Il Poggio

We just went to this resort July 28, 2007, for our 25th Wedding Anniversary and had a wonderful time. The resort is in a very authentic area in Tuscany and the restaurant on site was marvelous. We had some of our best meals there and the view from the patio where evening dinners are served by candle light was unbelievable. The office staff spoke English well and they were available morning until night which was very helpful. They also provided an excellent map of the area and the timeshare is an agritourismo and the resort produces it's own wine, olive oil, sausages and cheeses. You will need a rental car as this is in the country and only about 10 minutes away is a wonderful spa in a lovely village area. Celle Sul Rigo is the village that you can walk to from the resort and there was a few little trattorias to eat at and one place to have coffee. I can not say enough about the resort and the wonderful time we had there. There is no air conditioning which is typical of most european timeshares but there was often a breeze on top of the high hill that the resort rests on. They have horse back riding available as well and rides for the spa for the day if you like. We had a one bedroom unit that slept four, although there were only two of us with a fully equiped kitchen with expresso coffee maker, small fridge etc. The view from the bedroom and living room area was breath taking. We would go back in a heart beat. The road up to the unit is paved and it is any easy drive to Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, Cortona and many other tuscan places of interest.

My wife and I along with two of our friends spent a week at Il Poggio from March 25th through March 31st, 2006. We had an exchange through RCI. Our paperwork from RCI advertised IL Poggio to accommodate four adults with two twin sofas in each room. The paperwork from RCI stated the following from RCI: "Resort offers 1 bed units for 4 with double bed and 2 single sofa beds." However, when we arrived we were told that there were no rooms with this available. We were later told, from a staff member at IL Poggio, that we could have an extra room at no cost for the duration of our stay due to the error. However, when we went to check out, we were told that we had to pay $50. a day for the room we used in additional to our room we had exchanged. While we feel the $50. was very affordable, this is not what we were told originally when we checked in and we feel we were mislead as to how the accommodations were set up.

Another issue that arose while we were at the resort after three days was we discovered a mass of ants in our room. They were in the kitchen, bathroom and in our suitcases. When we told the front desk they responded as "it is that time of year." We feel that there was great disinterest, from the resort, in taking care of this matter. To our dismay, they never offered to spray the room or move us to another room. Since this was advertised as a Gold Crown Resort, we felt we deserved a better response and that this would be taken care of immediately. However, it was not. We ended up paying for the room we had to use for one of our guests and checked out a day earlier due to the disinterest in taking care of our situation. We would like a written apology from Il Poggio as to our needs not being made and a refund of the $300. Euros.

As of this posting, we have contacted RCI and we have received a response. RCI has offered us a free red week through RCI. However, the email response we have received from IL Poggio has been sent on to RCI. We have yet to hear a written response from the owners of IL Poggio. We have contacted other consumer and tourist agencies.

J. Parker