expected. The location of the villa is high in the hills so there is always a nice breeze. One of the great things about the location is that it is a 10 minute walk to the town of Cortona so we didn’t need a car. We did hire a driver for 3 of the days we were there to take us to different wineries and towns. If you have mobility issues you will need a car because it’s a steep uphill walk to the town. We did eat at the new restaurant on the property (Organika) and it is a beautiful space and our chef, Angela, cooked us some delicious food. We also had her come to our villa the night before our departure to cook for us. Very convenient. We didn’t want to leave. We...

This is a review of the restaurant at Fonte al Vento in Cortona. We booked a private dinner with privatecheftuscany.com with Chef Francesco for this restaurant. We had an unforgettable dinner to celebrate my 50th birthday. We choose the traditional “Cortona menu” of Pappa al Pomodoro, Pici al Fumo alla Cortonese, beef fillet with fennel salad and blood oranges, and strawberry panna cotta. The wine pairings were delicious. Sylvia our hostess recommended several great wine choices. We had homemade Tuscan bread and olive oil made not the property. This was true farm to table dining with much of what we ate grown on the property at the villas. The view was astounding. We had a lovely evening with gracious hosts. We had direct view of the cooking in the kitchen and the chef was a true master. The interior was very modern and stylish with an antique farm table and view of the valley....