Relais Santa Chiara

The location is great, it’s less than a 5 minute walk to the main gate of San Gimignano! It is uphill, so it might take you longer, but a reasonably fit person can do it in less than 5 minutes. The property is in the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood. It’s safe and quiet. If you book this property, do so because of its stellar location! And if you have a car, it’s easy to park here (though there’s a hefty fee, I believe we paid 15 Euros per night) and not have to fuss with the ZTL zones inside San Gimignano’s walls!
The hotel has lots of extra «gotcha» charges — extra for wi-​fi, extra fee for parking in their lot out front, etc. The grounds were lovely and the views spectacular. If you book a cheap room, get ready to overlook houses. If you are staying more than a night, it’s worth it to book a view room — the views of the Tuscan hillside are breathtaking.
The free breakfast was abysmal, I left without eating. Lots of dried out boxed pastries, sliced deli meat and yogurt. Not many options. Sleep in and don’t waste your time on it, there’s too much GOOD food to eat in Tuscany!
The hotel itself is just okay. It’s old and dated and our «Small Double» room was not as nice as the common areas suggest. It was dark and tiny. The bathroom was so cramped it was ridiculous. Yeah, I’ve stayed in lots of hotels all over the world and I know European rooms are always smaller than rooms in North America, but banging my shins on the bidet and squeezing into the shower is my idea of tiny living! The staff was friendly.
I did enjoy the large balcony attached to our room although we had no view. It was nice to sleep with the doors open to let the fresh, cool air inside. Nice toiletries were provided as well. The pictures on their website are pretty accurate, they don’t really try to «sugar coat» their representation of what you get.

Sehr gutes Hotel. Wir waren dort drei Nächte und haben uns sehr wohl gefühlt. Gerne wieder.