Precise Tale Poggio Alla Sala

Precise Tale Poggio Alla Sala

At Precise Tale Poggio Alla Sala, frescoes original to the 18th-century Neoclassical villa look down over a pool bar named for Marco Polo, and that pairing sums up the place: careful restoration of terracotta floors and vaulted ceilings paired with a running theme of the old Silk Road, evident in oriental accents through the interiors and in La Via Della Seta, the restaurant built to carry Tuscan, European and oriental dishes side by side. That mix of a genuinely historic shell with a story most Tuscan estates do not bother telling is the thing that sets it apart from the region's other converted villas. The 60 rooms sit across the main house and a separate Villa wing, some looking over vineyards or the olive grove, and three pools, including one reserved for adults only, give the grounds more room to spread out than most conversions of this size manage. A heated indoor pool sits inside the spa alongside a sauna, steam room and treatments using SODASHI products, and the gym occupies a glass pavilion facing the countryside rather than a car park. Families get their own Bambini a Poggio kids club, and gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian menus are standard rather than a special request; pets are welcome too, for a fee. What it will not suit is anyone wanting to walk to dinner in town without a car, since the hotel sits outside Montepulciano itself, closer to vineyards than to piazzas. Anyone drawn to frescoes and quiet hills over proximity to the action will find the distance is precisely the point. Frescoes from the 1700s look over a pool bar named for Marco Polo, and a restaurant built around the old Silk Road, an unusual pairing for rural Tuscany. Sixty rooms and three pools sit outside Montepulciano itself, suited to those happy to arrive by car rather than stroll to dinner.