Wir verbrachten eine Woche im "Ultimo Mulino", einer versteckt in einem Tal gelegenen ehemaligen Mühle, welche in außerordentlich geschmackvoller Art und Weise zu einem kleinen und feinen 4*-Hotel umgestaltet wurde. Wer Ruhe und einen Ausgangspunkt für Exkursionen sucht, ist hier bestens aufgehoben. Die Zimmer sind im Landhausstil eingerichtet, freundlich und sauber, die Betten sind angenehm, Flat-TV ( Programmauswahl eher dürftig, aber wer braucht das schon in der Toskana) und Minibar sind vorhanden, die Badezimmer mit Whirlpoolwannen sind modern und ebenfalls geschmackvoll adaptiert. Das Personal an der Rezeption und im Service ist überaus freundlich und sympathisch. Unser Zimmer wurde immer blitzschnell und gründlich gesäubert. Das Frühstück in Buffetform ist schmackhaft , der Kaffee in beliebigen Varianten bestellbar. Auch das Abendessen á la carte zu den üblichen Restaurantpreisen ist hervorragend, die Weine ebenfalls. Der schmale, dafür umso längere Swimmingpool liegt den ganzen Tag in der Sonne, und soferne nicht gerade eine italienische Familie mitsamt Bambini denselben in Beschlag nimmt, kann man dort stundenlang wundervoll relaxen und die Natur genießen. Alles in allem: sehr empfehlenswert.

Pretty hotel out in the middle of nowhere! A restored water mill in very quiet countryside. The staff were incredibly friendly and knowledgeable about the local area. The rooms were clean, although I think the bed was two twin beds pushed together. It's a beautiful place to stay if you want a quiet couple of days out touring the wine country of tuscany, the staff can point you towards several excellent spots for winery tours. If you want a spot that's right in the thick of everything, this probably isn't it. It has an excellant central location, but the winding roads prohibit getting anywhere fast.

Albergo Ultimo Mulino is in a rebuilt water mill, on the road between Radda in Chianti and (eventually) Siena. We spent an enjoyable six days there in May 2006. It has about twelve rooms, and a small restaurant which offers breakfast each day, and an evening meal five or six days a week. The hotel has been developed to a very good standard, with modern comfortable rooms and public areas, air conditioning, and public areas. We came to meet quite a number of the staff over the time we were there and they were all professional, interested and helpful, and spoke good to excellent English. Although we know Tuscany quite well, a couple of the suggestions they offered were new to us and we greatly enjoyed them. It is about 45 minutes drive to Siena, ten minutes to Radda, and fifteen minutes to Gaiole. Like so many Tuscan properties, the road directions need to be followed very carefully (they are on the web-site). You have to have a car to consider staying here. Radda is an interesting small town with some good restaurants (the hotel will arrange bookings and offer recommendations); Gaiole is more of a service village than Radda. We found the location a good base from which to travel around the Chianti area, but if your main aim is to visit Florence it is a little far away for that. It is also more of a trek to Pisa airport than the map would suggest - the information about distances is confusing and while it may technically be 85km as some of the hotel's information suggests, that is over slow and narrow back roads. Using the motorways, we found it was about 170km and it took a little under two hours from leaving the hotel to reach the airport under favourable traffic conditions. The old water mill features have been cleverly used in the architecture and in the development of the site. The hotel is set alongside the old mill stream, with the old water race converted to a swimming pool. It is a quite and beautiful setting. Being at the bottom of a valley, this is not a winter location you would want to be in and the hotel opens only for the spring and summer seasons. Mobile phone coverage is weak to non-existent in the hotel and nearby. We really enjoyed our stay. It does not have the gloss of the super-lodges of the Chianti, just genuine Italian hospitality, food, and value for money. Recommended

I stayed 3 nights at the hotel. The hotel was an ancient watermill, now adapted to a small and quiet hotel. It is close to the main road (less than 1 km) but the trees around the hotel masks the road and the noise: at the morning you can only hear the sound of the water stream that once powered the mill. The rooms are very nice and suggestive, the pool is long enough and it's very sunny. The breakfast is excellent and it is served outside of the hotel during the sunny days. The roads in Chianti are very slow so it takes more than 30 minutes to major cities in the area. The nice city of Radda in Chianti is just 10 minutes from the hotel. The staff is very polite and discreet, the right people for a location like this one. I really enjoyed my stay. I do strongly recommend this location.