Hotel Osteria Dell Orcia in Castiglione d'Orcia

I have posted negative reviews, but rarely and only when I think it will keep someone else from being harmed. So if you are contemplating a stay at Osteria dell'Orcia, read this first. When it was time to book, the first call to the hotel was answer by Silvano the owner with a very cheerful “good morning.” So upbeat and cheerful that it felt like the soul of two millennia of that famous Italian hospitality was embodied in this man. A few logistical missteps on his part changed everything. It began when Silvano’s driver Francisco failed to show up at the airport in Rome to meet me and my elderly mother. I am sure there is a side to their story but I can’t imagine what it is. The pickup, flight information, hours, everything was clearly documented in email exchanges with both Silvano and directly with his driver. It probably had something to do with my afternoon flight being one hour late, information that was shared with them by email (twice) more than 6 hours before my scheduled arrival. Not to belabor this but when I called Silvano and inquired about where to find his driver, he went on a tirade that exhibited well known qualities of a clinically bipolar person. Not only did he not propose a solution but he told me not to come to his hotel and he made several more furious, mostly incoherent statements. We found lodging in Rome. I tried to call Silvano again to understand what had happened hoping that if there was a misunderstanding it could be smoothed over. He uttered something in Italian and then hung up on me. The next day I received an email from Francisco the driver who was supposed to meet me. It was a photograph of a menacing man who looked like Che Guevara showing his teeth. Underneath him was printed Sto Cazzo. Google translated that as F**k You. Be forewarned. You are dealing at this hotel was an unstable cast of characters. --, feel free to contact me here and I’ll be glad to share the entire email chain with you. In the meantime, why expose yourself to a wolf no matter how blithely he’s dressed in sheep’s clothing. The spa town has many other appealing hotel options.