Returning guests, curiosity about local traditions and growing interest in personalised experiences shaped the recently concluded 2026 season at Castello di Spaltenna, the five-star hotel in the heart of Chianti Classico.
From the culinary research at Il Pievano restaurant to private spa sessions and opportunities to discover a less familiar Tuscany, the season offers a portrait of hospitality in which service quality goes hand in hand with personal relationships and attention to individual needs.
Discovering Chianti beyond the familiar routes
The United States remains a key market, alongside guests from the United Kingdom, France and Belgium, as well as Brazil and Mexico. Beyond choosing a property immersed in the Tuscan landscape, visitors showed an interest in experiences that bring them closer to local life and traditions.
«What can we do in the area?» was one of the questions most frequently asked at reception. Recurring requests included cookery lessons focusing on handmade pasta, car hire to explore the hills independently, and visits to family-run farms.
This interest reaches beyond the main tourist routes and translates into a desire to encounter Chianti’s food and rural heritage through experiences that offer a closer understanding of Tuscany.
The season also confirmed the value of guest loyalty, with many Italian and international visitors returning after stays in previous years. This continuity reflects the relationship built with guests over time and the value of an experience that leaves them wanting to return.
Il Pievano: culinary research and the pleasure of surprise
At the Michelin-starred Il Pievano restaurant, culinary research is accompanied by curiosity and involvement. Fake Lardo - cuttlefish treated, fermented with koji and aged using the process traditionally applied to lardo, with salt, pepper and rosemary - was the season’s most ordered dish, with 637 portions served, equivalent to just under 50 per cent of the total number of covers. Its name sparked diners’ imaginations, prompting a recurring game with the front-of-house team, who collected guests’ guesses about its preparation.
Chef Antonio Iacoviello’s cooking brings together Japanese influences, a Neapolitan sensibility and local ingredients, creating a menu that connects different culinary cultures while retaining its ties to the area.
Among the creations that aroused the most curiosity was Vittoria, a dessert dedicated to the chef’s daughter and inspired by bath time. Presentation becomes an integral part of the experience: LEGO bricks and rubber ducks accompany the service, while the waiter creates «soap» bubbles on the plate, which guests burst with a little duck made of ice cream.
Often photographed and filmed by diners, the moment reflects an approach to dining that combines culinary research with a playful, sociable element. The aim is to offer fine cooking in an elegant yet informal setting, where technique, creativity and personality coexist and leave room for surprise.
Spa and wellness: growing interest in private sessions
During the 2026 season, the spa recorded growing interest in exclusive-use sessions, which doubled compared with the previous season. Requests were spread across the season, with a particular concentration in September and October, confirming guests’ appreciation of the opportunity to enjoy the wellness facilities privately. The service remains a valued part of a personalised stay.
The most requested treatments included deep-tissue, Swedish and Californian massages. Preferences recorded by the team also show less interest in 80-minute massages and greater attention to relaxing treatments, while deep-tissue massages continued to attract the highest number of bookings.
The outdoor pool, gym and wellness centre completed the facilities devoted to relaxation and physical activity, contributing to an experience that combines exploring the area with moments of rest and renewal.
The people behind the welcome
Behind the guest experience is the coordinated work of a team that involved more than fifty people over the season. Running a historic property requires constant dialogue between departments and different areas of expertise, from maintaining the building and its systems to organising services and responding to individual requests.
The moments that fall outside the daily routine also give meaning to this work. Among the season’s most memorable stays was that of a family from Seattle: two parents, three children and a recently widowed grandmother.
The woman’s husband had always wanted to visit Tuscany but had never managed to make the journey. The family therefore chose to accompany her to Italy so that she could experience the long-imagined trip on his behalf too. One summer morning at 7.15, before the breakfast room was even ready, she stopped in front of the Castello’s large windows, watching the swallows and the Chianti hills. It was a deeply moving moment that stayed in the staff’s memory.
The episode conveys a deeper meaning of hospitality: providing not only a service, but also the conditions for a stay to respond to the expectations, wishes and personal history of the people experiencing it.
Change, continuity and Spaltenna’s identity
The 2026 season was also accompanied by changes in the internal organisation, with new arrivals and changes in several roles. This evolution forms part of a history shaped by people, skills and details that endure over time.
These include the return of the Pievano, the distinctive painting in room 15 depicting the cleric who has become one of the Castello’s symbols over the years. After being removed for restoration, the canvas has returned to its original position, reclaiming its place in the property’s visual memory.
The detail reflects the relationship between change and continuity: as people and roles evolve, certain elements continue to preserve the Castello’s history and identity.
Castello di Spaltenna has announced that it will reopen for the 2027 season on 8 April 2027.
Castello di Spaltenna
In the heart of Chianti, Castello di Spaltenna is steeped in history and closely tied to its surroundings. Understated, elegant simplicity gives its forty rooms their appeal, with different room types sharing an authentic Tuscan style in their furnishings and atmosphere. Its dining options are led by chef Antonio Iacoviello: the one-Michelin-starred Il Pievano, L’Osteria and La Terrazza offer a range of experiences to suit different tastes. Completing the facilities are the spa, a heated indoor pool and the outdoor Infinity pool, with sweeping views. Around one kilometre from the Castello, in the village of Vertine, La Canonica is a villa with rustic charm, suited to an intimate, restful stay, alongside a welcoming apartment.
Information
Castello di Spaltenna
Via Spaltenna, 13 - Località Pieve di Spaltenna
53013 Gaiole in Chianti - Siena
+39 0577 749483
info@spaltenna.it
Sources and images: Photo credits: Brand Factory srl (opening image); Alessio Vallese (© @vallesealessio, Fake Lardo and Vittoria); Tommy Picone (spa, garden and room); Castello di Spaltenna (aerial view and Infinity pool). Press materials supplied by Roberta Antonioli Studio PR. All image rights are reserved to their respective rights holders.
