We booked Villa Palagetto exclusively for our family (24 of us) to stay in for a week whilst in Italy to celebrate our marriage. It was simply beautiful. It was a heatwave while we were there and the average temperature was about 38, making it hard to get out and explore. Thankfully, Villa Palagetto made it easy for us to cool off and enjoy the immediate surroundings and breathtaking views. The staff at Villa Palagetto were wonderful, friendly and accommodating. They were on hand often to help with any issues we had and were great with communication. This is not only the staff on reception, but also Serena in the breakfast room and the chef and waiters in the restaurant too. The cleaning staff were also very polite and friendly.
As we had the entire property exclusively booked for our family, I made sure to view all the different accommodations that were available as people checked in. All were beautiful and clean. The rooms in Palagetto di Sotto were more modern and benefitted from air conditioning. They were solely bedrooms, decorated in a beautiful modern rustic charm, with no kitchen facilities or fridges. La Suite, in a central location of the complex, is spacious and modern with air conditioning and a fridge. The rooms and apartments in Torre Palagetto are again, clean and well appointed, but definitely have a more authentic Tuscan feel. While air conditioning is present in La Limonaia and the individual rooms at the base of the Torre, air conditioning is not present in the apartments because of restrictions on the buildings. This did make the rooms rather warm in a heatwave, however, you could open the windows wide and the breeze that passes over San Gimignano does cool the rooms to some extent. We were also provided with fans to help and we still managed to sleep comfortably despite the temperatures.
The pool and grounds were beautiful and well maintained and there were plenty of sunbeds by the pool. There were a lot of mosquitos and wasps around at meal times but the staff at Villa Palagetto did their best to combat these for us, and the nearby Coop shop had shelves full of supplies to help.
Breakfast was a good assortment of different foods. A lot of what we would call tarts and cakes, but also yoghurt, fruit and cereal options. Fruit juice and coffee were also provided. We had a wide variety of ages for our guests and everyone was able to find something they liked.
For evening meals, we had a wedding banquet, a pizza party, a bbq and a traditional Tuscan dinner served to us and our guests throughout our week long stay. All were fantastically presented and delicious. We also had a number of dietary requirements in our party, including vegan, vegetarian and gluten and dairy free. All were catered for and the staff even remembered who was who from the first meal, so food was brought out to them without fuss. Meals were obviously accompanied by the wine from Palagetto's own vineyards, and it was beautifully paired.
The wedding ceremony we had was held in the beautiful courtyard at Torre Palagetto, with a cocktail hour in the fruit orchard adjacent to Palagetto di Sotto. Our wedding banquet was on the terrace next to the fruit orchard with stunning views as a backdrop. The food again was delicious and plentiful. The wedding cake was the best cake I’ve ever tasted! One part of our ceremony included a butterfly release, which the staff at Villa Palagetto had never done before. I understand there was a long list of instructions for them to follow in preparing the butterflies for release and I am so very thankful that they were amenable to doing that for us. The moment is one we will never forget!
We, and some of our guests, took part in a wine tasting just down the road from Villa Palagetto in their cellar. It was a lovely space and a good opportunity to relax and enjoy more wine!
Ultimately, we couldn’t have been more happy with our choice to stay at Villa Palagetto with our closest family.