First, a very important warning for future travelers: Fattoria Il Cipresso is the name of the farm, not the hotel. The hotel (or relais as they like to call it) is called "La Cantina" and the restaurant (which is right next to the relais) is called "La Tabaccaia". If you use "Fattoria Il Cipresso" as your destination on Google Maps you will most likely end up in an ancient dirt road with you car stuck in mud. That happened to us!
It was the worst nightmare ever. It was dark and we were in the middle of nowhere, in a foreign country, with our rental car stuck in the mud with no chance of getting it out. We were lucky enough to have bought a SIM card a few days earlier, and to have signal, so we called the hotel restaurant.
We told them right away that we wouldn't make it and that they should cancel our reservation - I sure couldn't see myself driving on that road for 4 days. I made it clear to them that I was very upset that they did not warn me about the condition of the road and that I needed an AWD vehicle to be able to reach the hotel. They didn't understand it, maybe because the person on the phone didn't speak much English, but probably because, well, there's no need to get in a dirt road to reach the relais.
They did manage to find a guest at the restaurant that spoke English and Italian and I was able to successfully communicate all my disappointment and anger. I hung up the phone and started to pick up rocks and to put under the tires to try to get the car out of the mud. All of the sudden, my phone rings: It was Alberto Marcelli, the property owner.
At this point, our nightmare turned into the best stay of our lives. I texted Alberto my GPS location, he realized I was on a road to his farm that was no longer used - not even by trucks. He immediately grabbed his SUV and went there to find us. In less than 30 minutes he towed our car out of the mud and showed us the way to the relais.
We got there late (at around 10 pm) and he told us not to worry, take a shower, get dressed, and go downstairs to have dinner at "La Tabaccaia", the relais restaurant. Even though the restaurant closes at 10 pm, they kept it open for us. If that's not great service, I don't know what is.
The relais was amazing! The perfect mix between simplicity and luxury, between privacy and awesome service. The staff is amazing and make you feel right at home. Everyone there wants you to enjoy your stay - and they do everything in their reach to make sure of that.
The room is very nice. Not too big or too small. Alberto told us the property has been fully renovated. And it sure looks like that.
The food at the restaurant was great, especially for breakfast. They use only organic produce grown in their farm - or bought from other organic local farms. Everything is fresh and prepared on the spot: pastries, eggs, cold cuts, everything. Do you like soft boiled eggs? They will ask you how many minutes. Do you prefer your eggs scrambled? Sure, no problem. Make sure you try the jams and the honey - they're out of this world.
We stayed there 4 nights. And we couldn't be happier. We traveled through Italy for 23 days and this was definitely the most pleasant stay of all. We stayed in luxury 4 or 5 star hotels in Venice, Florence and Rome and they were all very good, but none of them made us feel at home like La Cantina.