Exquisite Spa with Thermal Cave Diving! 3 large thermally heated pools anchor the ancient estate. Staff is very helpful, from Concierge to wait staff. Excellent LI Iced Teas by request. Room was upgraded for Titanium and overlooked the expansive estate. I did the Thermal Cave Dive. This was a very advanced Dive though they require only PADI Open. I have about 25 lifetime dives which is a medium amount for a tourist. 2 guides with 3 divers, 5 ppls Single file, 75 minutes under…..crawling through tight spaces, vertical chutes, rock walls. Tank and air lines regularly bang and get stuck. This is recommended for very experienced divers, who have no claustrophobia and are mentally sound and calm under pressure. I passed the test and was mentally a bit stirred for about a day. Guides were very good but this dive would have unique challenges if something goes wrong due to enclosed nature.
Do not spoil your visit to beautiful Tuscany by staying here. I faced multiple issues during my 2 night stay. 1. I was left stranded for about 15 minutes at 11 pm outside the hotel since no one at reception responded to the buzz from the main entry gate or my phone call. It was only after 15 minutes of constant buzzing and calling that I was let in. This was both uncomfortable and dangerous as I was with my wife in a new area unable to enter the hotel. Official response by Thomas Parenti, General Manager : 'The single associate responsible to open the gate was not at the desk, sorry about that' 2. Throughout my stay at the hotel, I was unable to utilize the chrome cast feature of the TV in the room. When asked about it, the response we got was that its unavailable for the complete hotel and a ticket has been raised. The issue was never resolved, nor did anyone follow up with us regarding it. Official response by Thomas Parenti, General Manager : 'We raised a ticket to our IT but they never responded, sorry about that' 3. The hotel management refused to use a Marriott e-gift card stating that it cannot be redeemed for stays, rather only for extras at the restaurants etc. This is untrue as a second Marriott we stayed at after this hotel was easily able to use funds on the gift card even though we had prepaid for the hotel. Official response by Thomas Parenti, General Manager : 'We billed you already, sorry about that' I am not sure how this is a 5-star Marriott property. Terrible experience overall.