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Press and Film Diary

Siena House has featured on French interior design TV and has been the film location for a British ‘Reality TV’ show. Scroll down to find all manner of articles and links, including video of the property and the TV appearances mentioned above…

2021

  • Lois Avery features Siena House as ‘S’ in their Italy A-Z

2019

  • The Brooklyn Blonde, Helena Glazer, visits during June, staying 5 nights with the family:

‘This place has 5 rooms, and it operates like a cross between a luxury villa and a bed and breakfast. It’s a wife and husband owned property. Cannot recommend this place enough. Super reasonable price’

Check Helena’s Italy Highlights on Instagram from about a quarter way in to see several videos of Siena House inside and out, and some ideas for what to do whilst staying.

2018

  • Katja Meier visits to review us for the Telegraph. We manage to score a fabulous 60-day aged grass fed Chianina T Bone steak from our local farm to wow her.
  • Blog ‘My Sweet Story : Italy 2017’ just found us on this super Korean blog
  • Film: Chris Borg, Maltese filmmaker, returns hoping for better weather—and gets a little more sunshine than he did in February, but not much ! However he makes the most of it making a beautiful video which is more about the experience of a trip to Tuscany this time—again featuring this property.

  • Film: Chris borg, Maltese filmmaker, comes to Tuscany and makes this beautiful short film capturing perfectly the intense peace and stillness of the hills in the pauses between Winter rain.  Siena House is featured along with some beautiful drone footage of the journeys and places we love locally.

  • (March 2018) Tripadvisor Siena House is ranked #11 of 11,742 Places to Stay in Tuscany at the new combined (Hotels + B&Bs + Speciality Lodgings) ranking following changes to the selection criteria and how reviews are used to rank accommodations within the site.  Now sorting properties’ reviews and ranking according to consistency in quality over time.  Also bringing back the overall Tuscany ranking that had been previously divided into 200+ local zones within Tuscany this is a great boost for Siena House, and due entirely to our wonderful guests and their great writing skills, thank you so much!
  • Having stayed with us last summer, Jennifer Dore Dallas features us on her travel blog Where To Sleep in Tuscany 

Le Siena House est un hôtel de type boutique qui jouit d’une vue imprenable sur la région et les bourgs au sommet des collines voisines. Sans flafla malgré l’aspect luxueux, il est tenu par un couple fort sympathique qui prépare des petits-déjeuners divins à partir de produits locaux […] Fait rare pour les hôtels de ce type, les invités peuvent utiliser la cuisine et les aires communes tant dans le jardin que dans la maison. Le genre d’endroit où on a envie de rester plus longtemps ici aussi! Préparez-vous à prendre beaucoup de photos, le décor est sublime.

2017

  • Reviews Trip Advisor Overview at year end is 100% positive

  • Television In October 2017 Made In Chelsea come to film in Tuscany – having chosen this place as their Tuscany Villa Base. The cast spend 6 nights here and enjoy some of our favourite Tuscany experiences such as White Truffle Hunting. Amanda cooks the truffles in the evening for the jazz dinner behind the scenes. We get our first experience taking care of a film crew and providing our typical concierge input for a TV show this time. On the final day the whole crew of 24 people are here at the house for a big lunch and full afternoon of filming  Siena House is Made In Chelsea’s Villa in Tuscany
  • Trip Advisor In 2017 we rejoin Trip Advisor as a Business Listing (we left in 2015) and begin to climb back up towards the top of the Torrita di Siena rankings but it remains a long way to go to get back to our long term (4+ years) #2 B&B in the Province of Siena. Thanks to all who have written for us !

2016

  • Television La Maison, ‘The Art of Living’ France 5’s long running TV show feature Siena House in their Christmas Special as a unique property in Tuscany. This was a wonderful experience, Stéphane Thebaut and his team did a spectacular job of portraying the house from inside, out, and from the air. Malvin was somewhat in trauma at the fact that it’s a rare foggy morning; and it was pretty challenging being interviewed in French and having to reply in Italian! Some excerpts and the full programme on our youtube channel below.

 

  1. Excerpt: Amanda on Art & Interior Design
  2. Excerpt: Malvin on History, Architecture & Hotel 
  3. Full Programme 

2015

  • Press Article in Harpers Bazaar: Yvette King, Korean Australian TV host comes to stay with her husband, and later includes Siena House as ‘Best Place To Stay in Tuscany’ in her  Travel Guide To Tuscany

Siena House is a refurbished farm house situated on the Tuscan Hills amid vineyards, sunflower fields and fresh fruit and vegetable gardens in the backyard; it’s what Italian holiday dreams are made of

  • Blog StuffeeStuff Luxury Travel Blog: Amy stays with family writing a  super review with particular relevance to Tuscany travellers with young children

Each day’s breakfast was a mini vacation in and of itself, leisurely enjoyed at a table in the morning sunshine.  Our baby girl napped beside us in the fresh Italian air and distant church bells rang beyond the Cyprus trees in the neighbouring town of Sinalingula. Bellissimo!

  • Review Urlaubs Architektur visit and review

Tuscany is home to many Leopoldina houses, but Siena House is unique in its high, panoramic position and with its numerous windows. Inside, the house feels subtly modern with its white walls, ceilings and stone floors, and especially its open staircase leading to the glass gallery within the top-floor tower. Restored in 2005, the house was conceived as a live-in “gallery” – a white space from which to enjoy both the featured artworks and the views from the large picture windows. The restoration involved opening up the entirety of the ground floor, allowing for views on all four sides. The tower-level’s floor was also completely removed, providing the central space on the first floor with an impressive height and allowing for the installation of the glass and steel viewing gallery in the tower, from which one can enjoy 360-degree views over the hills and villages to the Apennine Mountains.

Some interesting and unique details are the owner Malvin Tyler’s vintage pinball-machine collection and his unique lighting installation: 1500 blue, red and yellow LED-lights are embedded into the white stone floor of the bar room, shining up onto ancient brick arches above. Throughout the property there are original drawings and large paintings by Amanda Helen Atkins – the owner’s wife who furnishes the rooms in her own whimsical interior style. The house is surrounded by a spacious walled garden. The property also features a large saltwater pool, but secluded from the house in a sheltered scenic spot [Urlaubs Architektur]

2014

  • Press Lee Marshall, Tuscany Expert for The Telegraph visits and gives expert rating 8/10 and we join the Telegraph list us as one of the best Boutique Hotels in Tuscany.

  • Blog L’esperta stays overnight, posting a fab write up and some gorgeous photographs of the place Review of Siena House
  • Blog Photographer Alina Memet stays, writing a super Photostory Review of Siena House
  • Trip Advisor Tuscany Ranking Algorithm changes dramatically during this year and there’s also no longer a top ten, we become somewhat invisible despite having only positive reviews.

2013

  • Indagare (NYC Travel Planner & Magazine) visit & review Siena House

A perfect launch pad to towns like Cortona to the east and Montepulciano and Siena to the north west, this 18th-century villa proves refreshingly contemporary on the inside even as it remains perfectly Tuscan country on the outside[….]the kind of setting that you might find at a stylish friend’s home, plus the sort of insider recommendations of where to eat and what to see nearby that can only be culled from ten years of experience in the area [Ondine Cohane]

  • Trip Advisor we are #2 in the Province of Siena and #1 in Torrita di Siena.

2012

  • Trip Advisor Siena House is #4 B&B in all of Italy and #2 in Tuscany and #1 in the Province of Siena. The #1 in the Word is also a property in Tuscany !
  • Blog Luxury Accommodations Blog Review Siena House
  • Blog The Hotel Designer writes Review of Siena House 

2011

  • Trip Advisor Siena House is #1 B&B in Torrita di Siena
  • Jess & Jamie’s World Tour Great Review of Siena House 
  • Monocle Magazine Siena House gets a mention in Monocle Magazine (issue 43 volume 05)

The couple’s deep knowledge of the area teamed with their fine cooking skills […] make for the perfect rural italian holiday [Monocle]