The humpbacked stone bridge is gone today, but you can stroll a few feet from the inn's driveway and still see its ancient foundations. If you raise your eyes to the hilltop you can spot the magical warm stream that still soothes the feet of only the savviest travelers. A lthough the greatest care was taken to restore every 17th-century detail in the inn, there is one fundamental difference. What began its life as a humble inn with a stables downstairs and a large communal dormitory upstairs is now an extremely elegant country hotel. All the rooms have beautiful limestone or terra cotta floors, polished wood-beam ceilings and subtle pastel walls.
Furniture is made from the same hardwood as the beams.
Austere windows frame beautiful views of the Orcia Valley, a picture-perfect combination of golden wheat fields, lone cypress trees, tiny private vineyards and the hilltowns of Pienza, Bagni Vignoni and Castiglion d'Orcia, where the inn is actually located. T here is also a guest house right next door to the main building, beside the swimming pool. The rooms here are large and sunny, with the original brick floors. Superior doubles on the ground floor have private patios and a sitting area, and an elevator goes up to the second floor. More information about things to do in the area.