Residenza d'Epoca Palazzo Malfatti

The Palazzo Malfatti has become our residence of choice on our annual short visits to Massa Marittima, which have always been in low season when the rates are truly low. But this year we were obliged to make the visit at mid-year, paying twice the rate we pay in January -- and it is still wonderful. This time we stayed in a different apartment, with window views of both the Piazza del Duomo on one side and up Via della Libertà on the other -- the heart of medieval Massa, as seen from its faithfully preserved private medieval palazzo. This apartment also has an upper level additional bedroom as well as kitchen, but without a bathtub. There were three fans provided to deal with summer's heat; one became non-functioning, but the back-up fan was adequate. Vittorio even provided us with a small container of milk, but we preferred not to eat the cereals in the kitchen and went to the café in the loggia facing the piazza for our morning cappuccino and pastries. (This doubles as a gelateria in the heat of the day.) We have the impression that Enrico and Vittorio, the co-owners, attend to much of the housekeeping themselves; there are just eight units to attend to. It's the joys of marinating in the Middle Ages while looking out each of the Gothic windows, of having spacious accommodations and attentive owners, and being in a jewel of a town as authentic and low-key as Massa that keep us coming back to the Palazzo Malfatti.