Villa Lena

Style

Content(ment) creator

Setting

Bountiful bel paese

If you need to invoke the muse, she won’t turn up for anything less than Villa Lena, a bright spark of an artists’ retreat amid glorious Tuscan countryside. The creatives call the central, peachy 19th-century villa their home, while guests get the run of a 500-acre estate and cosy suites in the surrounding buildings. The painters, sculptors et al work for their board too, often teaching classes on, say, flower-crown making, poetry writing and more in an atmosphere as fruitful as the organic kitchen garden the chef uses inventively, and as fizzy as the rosé sourced from the vineyard. This cosseting commune is the passion project of curator Lena Evstafieva and musician Jérôme Hadey, so expect candlelit concerts and late-night partying too, plus scattershot works of those who made the muse an invitation she couldn’t refuse.

Facilities

Rooms

18, including five apartments and two villas.

Checkout

10.30am, but flexible, on request and subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm for rooms and 4pm for apartments and villas.

More Details

Rates include a buffet breakfast with à la carte choices, free creative workshops, plus pastries from the house chef.

Also

The hotel has some accommodation suitable for guests with mobility issues but please note that there are no elevators.

Hotel Closed

Villa Lena opens each year from the end of March to the beginning of November.

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pet Friendly

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

At the Hotel

Art studios, kitchen garden, bikes to borrow, lounge, TV and games room, and small playground, boutique, charged laundry service, plug adaptors, free WiFi. In rooms: Marshall Bluetooth speaker, gourmet minibar, tea-making kit, pool towels, air-conditioning, and Rowse organic bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

For splashier, more colourful spaces, stay in the San Michele rooms (where you’ll also find iconic pieces by Ettore Sottsass, Superstudio for Zanotta and other greats). Styled by Fred Rigby and many sporting frescoes by the artists in residence, they have plenty of character, while the rooms in the former farm’s stables and hunting lodges, styled by Clarisse Demory, are more chicly spartan. However, all have beds engineered to fit a suitcase underneath, repurposed antique wardrobes, and hand-printed recycled fabrics. The Casetta Bella and Casa Margherita, which share a private pool, are ideal for families or those looking for a little more privacy.

Poolside

A splash of colour becomes literal round the main pool (open 8.30am to 7.30pm), one of three (and a half) at Villa Lena. The water’s a searing turquoise, Tuscany’s sages and saffrons spice up the backdrop, and parasols in stripy primaries add a pop to proceedings. Set at the highest point of the hotel, its views look painted by a master, and – more importantly – you’re so close to the pool bar that you can practically hear the Aperol Spritzes fizz. There’s covered seating for cooler days, and the pool’s heated in spring and autumn. By San Michele restaurant there’s a shallow comma of a children’s pool (with floaties and toys); the five apartments of the Renacchi building share a peaceful swimming spot; and Casetta Bella and Casa Margherita share a private pool.

Spa

There’s no spa onsite, but should you need some kneading, a masseur can be called on for sessions in your room or the dinky therapy space. And, the hotel has both an alfresco yoga deck and indoor studio for classes with their yogi-in-residence.

Packing Tips

Should inspiration strike, the hotel has crafty materials to make use of, but a sketchpad might come in handy for idle afternoons. (Or you can buy a print and try to pass it off as your own.) Use this as a cupboard-stocking expedition, too, jamming supplies of the house olive oil and bottles of red into your suitcase.

Children

Creative talents are nurtured from a young age here. Many activities are tailored to kids, they’ll have a dedicated pool and menu, and families can easily fit into suites and villas, and all rooms fit a baby cot free of charge.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Elbow-to-elbow with the artist du jour is ideal. Or, pile on the romance with a table set in the garden or deep in woodland.

Dress Code

Fortune favours the bold here.

Hotel Restaurant

Dinner in Osteria San Michele often feels more like an erudite salon gathering than a simple mealtime; often you’ll find yourself amid the artists currently in residence, so conversation is guaranteed to engage. And the food is thoughtful, too, with many dishes using picks from the garden, and a menu of sublime Tuscan simplicity, where humble dishes of fava beans and pecorino, risotto with spring vegetables, or turbot in a porcini broth, sear into your subconscious like the toils of the hotel’s creatives. For dessert, choose the dreamily creamy tiramisu or brioche ice-cream sandwich. Lunches, too, are decadent affairs with wild boar and gojuchang ragu, taleggio-topped burgers and full-on truffle tasting menus (in season).

Hotel Bar

Parisian club Le Baron, with its mood-setting scarlet lighting, sultry EDM sets and bright young things dressed to impress (the very discerning bouncers, that is), has inspired the atmosphere here, where the party-starting magic has been reimagined in a frothier style. There’s a kicky yé-yé rhythm to the San Michele bar, with its wicker seating and powder-pink stools against emerald tiling, and the Pool Bar is a sociable kiosk. The villa’s vineyard produces two sumptuous reds, a crisp vermentino and a screams-summer-drinking sparkling rosé, but the cocktails are top, too, such as the house negroni, splashed with gin infused with homegrown olive oil.

Last Orders

Breakfast is from 8am to 10am, lunch from 12 noon to 3pm (last order 2.30pm) and dinner from 6.30pm to 10.30pm (last order 9.45pm).

Planes

Pisa International is the closest airport, just under an hour’s drive away, and has a slightly wider reach of direct departure points than Florence’s hub, which is just over an hour’s drive away. The hotel can help to arrange transfers from Pisa International for €245 one-way and €280 from Florence Airport in a car.

Trains

Pontedera-Casciana station is about a 30-minute drive from the hotel, and trains from both Florence's Santa Maria Novella and Pisa’s Centrale stop here. Transfers can be booked for €70 one-way in a car, €90 in a minivan.

Automobiles

One of the villa owner’s first impressions of the location was ‘I remember feeling like I was holed up in the middle of a forest that engulfed me and cut me off from everything else.’ Really the seclusion is rather wonderful, but, bottom line, you’ll need some wheels. If you want to stay in line with the hotel’s eco-cred, hire an electric car – there are chargers onsite – or borrow a bike.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Yes, the hotel is as green as a Tuscan landscape painter's smock, but – surprisingly – one of their mottos is to ‘leave a trace’. Of course this refers to spectacular works of art in all disciplines, left by the creatives in residence, rather than, say, a discarded Torres crisp packet. The Villa Lena Foundation has supported and hosted more than 600 artists since its inception, all chosen for their deep passion and invigorating stylings. Wander through the villa and spy what remains (you get a private guided tour as your Smith Extra): Evalie Wagner’s botanical screens, David Fenster’s delicate mushroom sketches, Pedro Batista’s sun-bleached paintings, Precious Opara’s underwater captures, Peter Ern’s eerie forestscapes… And speaking of lasting remnants, Gregor Hildebrandt’s cassette-tape assemblage has captured Elvira, the rumoured ghost of a murdered woman who allegedly haunts abandoned mediaeval village Toiano Vecchio. It’s within the confines of the hotel’s 500-acre estate, but you’ll be more charmed than spooked by its fountain, shell grotto, kitchen gardens and terraced viewpoints designed by former artists in residence Jocelyn Oppenheim and Kate Smaby. Art is Villa Lena’s life force, and guests are encouraged to get swept up in it, partaking in pottery and ceramics classes with Matteo of Montelupo’s La Galleria, drawing sessions, flower workshops led by villa gardener, Lena, clay sculpting, wild fermentation, poetry reading and tablecloth designing. In season, you can go take a guided truffle tour through the woodland, where trained dogs will help you source Palaia’s fresh white truffle (resident hound Igor is a truffle dog, but prefers snaffling scraps from guest tables), before returning to the Villa for a pasta-making workshop – of course, topped with your freshly picked truffle and paired with a well-deserved glass of Da Occasione wine. And amid the heady scent of lavender, sage and mallow, DJs man decks by the pool, films are screened alfresco and concerts are held by candlelight. Hike or bike through the estate to spy wild boar, red deer, rabbits, pheasant or mouflons, or venture offsite to see the Renaissance marvels of Florence, Pisa and Siena; the torres and ancient frescoed churches of San Gimignano; golden beaches of Cecina; and the wonders within Lucca’s well-preserved fortified walls.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .