Just back from Italy on World Passport

[GolfGeek]

My wife and I just returned from 10 days in Italy. We used the World Passport Collection and stayed at the Cordial Pelagone Golf Resort in a one-bedroom villa. This resort is made up of individual villas which border the golf course. This is a beautiful resort that is centrally located for day trips into the small italian towns and back country. We flew into Rome, rented a car at the airport and drove about 2 1/2 hours north to the Southern Tuscany area where the resort is located. We used this resort as our home base and took several day trips to many areas around Tuscany as well as Pisa and Florance. The resort is about 10 miles from the beach and the resort owns a portion of the beach that is private for Pelagone guests. The resort has two nice pools and an outdoor restaurant and bar at poolside. There is another large restaurant for daily meals and another bar at the golf clubhouse. The golf course is very nice and is located on one side of the resort. This is a quiet resort and can be very relaxing if you stay at the resort, or you can be busier if you travel into the various towns or tourist areas. We noticed that most of the resort guests were German but the hotel staff spoke english and we never had any problem with the language at the resort. If anyone would like to travel to see the Tuscany area, this resort is located in a great position to experience all that Tuscany has to offer and I would certainly recommend it.

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

Thanks for the World Passport trip report! What did this trip cost in points? I assume it was a nightly charge in that you stayed for ten days rather than one week or two.

Thanks, Lisa

 

[mickeyc]

It sounds like a nice trip. We were thinking of a trip to Italy. Would this be a good location to see Rome, Venice, and FLorence, or is the driving distance to far.

Also, do you speak the language? Althought I like driving I have enough challenges with English when we get lost and then try to obtain directions. Sometimes just driving from state-to-state can seem like a foreign country.

Thanks for the report.

 

[disney4me4ever]

Sounds like a wonderfule trip! Italy (with a side trip to DL Paris) is my dream destination. Thanks for posting.

Nancy

 

[senecabeach]

So wonderful to hear about your trip !! Thanks so much!

Im working on planning a trip to Italy for 06. Just doing my homework at this point.

My travelling companion has mild MS and is somewhat mobility challenged. She can't walt distances and uses a cane..sometimes a scooter.

How handicapped friendly, would you say, was your trip?? hotel??

Thanks again for the trip report!!

 

[GolfGeek]

The number of points used, I believe was about 160. It's been a while since I've looked at it but it was the fixed point rate for high season which I seem to remember being about 160. This was also the one-week rate (7 nights). While we stayed for 10 nights, 7 nights were at the resort and the other 3 nights was in Rome sightseeing before our return home.

 

[July]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your stay. Do you have a digital camera? Did you take pictures you can share? I am interested in taking a trip to Italy. I am not interested in the Golf but I would like the area of Tuscany.
Thanks for sharing!

July

 

[mbhoxsie]

Sounds awesome!

I've been thinking about a trip for some time now, and was wondering what that resort was like...

Thanks for the info..

 

[Doctor P]

Thanks for the great report. Glad you could get this resort and give us some inside information on it as we have always been interested in trying to go to one of the Central European countries using World Passport.

 

[CarolA]

Also, do you speak the language? Althought I like driving I have enough challenges with English when we get lost and then try to obtain directions. Sometimes just driving from state-to-state can seem like a foreign country.

I did not do this trip, but I have driven in Italy. I found it very easy to drive in Tuscany. They are well prepared for tourists and had great signs.

For the poster who asked about mobility issues. I will say that every time I take my mother to Europe I tell her that if she goes in a wheelchair we are sticking to the US. It is more of a challange. Things like curb cuts and ramps are not available. There are geneally lots of stairs with few elevators. For example in some of the Tuscany hill towns you have to park outside the town and walk in (and of couse it is UP hill into the town) There are some websites and guidebooks on this and you might want to do a search and get some guidance from those who have been there and done that.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Thank you so much for the detailed report!! 160 points for a week in Italy looks very inviting! Since we have the next two years planned I'll be sure to put it at the top of our list for 2007 or 2008!

 

[Dean]

Sounds like this was an II exchange requesting a 1 BR rather than a BVTC exchange. If so, did you find out how much the BVTC would have been for say 6 or 8 nights. Also, you really didn't talk much about the resort itself. I'm interested in things like the unit set up, size of the unit, quality compared to DVC, other unexpected expenses and the like. More TIMESHARE stuff I guess. TUG doesn't have it rated at all. If you do a review (essentially a trip report) and send it to me, I'll be happy to post it to TUG so others will have the benefit of the info.

 

[kweaver]

Glad you had a great trip! Sounds heavenly...I've always wanted to go to Tuscany.

Oh yeah...all that stuff that Dean posted...I'd love to know too! And pictures...we'd love pictures!

 

[Doug7856]

Thanks for the information! We stopped in the Tuscany region during a cruise in 2001 and decided it is an area we want to visit again for a longer period of time! How was the resort itself? Were the accommodations good? Up to DVC standards? I've wondered how European time shares stand up since most European hotels are smaller than US hotels.

Thanks again!

 

[marzipan]

Thank you for the info. I'd be interested in knowing how far in advance you booked this. Was it a difficult place to trade into in high season?
My husband has been to Italy for his job and we'd love to go as a family in a couple years. He was a bit further north and on the coast...flew in and out of Milan...but loved what he saw of the country. This resort sounds like an excellent location for day trips and enjoying the countryside and people.

 

[AnnaS]

I would like to hear more details too about the resort and how far in advance you had to do this to exchange.

I have been thinking about this for our family especially since my sons are really interested in this too. I would love to do a few nights in Tuscany, a few nights in Rome and a week in Sicily where I was born and have relatives. There are also many day trips we could do from Sicily.

We could only travel during the summer because of school schedules, etc. and the airfare alone is about $1,200 each.

 

[NMW]

Sounds like a wonderful trip! DH and I often talk about doing Europe sans kids. However unlikely it may be in the forseeable future, it's still fun to talk about it!

 

[Andrea T]

Thank you for posting! If you can find the time we'd all love to hear a detailed report. More info about the resort and your day trips! So many of us would love to plan a trip like that and you'd be giving us a big head start in the planning! Thanks and I'm glad it was a wonderful trip!

 

[Patty3]

Thanks for the update, it sounds wonderful!

 

[GolfGeek]

I will attempt to answer some of the questions I've received from my original post and hopefully provide a little more detail. I made my reservations through the World Passport Collection in May 2004 for a September 2004 trip. In August, many Italians close their shops down and go on vacation. August is the big vacation month that everybody leaves. September and October are considered prime season so we elected to go in September when it was not so hot but before things cooled off too much later in October. We had great weather and I wore shorts everyday except in the tourist area's where you could not wear shorts if you want to go inside the churches, basilicas or vatican. I did not have any problem getting a reservation and had to wait less than two weeks before my reservation for a one-bedroom villa at the Cordial Golf Residence at Pelagone was confirmed. This trip was actually booked through Buena Vista Trading Company although when I made my reservation request, DVC indicated to me that this was also available through Interval International. They put in my request through both companies and since BVTC came through first, I went ahead and booked it through them. All reservations went without a glitch. We flew from Denver, connected in Newark then into Rome. Based on my research, it appears that since 9/11 occurred, if you fly from the United States, you can only fly into two Italian cities; Rome and Milan. We used Rome since it was much closer to the resort than Milan. We were able to fly for $700.00 each, round trip. In total, we spent 11 nights in Italy (4 nights in Rome and 7 nights at the resort). Our plan was to spend the first night in Rome just to rest and recover a little bit from the jet lag, then travel to our resort for the next 7 nights. Following our resort stay, we spent the last 3 nights in Rome sightseeing and doing the tourist thing while waiting for our flight home. We spent our first night at the Rome Airport Hilton which turned out to be a very convenient place to stay. The Rome airport is on the ocean about 15 miles west of Rome itself. It's a great place to come and go from with a rental car (without having to go into Rome) because the area around the airport is isolated enough that it's easy to get around and not very congested. After being in Rome, I would never attempt to drive there. This hotel is the only hotel that is actually at the airport and it is so close that there is a moving walkway that extends from the baggage claim area to the hotel. For hotel guests, the Hilton offers 6 free trips each day into Rome on a brand new luxury shuttle bus. We took advantage of this and walked around for 3 or 4 hours before returning to the hotel and sleeping for about 15 hours. We had a rental car reserved for the following day and we wanted to leave directly from the airport and head north without having to drive in the busy Rome traffic. Leaving the airport was easy and we drove about 2 1/2 hours north along the coast to our resort. For those who have Italy maps, the resort is in the hill country near the town of Gavarrano. This is just north of Grosetto which is on the coast and the resort is generally between Grosetto and Siena. The resort is very nice and very quiet. It has a couple nice pools, a couple restaurants and a couple bars with a golf pro shop. The resort is built around a golf course and there are several rows of individual villas scattered around with gravel walkways winding throughout the resort. Many of the villas overlook the golf course. Although it is most definately a 5 star european resort, I would equate it to about a 4 star american resort. The views from the resort are open countryside with large hilltop houses or stone buildings sitting on top just like you typically see in the Tuscany pictures. Our one-bedroom was a single level villa with an outside balcony/porch with a table and two chairs. I believe all the villas have a balcony/porch. The entire floor is made of italian ceramic tile that extends to every room. The bedroom was pretty good size compared to most italian hotels, maybe 10 or 12 ' wide by 14 or 15 ' long. With a king size bed, two night stands, a dresser, book shelf and 3 large closets, there was plenty of extra space in the bedroom. Reading lights but no TV in the bedroom. There is a small kitchen that includes a refridgerator, stove and sink. We went to the store and purchased some food to keep in the villa just in case we wanted to eat in and relax. We cooked breakfast a couple of mornings and dinner once or twice. Next to the kitchen is a living room with a couch, stuffed chair, kitchen table and chairs and a TV. The living room opened out onto the porch surrounded by trees, shrubs and pretty flowers. The bathroom was nice with all marble floors and all bathroom walls were marble. Nice sink, mirror, shower, hair dryer and all the comforts of home. I would estimate the interior space to be approximately 600-700 square feet which was plenty big enough for two people. When we first walked into the villa, my first impression was, this is nice but pretty simple and not as plush as people are used to in the US. It's very nice but simply furnished with basic but comfortable furniture. The bed was very comfortable. It's nice to sit on the porch and enjoy the countryside. The resort food was pretty good and I thought reasonable. Pizza's were about $5.00 and an all you can eat buffet breakfast for two in the nice restaurant was about $18-20.00. We charged our meals, drinks, pizza's, etc, to our room during the week for convenience and when we checked out we paid for it then, our bill for the week came to came to less than $100.00. The only extra expense we had was a bill to have our laundry sent out and done from the hotel. We decided to pack lightly and do laundry while we were there rather than take a lot of clothes. This worked out very well.
In Tuscany, having a car is necessary not only to get to the resort but to travel to all the small towns, hill towns, and back country.
We wanted to check out the local flavor so we ate at a lot of little sidewalk cafe's and cantinas. There are many winery's around Tuscany, we visited a few and brought some bottles of wine back with us. Driving in Italy is pretty easy as long as you take a little time to familiarize yourself with street and freeway signs and you don't drive in any large city. We had no problem getting around or parking. The people in Italy were the nicest people we have met anywhere. They would go out of their way to help you every chance they had. We loved interacting with the people although there is little english spoken in the smaller off-the- beaten-path towns. My wife got an Italian language instructional CD and listened to it for 2 or 3 months before our trip. This really helped us to be able to learn and communicate key words and phrases. A small translation book that you can carry with you would also be beneficial. In the bigger towns and tourist area's, everyone seemed to know enough english that we had no problem at all. Our strategy was to use our car and drive to the more remote area's and tour around. When we wanted to go to a bigger city such as Pisa or Florance, we took the train to the city centers and walked from there. The train is a great way to travel, relax and see the country side. The streets in the cities are so small, narrow and congested, I would not want to drive and find a place to park. People in Italy drive very fast, eratic and don't stop for pedestrians unless you literally step off the curb in the street in front of a moving car, then they will stop for you (usually). Between a vehicle and train, you can go anywhere and see everything. Depending on where the train station is, you may need to take an occasional cab to your tourist destination which is no problem. We saw all the tourists places and had a great time. When we left the resort, we went back to Rome and spent 3 days traveling around the city seeing the famous sights like the vatican. Based on our experience, I can offer two important tips to anyone who would like to travel in Rome. First of all, I would recommend getting a hotel near a metro stop. The metro in Rome is like many american city subways and is one of the primary modes of tranportation along with buses. The metro is very efficient and a great way to get around the city. There are enough stops that you can get off just about anywhere and have a short walk to your destination. Secondly, while the metro is a great way to get around, watch your wallets, purses, bags, cameras and anything else you're carrying. Thieves really work the metro system and buses and they are pro's. The metro's and busses tend to be crowded and it's pretty easy for someone to pick-pocket you if you are not very aware. We did not have any problem at all on our trip but we were very careful and carried our valuables in money pouches either inside our shirts or around our waists like a belt inside our shirts. Just be careful, Italy is the worst european country for theft and in fact, it's the only country that when you rent a car, theft insurance is mandatory, you must purchase it. Wine is preety cheap, about $1.25 - $2.00 per glass on average, beer $1.50 - $3.00 per bottle or glass depending on where you go and how nice the restaurant is. Almost anywhere, lunch for two and a glass of wine and a beer would run about $8.00 - $12.00. Dinners for two with drinks would generally run around $12.00 - $20.00. If you just want to get a pizza, they were about $5-6.00 everywhere. I thought the food was the most reasonable thing we encountered for what you got.

Better go and leave some space for someone else. I hope some of this detail answers some of your questions. I hope I did not bore too many people. In general, Italy is a great, friendly, very safe country and I would recommend it to anyone who may be interested in visiting this area. We had such a good time we plan to go back in about two years. If anyone has any other questions, send me a PM and I will reply back to you. I do have some digital photos of the resort and I will try and post a few later to give you a better idea of what it's like.