Beauty, serenity, authenticity and hospitality are the keywords to describe Villa le Barone.

Staying at Le Barone is very much like visiting friends in a private, elegant home set in the gorgeous Tuscan hills in front of the San Leolino roman Abbey. The lounges are especially inviting, beautifully furnished with charming, family antiques and paintings. There are 28 guestrooms, some with their own terrace. All are differently decorated, with modern tiled bathrooms.

Rooms are in the main Villa or in renovated cottages and barns. Dinner, based on typical Tuscan recipes, is served in the restaurant, which formerly housed the winery, or on the terrace weather permitting. Wonderful little secluded hideaways are found in the parklike setting where guests can find a quiet nook to read or just to sit and soak in the beauty of the surrounding hills.

There is a lovely swimming pool, romantically set on a rose garden terrace looking over the vineyards, a tennis court with a beautiful view on the Chianti hills and a fitness centre.

Villa le Barone is also an ideal base to explore some of Tuscany's most beautiful cities, as well as the surrounding Chianti wineries. Magnificent hiking and biking possibilities are available around the Villa.

There is an 18 holes golf course in the vicinity Le Barone was once the home of the famous Tuscan family, Della Robbia, whose beautiful predominantly white and blue terracottas are still seen throughout Italy. It was restored into a de small charm hotel by a descendant of the family, Duchessa Franca Visconti.

Today, her heir, Count Corso Aloisi de Larderel and his wife, are the owners. They come frequently to the Villa to greet guests and to ensure that the impeccable standards and taste prevail.