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A complex of converted buildings in a farm/park. Twelve doubles and nine triples, a Tuscan restaurant, pool, football pitch and gym. Mountain bike rental is also available. Minimum stay: three nights.

Only the eight rooms at the back enjoy the best view in town: cliff-hugging houses to one side and a slope down to Tuscany’s countryside to the other. This hotel adds a touch of class to the rusticity.

An oasis of luxury built in 1964 on a particularly wild and scenic bit of coast. Accommodation consists of cottages scattered through the pine, cypress and olive woods, and amenities include a piano bar, gym, beauty spa, tennis courts, seawater pool and waterskiing.

The only hotel within Massa’s walls is just 12 years old. A comfortable inn of Liberty-style furnishings, modern baths and elegant touches such as Persian carpets in the halls.

This converted farmhouse has kept a strong country air, with rustic antiques and bucolic vistas. Commodious rooms open off cosy lounges. There’s also a small pool.

Just a few steps off the main piazza, the Italia offers standard comforts and modern furnishings; a few rooms even come with views of the countryside, beyond Cortona’s rooftops.

Pick your view at this hotel – a cinematographers’ favourite (it appeared in Tea with Mussolini and Where Angels Fear to Tread ). Rooms at the front open onto a piazza that supports San Gimignano’s famous towers. Those at the back drink in a view of vineyards and hills.

An 1850s farmhouse outside Chiusi overlooking the small lake, with eight large country-styled guest rooms (ask for a lake view). It has a great Tuscan restaurant.

A family-run hotel on a quiet cul-de-sac off Lucca’s main shopping street. The rooms are split between two buildings; most furnishings are modern, but try for the second floor rooms in the older half, which retain some rich 17th-century frescoes.

The “Lover’s Inn” moniker dates back to the hotel’s 14th-century origins. The large, apartment-like accommodation has a refined rustic style under the more formal brick loggias surrounding the courtyard.