We had an excellent stay at Villa Chiugi and are very happy to give it five stars overall. The villa is in a beautiful location and is a wonderful place to spend a holiday in Tuscany. The views from the first floor are absolutely fantastic. From the ground-floor porch they are more limited, as bushes and small trees partially block the view, but the surroundings are still lovely.
A major part of what makes the stay so enjoyable is Maurizio, who manages the property. He takes excellent care of the pool and the villa, is always helpful, and was great with restaurant reservations, recommendations and suggestions about places to visit in the area. He is genuinely a big added value to the whole Villa Chiugi experience.
There were, however, a few details that we found slightly amusing considering the price level of the villa.
Being charged separately for the gas used to heat the water felt rather unusual. At this price point, I would personally prefer the rental price to simply be €100 higher rather than finishing an otherwise premium holiday experience by calculating the cost of hot water.
We were also charged for a broken wine glass. Of course, guests should take responsibility for damage, but this felt a little disproportionate given that there were only four narrow wine glasses available for a group of six when we arrived. We actually bought six additional drinking glasses ourselves because we found the available number insufficient. If individual pieces of kitchen equipment are expected to be accounted for, it might be useful to provide guests with an inventory and the replacement cost of each item at the beginning of the stay.
On a similar note, all the kitchen knives available when we arrived were extremely dull, and there was no knife sharpener, so we bought three additional knives. There were also no bedside/night lamps in the bedroom we used, so we bought one of those as well.
Needless to say, we did not deduct the cost of the glasses, knives or lamp we added to the villa from our final bill — although, following the same accounting philosophy, perhaps we should have considered it. :)
These are relatively minor points and did not change our overall impression. Villa Chiugi is a beautiful property in a fantastic location, and thanks in particular to Maurizio's care and assistance, we had a great stay and would happily recommend it.