Hotel Review: Castello Di Vicarello

Castello Di Vicarello is in the middle of Tuscany’s countryside, located between Florence and Rome. It is surrounded by vineyards, olive groves, and farmland. Years back, the Baccheschi Berti Family found ruins of this property, restored it and brought its beauty back to life.

With only 8 rooms on the entire property, you feel like you’re arriving at your private Italian villa. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by Uva, the family dog. She’s kind and loving. If you love her, she’ll accompany you throughout your entire stay.  

There is much to offer at Vicarello and the surrounding area. They have many recommendations in Tuscany I highly suggest you take advantage of while you’re in the area. But for us, we were looking for a slow pace at the castle. This allowed us to make Vicarello our home for 5 days. By the time we left, it felt like we were part of the Baccheschi Berti Family. 

The Room

We stayed in Suite Torre. It felt like the penthouse suite for Italian Royalty. It is the highest point of the property with a beautiful balcony that overlooks the main lawn. The crisp mornings were my favorite to sit out on the balcony and soak in God’s beauty around me. The design and art throughout the suite was outstanding. I loved slowing down to admire each piece in the room. 

Our room didn’t have a shower, so it was a little difficult to bathe. We felt like we were children having to use the bathtub each day. And because it is such an old room with original features, the floor would squeak, no matter how lightly we walked. So late night bathroom breaks were an adventure for the other person sleeping. 

We didn’t get to select our room due to all the other rooms being booked up. We were lucky enough to even get Suite Torre. Although our room was beautiful, we had our eye on the Spa Suite. We’ve heard that it’s the most popular and for a reason. It seems to be the newest, most relaxed and most private room on the property. If we were to go back, we’d definitely want to try this room instead. 

The Food

Breakfast

is ready for you whenever you’re ready for it. I enjoyed putting on my comfys and slippers and walking down to the kitchen. Depending on the weather, they would either seat you outside at the large communal table in the courtyard or in their breakfast room with glass walls allowing the sunshine to slowly wake your soul. They had everything you could ever want for breakfast. From fresh squeezed juices and toast to charcuterie, eggs any way and fresh fruit. 

Dinner

has a familial feel. There is no “restaurant” per se. However, around dinner time, all the guests begin to arrive at the elevated lawn overlooking the vineyards for cocktail hour. As there are only as many as 16 guests staying here at a time, you have the chance to get to know the others over your choice of drink and hors d'oeuvres. When you’re ready, you can make your way to a table, allowing you to still have a private dining experience. However, as we made friends throughout the week, we’d have the occasional chat across the lawn. 

The menu is curated by the private chef on property and influenced by the season. Almost everything you will eat here is grown on property and tended by the chef himself. Ask for a tour around the gardens and property. As he doesn’t speak fluent English, it was a joy learning all about the freshness of the food and his creativity in his dishes through the translations by the concierge. 

The menu was the same throughout the entire stay and it was your only option for dinner on property. This didn’t allow for many options, however, we picked a different item each evening and it was fun getting to experience all of the chef's creations. 

One of the experiences on property is the cooking class. We enjoyed learning how to make traditional Italian dishes, including homemade pasta. The most fun part was that they would cook the pasta you had made earlier that day for dinner. 

The Experience

The cooking class was one of our favorite activities offered at the castle. We were invited into the castle’s kitchen to learn the traditional ways and dishes of Italy. One of our favorite memories was getting to know and do this alongside one of the other couples staying on property. They were honeymooning from Palestine and explained that they had just had a week-long wedding!

A highlight of the castle grounds is the pool. It’s down the hill and overlooks the vineyards to create a relaxing ambience. You will feel like you’re down at your private pool. They do have a second pool through the gardens, however, it was not available to use as it was being worked on. They don’t have constant pool service, but they will bring anything you need down from the kitchen with a simple text. Simoh was running the show with the wait staff, and he was wonderful at checking in on us throughout our entire stay.

If you’re looking for physical activity, they offer e-bikes to explore the surrounding area. These are first come first served. The roads are pretty rough and hilly - which created for a fun adventure. We also enjoyed a hike down to the river, which was a large loop around the property. 

You can also sample their wines made from their grapes harvested on the estate. Brando, the oldest son of the family, sat down with us during a tasting featuring their best wines and charcuterie. We had a fun time learning all about the process and what they had planned for the future for their winery. 

They do offer massage treatments, however I will warn you in advance—they don’t have a spa, just a little spa “hut” where you can receive Italian Massages. I like to reiterate this because it was quite a shock when I arrived. Although the massage was good, it was very intimate and will be one you will surely never forget. This is one I could’ve skipped this time around. 

Vicarello also offers truffle hunting, olive harvesting, leather workshops, grape harvesting and other fun activities in the surrounding area. We did not get to do these as we wanted to spend a lot of our time around the pool relaxing. 

What made this stay an even more memorable experience than others, was befriending the other couples throughout the week. They were from all over the world and we loved getting to know them and their stories. We absolutely loved our stay at the castle and hope we will get to make return visit in the future.

Have questions about our stay? Please don’t hesitate to reach out! Travel is my love language and I’d love to help in any way so you can have the best trip possible.