At the beginning of September, autumn is slowly arriving — you can even see it in Tuscany. The colors have started to shift, and the leaves on the trees are turning golden. But despite that, the car thermometer still reads 28 degrees outside, the perfect September temperature. According to the GPS, we have 20 minutes left until we reach our destination, and now Tuscany really starts to show off. Rolling hills appear everywhere around us, just like in the film Under the Tuscan Sun. “Could this be any more idyllic?” I ask my boyfriend.

We’re on our way to Pozzo della Chiana, a tiny village in the middle of the Tuscan countryside, where we’ll be staying at Villa Fontelunga, one of the very first boutique hotels to open in Tuscany, 26 years ago.

At the beginning of September, autumn is slowly arriving — you can even see it in Tuscany. The colors have started to shift, and the leaves on the trees are turning golden. But despite that, the car thermometer still reads 28 degrees outside, the perfect September temperature. According to the GPS, we have 20 minutes left until we reach our destination, and now Tuscany really starts to show off. Rolling hills appear everywhere around us, just like in the film Under the Tuscan Sun. “Could this be any more idyllic?” I ask my boyfriend.

We’re on our way to Pozzo della Chiana, a tiny village in the middle of the Tuscan countryside, where we’ll be staying at Villa Fontelunga, one of the very first boutique hotels to open in Tuscany, 26 years ago.

As we step into the garden, we hear loud music playing, and when we walk around the corner of the house, we’re greeted by the hotel’s daily lunch service, just coming to an end at 1 PM. We’re each handed a glass of prosecco while we wait for our room to be ready.

We quickly realize that the garden is the heart of Fontelunga. This is where guests gather for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Someone is reading in the shade beneath the trees, someone else is working on their laptop.

We mostly just sit back and take in the view. As we sip our prosecco, we can look out over the entire Val di Chiana, with its endless olive groves, and far in the distance to the east, perched on a hilltop, lies Cortona, known as “Italy’s most beautiful village.

The owners, Paolo and Philip, come over to greet us and instantly make us feel at home — as if we were visiting for the tenth time. It also seems like everyone sitting out in the garden already knows each other, but a little later we realize that’s not the case at all. They’ve simply met here.

Our room is finally ready, and we’re given a corner room overlooking the valley, with views of the mountains, olive groves, and the garden below. When we open the windows, we can hear the soft chatter of the lunch guests still lingering over glasses of wine. In my opinion, the best room in the house.