13 Reviews of Property 868768 in Lucca, Italy

Al Bastini is a beautiful old Tuscan farmhouse set in a idyllic setting
in the Tuscan hills. This lovely home provides everything you could need
for a perfect holiday.

The interior of the house is beautifully well equipped with lots of character.
The open terrace leading from the kitchen is a wonderful, relaxing area for evening meals and entertaining.

The swimming pool enjoys wonderful views over the surrounding hills and countryside and is a perfect place to sunbathe or play in with no noise or distractions.

During the summer the flowers and plants surrounding the house are a wonderful blaze of colour with lots of hidden areas to enjoy the views whilst enjoying your evening drink.

A perfect place for either a romantic getaway or for a family wishing to relax and escape the bustle of today.


Margaret Waddell

This was the perfect villa to stay with an extended family. Our group included young people and parents and the combination of swimming pool, snooker and table tennis kept us all occupied at the villa. It was in a perfect setting, surrounded by wildlife, - including wild porcupines - and though a little difficult to find on the first night of arrival, it was very convenient for visiting nearby Lucca - just ten minutes drive away, and en route to Lucca is a well placed Supermarket.

The rooms and facilities were first class, very comfortable and clean, and the full range of BBC programmes available on the television, especially in Olympic week, added to a memorable holiday. There was also free wi-fi available for those addicted to keeping in touch with the outside world.

But the best part was the sense of perfect isolation, especially in the evenings with the full Milky Way available overhead as we sat outside for evening meals.

Other bonuses included being able to use barbeque facilities, and the excellent pool, big enough for the whole family to use for play or swimming, and hammocks to sunbathe or snooze in afterwards.

We were a party of four older adults and four younger adults, and the facilities suited us all, and made for a real family holiday which we will always remember.

The owner, Les, was very helpful on the lead up to the holiday and everything was as expected We had been to the Lucca area a few times before and knew our way around the town, and this is a non-touristy Italian town which is a delight to explore.

We would certainly recommend this villa for a family holiday

So often a place does not match up to the pictures.

In this case, the reality surpassed the pictures, which could not include waking to a chorus of bird song every morning and having a beautiful herb garden we were urged to use.

In addition, our host was very attentive to our questions and needs.

We hope to return.

Maureen and Paul Draper

We stayed at Al Bastini in the summer of 2010 with a group of close friends, some of whom where visiting Italy/Europe for the first time.

This villa is stunning and captures the charm of Tuscany while still offering the modern conveniences savvy travelers expect. There is a fresh herb garden adjacent to the kitchen, making for a wonderful culinary experience. One of our friends was so enamored, they are booked for this upcoming summer. We truly hope to return one day!


Michelle Fischetti

My family and I have now stayed at Al-Bastini 3 times over the past 4 years, each time for 3 weeks, and we always wish we could stay longer. Al-Bastini is very comfortably furnished with spacious rooms and stunning views.

It offers a wonderful tranquil and relaxing environment with plenty of space so that some can read and bask in the sunshine, while others enjoy the swimming pool, or TV, or billiards in the games room and make whatever noise they like without disturbing others. The local area offers plenty of good restaurants and shops within a couple of miles of the villa, and the beautiful town of Lucca, less than 20 minutes’ drive away is well worth a visit; cycling the medieval wall round Lucca is a very pleasant exercise worth experiencing, which provides an actual city wide view of Lucca's lay out and architecture.

We cannot praise Al-Bastini highly enough, although perhaps we should keep it a secret to ensure we get our preferred holidays weeks!

Bob Parish
UK

A common concern when renting villas is whether it will be as good as real life as it looks in the photos. In this case we needn't have worried as Al Bastini is actually better in real life.

We've stayed in a lot of places in Tuscany, but this is now our favourite.

It's a truly beautiful old villa, with a huge garden, & wonderful views. You feel like you're deep in the heart of rural Tuscany, surrounded by truly unspoilt countryside, but it's only a 15 minute or so drive to Lucca, & a few minutes down the road to the very pretty village of San Macario in Piano.

The house is extremely spacious & comfortable, with large airy rooms, there's every amenity including air conditioning, a huge flatscreen TV, a very well stocked kitchen with good quality crockery & utensils, lots of hot water for showers, plenty of towels etc

The billiards room with huge billiards table & table tennis were very useful for keeping the children quiet. The study area is also very useful if any of the party needs to work.

For me, I particularly liked the fact that there are 2 outdoor eating areas directly accessible from the kitchen - one is a covered terrace, perfect for the heat of the day, and the other a leafy outdoor barbecue area - which made catering for everyone very easy.

We also had a charming cook who made some memorable meals for us.

We ate most meals outside, although the dining room was very comfortable. Often we took our meals down to the leafy gazebo by the pool, which is set away from the house with its own gate, useful, if like us, you have small children. The pool has plenty of comfortable loungers & lovely views.

The location was ideal for us in that you can get into Lucca very quickly; Pisa, Florence are also near. It's very easy to get to the sea, Forte Dei Marmi in particular we loved - a delightful Italian seaside resort with some good restaurants. We took a ferry from Viareggio to the Cinque Terre, and visited Lerici which has fabulous views. We also visited Montecantini - a wonderful old spa town, and Barga & Castelnuovo, the ancient towns up in the mountains of the Garfagnana.

What makes Al Bastini special is that it's the owners own house, so it's full of character & personal touches. Les, the owner, could not have been more charming or more helpful & we felt very well looked after. Thank you for sharing your lovely house with us!

We will definitely be back.

Giustina Davis & family,
London

Les,

Your home is beautiful and worked well for our family needs. The bedrooms were very comfortable, and the house was well equipped. You were very helpful with offering restaurant suggestions and use of local maps and tour books in the home was greatly appreciated. Views are wonderful and the estate is very private. We loved the landscaping and the fig trees. The Pool was warm and relaxing, and we enjoyed playing ping pong in the evenings! Our only suggestion would be to add screens to the windows and add some additional lighting to the steep driveway.

Best Regards,

The Loening Family

We stayed at Al Bastini in September 2011 and what an amazing time we had. The photos on the web-site really do not do it justice.

We arrived late at night, so it wasn’t until the morning when I woke up in the master bedroom, opened the shutters and saw just how amazing the surroundings were. The view is just breathtaking from every single angle, it really did take my breath away.

The house is decorated in a style of timeless elegance that is in keeping with its surroundings. The house is equipped as a home, not as a rental, everything from the bed linen, towels, crockery and kitchen equipment are of the highest quality and it felt like being at home but not at home. There was not a single thing I looked for that was not there, such care has been taken to ensure you want for nothing. The house and grounds were spotlessly cleaned to a 5 star hotel standard.

You could dine at a different location within the grounds for every single meal there are so many dining areas to choose from. We generally stayed at the house for breakfast and lunch whilst around the pool then ventured down the mountain for amazing suppers in the very local vicinity. The pool area has again everything you need, heated pool, shaded dining area where we would have lunch, very comfortable sun loungers with shade should you require it. Just a perfect location to relax and take in the rays.

I really cannot recommend this beautiful house and location enough and I thank you for sharing your beautiful home with us…

Liza