Spelunca Cave Hotel

Recent Reviews: 659

• User:Roger T

  Trip type: Couples

  We come here every twenty years!

  24 Jul 2025

  After staying here during our honeymoon in 2005, my wife and I came back for a three night stay celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in mid July. We booked a deluxe room at the front of the hotel and on arrival were shown to what appeared to be the only one with a. balcony. The view was as stunning as we remembered and a bottle of Prosecco while sitting gazing out over the tuscan countryside helped get our stay off to a good start. The room was spacious and comfortable and equipped with everything we needed. Being on the first floor, it was easy to reach and actually at ground level if you used the door at the restaurant end of the building; handy for loading and unloading suitcases.Breakfast was served buffet style with a choice of sitting inside our outside and there was a good choice of food. As often in Italy, the choice of hot food was poor but more than compensated for by the more continental items! Just one criticism; there was no self service tea or coffee available and we had to approach a member of staff to order. A rather unusual way of doing this and, at times, a little frustrating as there seemed to be too few staff on duty to cope comfortably.We ate in the restaurant on two of our three evenings and both the food and service were excellent. Staff generally were extremely friendly and helpful and were happy to let me converse in Italian - even when, for them, it might have been easier to do so in English!La Palagina had changed a little since our visit 20 years ago; it was busier and seemed to cater more for families so it was livelier, with quite a few (well behaved) children present. We thoroughly enjoyed our return and would recommend it as a great base for exploring the Chianti region or simply relaxing in beautiful surroundings. Gian Luigi Benelli, Sales at Palagina - La Dimora, responded to this review It’s a pleasure reading your words! Knowing that you chose to return to us after twenty years to celebrate such a special anniversary fills our hearts with gratitude. It was an honor to be part of your honeymoon in 2005, and now again in your most recent memories. We’re so happy you enjoyed the room and that the breathtaking view was just as you remembered. Thank you for noticing the changes: over the years, we’ve worked to make Palagina more welcoming, while preserving the relaxed and authentic atmosphere that defines us. Knowing that you found everything comfortable and that our staff welcomed you warmly makes us truly proud. Hosting you and making you feel well is our goal. We’ll wait for you on another experience rurale di natura!

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• User:Kim L

  Trip type: Couples

  View will NOT disappoint!

  07 Jul 2025

  Driving up the long driveway through the line of cypress trees looking at the view of the grape vineyards and olive groves gave me all the "Tuscan feels". After watching "Under the Tuscan Sun" many, many times I had a vision in my head of what Tuscany would look like, this Villa and grounds did not disappoint. Our room was on the third floor. If you are not a fan of stairs, you might want to request a first floor room. The villa was so authentic with it's decor, stone floors and stairs. They had a lovely library with plenty of books and the most lovely chandelier. The trip down to the breakfast area was lovely. The smell of the lobby was delicious! The restaurant view was AMAZING! We had breakfast every morning. The staff was wonderful, especially the barista..so very nice. The buffet was good, yet the same everyday. We had dinner most nights at the restaurant as well. Menu was limited and food was average but the view was wonderful. The evening staff was very nice, especially Sofia. The olive oil made on site was extremely delicious. We had several bottles shipped back home and enjoy it daily. The peace felt at this villa was absolutely mesmerizing. Gian Luigi Benelli, Sales at Palagina - La Dimora, responded to this review Thank you Kim! It’s a pleasure reading your words.Hosting you and making you feel well is our goal.We’ll wait for you on another experience rurale di natura!

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• User:Hanna L

  Trip type: Couples

  Breathtaking views of the valley!

  30 Aug 2024

  The garden/surroundings: Palagina La Dimora offers absolutely stunning views of the valley and the wine/olive fields! The view is breathtaking and we loved relaxing in the lounge sofas, drinking wine and looking out over the valley and the mountains in the far distance. Palagina is also surrounded by a beautiful garden with fountains + 2 pools. The rooms: We booked a superior room and unfortunately the room was a disappointment (room 10). On the website there were pictures of very romantic-looking rooms and it’s described as a room with “elegant furniture” - however the room that we were allocated did not look anything like the pictures and the furniture was very basic. For example; the chair next to the bed had a big old stain which made it look dirty. The pictures on the website shows a newly renovated bathroom, however there were some cracks in the walls, paint falling off from the radiator and some black mold in the corner of the shower - which could easily be fixed! Palagina has since changed some pictures in their website. We have also been back for a second time and at that point we were allocated a LOVELY room!! (room 33) Make sure to have dinner out on the vine field - it will be an unforgettable memory!! Although we were a bit disappointed with the room during our first stay the overall experience was fantastic!

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• User:md65756

  Trip type: Family

  The Palagina delivers what it promises!

  16 Aug 2024

  Knowing the region we were keen to find a good hotel that was central to the Chianti area and that is exactly what the Palagina La Dimora delivered. The setting and views are superb but with the added convenience of being close to many of Tuscany’s small towns and villages. You do need a car though. We do not typically eat in the hotel we are staying in but the Palagina offers an excellent restaurant and we ended up eating dinner there 4 out of the 7 nights because it was so good! The service of the whole team was very good and a particular shout out for Claudio in the restaurant who was happy to give us many tips on places to see and visit. A couple of suggestions to the management team, firstly a pity that the pools close at 19:00, even if we understand they are located in front of the restaurant and hence better for peace and quiet that they are closed before. Also noted that the hotel has an on duty lifeguard who starts early. The other suggestion is to perhaps offer daily specials off the main menu. The meals were excellent but we ended up repeating dishes even if very good, a little more variety would have been welcome. Extensive and excellent wines list. Breakfast was very good and good selection with some daily changes. The plumbing needs a little bit of work but the real test is would we return and a unanimous yes! Thanks for a wonderful relaxing break! Gian Luigi Benelli, Sales at Palagina - La Dimora, responded to this review Thank you ! It’s a pleasure reading your words.Hosting you and making you feel well is our goal.We’ll wait for you on another experience rurale di natura!

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• User:Justin C

  Trip type: Family

  Needs improvement

  30 May 2024

  Beautiful setting, good food , but not good enough to justify indifferent ,bordering on rude , service which spoiled lunch on a lovely day. Despite being half empty , greeted by a miserable young woman , failed to bring any cheese to table with pasta , (I had to go into kitchen to get some ) , had to ask for bill several times . It felt like they were doing us a huge favour despite us ordering copiously from the menu as we were keen to sample various different wines and dishes, but their surliness managed to dampen our good mood. Food was good but not excellent for this region

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