Castello di Spessa - Residenze d'Epoca

Deceptive and Discriminatory Experience I checked in on October 20, 2024, around 6 p.m., while the castle reception was still open. The couple ahead of me received a room in the castle with assistance from the doorman. However, when it was my turn, the receptionist handed me a map and directed me to a building several hundred meters away, which required driving to reach. I didn’t think much of it initially, but when I arrived, I found the room was in a completely different hotel – an old, subpar restaurant with a few rooms. This is not the castle experience I booked. The booking platform, hotel name, and descriptions clearly indicated a room in the castle, not a separate hotel. The noise from bugs made it impossible to sleep. I contacted the platform as the reception had closed, but the hotel insisted this was a “castle room” – a blatant lie. 1. The platform lists these as two distinct hotels. 2. The hotel's official website confirms these are separate properties with different names and standards. 3. I booked a week in advance, and if they were fully booked, I should have been informed to adjust or cancel my trip. This was the most disappointing hotel experience I’ve ever had – everything was different from what was advertised.

Castello di Spessa is just something else! It's a place at which you can feel like a princess in the most magical castle while simultaneously feeling as relaxed as you would on a tropical island! The room was the most glorious room I have ever stayed in! It was so spacious and luxurious but also cozy and homelike. There is one thing that completely left me speechless, and that is the spa. It feels like taking a bath in the middle of the luxurious castle, with the wine, of course. Since you can literally bathe in wine! The view from each pool and bathtub is insane. On top of that, Andrea did such an incredible and unique massage. The spa experience was just like I imagine Greek gods to live in stories, in a state of tranquility surrounded by an abundance of wine and beautiful art. The food was amazing! The dinners at La Tavernetta al Castello were so good. But what made it really stand out, were the people that truly cared for our enjoyment. They paid attention to what we liked the first night and kept making recommendations based on our preferences on the following nights. To my surprise, I absolutely loved the golf lesson! I took a lesson with a golf pro, and I fell in love with the sport. He was so supportive and a truly amazing teacher even for a complete beginner like myself. I also liked that you can rent bikes and drive through the vineyards. In the end, I have to mention how beautiful the location is! There are hills and vineyards wherever you look. It's just as beautiful as Toscana, for example, while being peaceful and undisturbed at the same time. Incredible people at Castello di Spessa are also the reason that this stay was so memorable! I can't wait to return to Castello di Spessa in the future!

We got married at Castello di Spessa last year. The location is beautiful, and that’s why we initially decided to celebrate there, but the overall experience was absolutely awful. The manager, which is the wife of the owner, has no experience and no manners. We booked a tasting menu trial in August for October, and we flew from London for it but unfortunately she forgot to inform the chef, so we did not have the chance to taste the actual food selection. After that, instead of apologising, she blamed us because we could not “follow the procedure” that apparently consists in visiting the restaurant twice: 1 first time to meet the chef and discuss food preferences and a second time to taste it. Please note that I was pregnant and I live abroad, so I could not travel after October, and she knew that very well as I made it clear from the very beginning, and I also emailed her several times to remind her that was the only time I could come for the tasting. As we did not feel comfortable committing for such an expensive food selection without trying it first, we decided to go for another catering. Because of that the agreed price for the rental of the castle suddenly doubled. This is understandable, so we did not blink and agreed on the new price. The annoying part was that those £7000 did not include the use of the spaces of the castle: each room was roughly £500 in addition (£500 for the church, £500 for the cellar, £900 for the Medieval party room, etc…); the cleaning was not included either; the use of the kitchen supplies was not granted to the external catering; the price did not even include the use of tables and chairs, that we had to rent from them at an additional charge. It was also mandatory to buy their own wine. We found a bit ridiculous the all thing but we agreed anyway. As we had had more than 50 guests coming from abroad, we also asked her a quote for the sleepover. She gave us a price that was more expensive that the price they were actually selling their rooms on *********** (and indeed we booked them from ***********. Pretty silly on their behalf as in this was they also had to pay a commission on the platform). We also asked if it was possible to organise a brunch for the morning after the wedding for all the guests, but even this apparently was a problem, so we have to book elsewhere. To conclude, the morning after the wedding they tried to charge us £5000 more that the agreed price, for some allegedly use of the terrace after midnight, despite the fact that we agreed in writing that the party could go ahead until 2 am. Franckly, if I could go back I would never pick this place. There are so many other beautiful wedding location close by, this castle is very nice but it is not worth the headache.