Hotel Review - Villa il Poggiale (Tuscany)

The main sitting room

Located just outside Florence, Villa il Poggiale is a dreamy retreat in the heart of Chianti, and it hits all the right chords in both service and style. This authentic and tasteful country estate is a place where families and children will feel completely at home.  In fact, Villa il Poggiale considers itself a family home first and foremost, and kids are enthusiastically welcomed. 

The villa itself dates back to the 16^th century and was the family home of the current owners. The Vitta brothers have done a marvelous job at cultivating an atmosphere that’s elegant yet comfortable. Despite the beautiful surroundings,  it never feels stuffy or overdone. 

Book Review: Baby Travel Tips

Rick Hartwig has tapped into a deep-rooted anxiety among parents who often cite the stress of flying with young children as the one of the main reasons they don’t travel or don’t travel internationally.  Long flights, jet lag, and flight cancellations are bad enough. But our fellow passengers seem increasingly vocal about their annoyance by the mere presence of a child on their flight (How dare those babies fly to see Grandma!).

Add to this recent news headlines highlighting how airlines arereducing the family-friendliness of our skies by eliminating the courtesy of early boarding for families, not guaranteeing families be seated together, and even going so far as to restrict children from first class. It’s understandable why flying with babies or toddlers—or any child, really—creates such anxiety.