Overall a good house, however we had some genuine misgivings in terms of how the holiday was managed by the owner/her representatives.
Positives: a beautiful house that has been expertly renovated. A lovely pool. A great location (short drive from Pisa, close to Florence, very close to Lucca). A beautiful setting.
Negatives: at the end of the stay we were charged for additional costs totalling €155. It was not clear when we booked the property that this could happen. As we were told to give a €500 security deposit on arrival, this money was simply taken from us at the end of the holiday. We disputed the basis of the charges but had no recourse. Further explanation of this is given below.
€125 was for electricity use over the cap of €200. We were a party of nine adults that did not overuse electricity beyond what could be expected. We were there in April and so did not use the air con. We used the sauna once. The weather was mild so we did not need heating - we dutifully turned down the thermostats on a daily basis (instructions on how to use the heating system would have been useful). I honestly do not know how we could have been more mindful of our energy consumption.
€30 was for disposal of rubbish. An explanation of this charge was written on the underside of a piece of paper detailing the electricity meter readings, however none of us saw this and it was not explained on arrival. I feel this charge is rather cynical. Without going into too much detail, it would be impossible to leave the house and not leave any rubbish behind. This is because the authorities pick up one type of rubbish/recycling per day (there are several types). So on the last day you will without doubt be left with several bags of rubbish and/or recycling. The only option would be to dispose of this yourself, however no details were given of where this could be done, or indeed that we would need to do this.
These unexpected charges meant we ended our holiday feeling upset, and as though we were being unfairly taken advantage of.