A return to real hospitality.
The Beginning of a Dream
Years back, two friends asked each other, “What does it take to really love a hotel?” The answer was this—it needs to transport you. It needs to have amazing food. And above all, it needs to understand real hospitality. The idea that you are not only welcome but sincere care has gone into that welcoming. Real hospitality builds a stay without friction, where you can relax fully, knowing that you are being thought of not as a number on a ledger, but as a real human being.
After spending many years looking for the perfect version of real hospitality, those friends asked each other another question.
“What if we build it ourselves?”
And that is how the idea of Borgo Santolina was born.
But the idea of Borgo Santolina was not just another villa in Tuscany. We knew that provide the type of hospitality that mattered to us, in the beautiful backdrop of Italy, certain things needed to happen:
All-Inclusive:
We knew Borgo Santolina had to be all-inclusive. One up front price means that every time you want to linger over your cappuccino, you don’t have to think about flagging someone down later to find out if you need to sign something. It means you can sit with it on the patio, listen to the morning birdsong, envelop yourself in the fresh Tuscan air, and whenever you feel moved to set your cup down and explore the hidden trails of the forest, you can freely choose to do so.
This feeling of freedom, of following your curiosity from place to place without being stymied by a check, means everything to us.
Exclusive-Use:
Exclusive-use means only one group at a time, so that we can better plan a stay that suits the needs of each individual group, instead of trying to be everything to everybody all the time. To that end, we searched for a property with 15 rooms or fewer, intimate enough to provide a place where friends and family could come together and enjoy each part of the property as if it were their own home, so that cares would melt away and everyone could relax into each other’s company and find true connection with our place and with each other. To us, exclusive-use means easier planning for families, groups of friends, weddings, business retreats, and workshops, or whatever else our guests can dream up.
A Familiar and Yet Undiscovered Location:
It had to be somewhere somewhat unknown, where real people still lived their real lives, and where you could find the spirit of the country of Tuscany and Italy hidden amongst the valleys and the hills. It had to be close to Florence and Siena, but still feel remote enough that when you stayed there, it felt truly private.
We Take Care of the Itinerary:
To achieve the type of hospitality we want to achieve, we plan the itinerary so that our guests can truly enjoy their time with us. At home, we are in charge of every decision—it shouldn’t be the same on vacation. We work closely with our guests to learn their wants and curiosities, and build an itinerary that has just enough activities to feel that you’re discovering and doing, but also the space to pause and relax without a care in the world, in a way you only can in Italy.
Finding Borgo Santolina
It took nearly two years to find the property of our dreams to turn into something we have all been looking for—a place where we could welcome guests like family, where they could unwind and disconnect from the outside world against the backdrop of Tuscany, where for centuries the people have cultivated the understanding that life is meant for savoring.
In September 2025, we found a 12th century borgo nestled in the forests of Tuscany, in a little-explored area called the Val di Merse, a hidden gem of natural beauty even for the Italians. We checked it against the list of requirements to see if it measured up:
14 rooms spread across 3 buildings, but close enough together to not feel lost
A stunning swimming pool with an infinity edge overlooking the Val di Merse
Located next to the Riserva Naturale Merse, on 50 hectares (130 acres)
A working farm that needed a little care to return to its former glory
With all of this, and olive trees dotting every hill and orchards bowing under the weight of their fruit, Borgo Santolina was the place we had all been looking for.
We purchased it in January 2025 with plans to begin renovations in July 2025.
And ran directly into the famous Italian bureaucracy, which became its own odyssey. Months of filing paperwork, fixing irregularities, meeting with different agencies, and at times merely waiting patiently, all for our permits to be approved so we could begin our renovation work.
The promise of beginning work in the summer bled into fall, and then seeped into winter, where life seemed to slow, and the prospect of opening seemed a distant and uncertain. It seemed, at times, like it would never happen. But determined to still create the idea of real hospitality, however far away our future opening seemed, we ran in the background, working through the winter on what we could work on while we waited.
And spring, as it always does, came again, and with it the blooming apricot blossoms, and our permits for renovation.
The New Beginning
Some of you have been on this journey with us so far. To you I say—we begin the renovations the first week of May. Thank you for reading and still enjoying our updates about renovation when they were often, “Still waiting!”
To those who are just joining, I say—welcome. We are welcoming guests in spring 2027. and are excited to have you on the road with us as we count down to opening our doors, detailing our renovation and describing the process of building an agriturismo and resort brick by terracotta brick.
If you would like to join the waiting list for booking, you can reply to this email or email us directly at info@borgosantolina.com.
