L’ Andana Resort in Tuscany, Italy — BARBARA ATHANASSIADIS, Travel Writer

A charming hotel in the heart of the Maremma

***View to L’ Andana in the heart of the Maremma, Tuscany***

My husband, as usual, put on his bathrobe and went outside to the pool. What I noticed while I was in the room and then later outside, was the harmonious colours the hotel was done in. Muted shades ran through the entire décor, carefully studied to achieve optimum effect. My gaze didn’t abruptly stop anywhere but, rather, gracefully slid along, as if it were moving to a melody. I could see the refined French taste married to Tuscan tradition in the furniture and materials that had come out of the workshops only yesterday. There was a freshness about L’Andana, one I had never encountered before, and that was key to my understanding the atmosphere of Maremma better.

The mansion had been a hunting lodge belonging to Leopold III, the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had loved Maremma very much and tried to bring the region out of all the difficulties it was in. This was told to me by the manager of the hotel, whom I happened to run into at the Reception Desk, and who had been kind enough to give me the card of the hotel’s interior decorator. He also informed me that the area was basically swampland and its few residents were located on the peaks of hills so as not to die of malaria. Nobody visited the area because, if it wasn’t the swamps, it was the thieves, and nobody could reside there because, even though the natural surroundings were beautiful, the land was wild and difficult to cultivate. For this reason, it had remained a deserted island between two major cities for years: Florence to the north and Rome to the south.

***The entrance of L’ Andana surrounded by the beautiful Tuscan landscape***

I was observing the manager, who had such finesse about him, and wondered if, parallel to his job at the hotel, he also gave lectures, because he spoke so beautifully. He continued to tell me about Leopold and his love for Maremma, how he would come often in order to hunt as it was a favourite stop for migrating birds, and how he had tried harder than all the Medicis to drain the area.

“Did he succeed?” I asked, listening to him with great interest.

“Of course he succeeded,” was the answer, “he also sent five thousand people to settle in the area and cultivate it, and so the image we have today is of a verdant green region whose landscapes, those that weren’t left wild on purpose, were created by the human hand. I suppose you know that the efforts to drain the area were completed during the time of Mussolini?”

“I didn’t know, and thanked him for all his useful information, but what I had really got out of the conversation was that Maremma, more than anything, wanted to show off its timeless beauty. It was only natural that the L’Andana exude such freshness. The architect-designer responsible, who amongst other things was also editor-in-chief of the Italian edition of Architectural Digest, had done all the restoration work but had managed to keep the atmosphere light and airy.

The classic style was updated using modern materials which reflected the style of the region and, with the fresh breeze that is always blowing here, you are under the impression that all of the rest of Tuscany, with its burdened past and priceless treasures, looks a little bit tired. This is why Tuscans regard Maremma as their young child, and they are careful to ensure it is not destroyed.

My long sojourn in Tuscany is described in the book: A Year in Tuscany