Azienda Agrituristica Marrucola — Local services in San Miniato

If you are a familiy lving the tranquil Tuscany in the summertime, then this is NOT the place for you. It may have started out as a family place or is one in the winter time.||||But, in the pas two year we have been living nearby and had to find an accomodation this year due to the fact that the place we stayed in was booked. We found this place. It sounded so nice, Swimmingpool and all.||||The day we arrived we were greeted with no at the desk (the desk is not open in the period announced when booking online). But, this being Italy it is a minor incident and we didn't care about that really.||||What we did mind was that fact that the place was crawling with drunk people and we could thus not use the - somewhat negelcted - pool. No place for the kids to be.||||The landlord made excuses that the daughter had just finished a danicing course. So we went to San Miniato instead in the hope that the noisy drunk people would leave.||||Alas, the place changed from a dancing parlour full of drunk people to a full blown karaoke bar. Some people are able to do a decent sing-a-long effort, but unfortunately they did not go this karaoke bar. Come to think of it, the hotel did make a notice on their web site (well at booking.com) that karaoke was available, but not that this is their main source of income.||||The place may have started as a family friendly place, but this is not the case anymore.||||When you are young or travelling without kids you don't mind or can look trough fingers eating breakfast at tables with red wine stained table cloth and cigaret stumps on the ground amoung used plastic glasses, but this is not the Italy you want your kids to see.||||To sum it all up.||||The place could have been very good for families. I undestand that they need to supply their source of income. But, my advice to the owners is to be frank in their adverticing: Karaoke bar first, family place last. It's sad though. Then the karaoke bar thing dies out in a couple of years, the place will probaple not make it. Too many people will seeks other more suitable places to spend their holiday in lovely Tuscany.||||So for the time...

We stayed one night at Marrucola on the Via Francigena walk booked by Caminoways, the company we did the walk through.||This hotel is unsuitable for walkers as it is quite a distance from towns and shops. We walked from Alto Pascio and having to continue through San Miniato Basso and Alto to Marrucola made it a 30km day (in 30 degree heat!).||We arrived at 5.10pm feeling tired and hungry but were told dinner would be served at 8pm - or 8.30pm - or 7.30pm!! After showering we went down to the dining room at 7.30pm, the time we agreed to but were directed to sit by the pool and have a drink (not included in half board).||We waited and waited while a birthday party function for a young child continued. Finally at 8.45pm we were asked to move to the dining area. The only other diners were the manager and his family and friends. There was no menu, no explanation of what food was available and no choice.||We were given a plate of hors d'oeuvres most of which looked dry and unappetising (leftovers from the birthday party buffet??).||This was followed by a plate of luke warm pasta ragu. Then we were asked if we wanted anything else but the only choice was Florentine steak. At 9.20pm we did not feel able to tackle a steak so made do with a mixed salad. ||Finally left the table at 10pm after a very disappointing meal where we felt like outsiders and a nuisance.||This hotel is obviously set up for functions and large groups - not for couples. Because we spoke only English and the management couldn't speak English communication was very limted.||We were concerned that breakfast would be a repeat performance but I'm very happy to say the buffet was ready at the agreed time and provided a decent...

Went to San Miniato to attend a wedding but it's not convenient to stay at the Marrucola unless you rent a car as it is remote and difficult to find. Google Maps placed it about 2km away from its true location but thankfully I managed to wheel my suitcase up and down 2km of road with no pavement in the searing heat and felt an air of euphoria as I finally got to the place and had a dip in the pool which had a lot of people in but it was fine. Was riddled with mosquito bites on the first night and the air con had no remote to keep the coolness down so I had to get up through the night to take cold showers in order to try to sleep. Was knackered the next day and in the end I stayed somewhere else for the rest of my trip, not because I hated this place so much but because of it's inconvenient location. Would be fine if you're there to get involved in their wine tours, which I didn't ask about. There is only one taxi driver in the whole of San Miniato so ask the hotel to call him well in advance if you need him. Reception only works about 8 hours per day here so if you have any questions you might have to wait for someone to come out of the kitchen but there's no guarantee this person will speak English. Awful wifi here. Nice view of the Tuscan countryside. Breakfast is very limited but there was a kind of lemon cake that I think was homemade and...