Tuscan Retreat: La Bandita-In-Progress
Continuing along the lines of pleasant surprises (I'm a believer in serendipity), I logged into my email inbox this morning to find a gem of an email that brought a smile a flutter of excitement amidst the usual and mundane.
It was an email from a John Voigtmann. Hmmm...rings a bell, but not quite...probably junk. Just before I check the box that would banish it to the trash, I notice the subject line: John Voigtmann @ La Bandita, Tuscany. That last word caught your eye, didn't it. It sure did mine! So I clicked in and sure enough, jogged my memory of who this John was. Turns out, I had corresponded with John before. We were introduced over email by a DJ, a friend of my good family friend JL. All three of them are/or formerly were in the music biz. DJ had left to start a wine import/export biz among other things and JV had been working with him on it. He was in HK at one point, but we never managed to meet. And so the string of email correspondences, the meet that never happened, just kind of fizzled into cyberspace. But John had mentioned that he would be opening a hotel in Tuscany soon and I noted that with interest and told him to keep me posted.
Fast forward nearly 5 months later. The email reads:
"As D may have told you, I left my job at SonyBMG last year to develop a small luxury hotel property in Tuscany. We’re still finishing renovations, but we’re starting to take reservations for next summer...so I am starting to spread the word...Just like I did when I was back in the music business!
I wanted to pass on the link to the website:
www.la-bandita.com
The site is still a work in progress until we finish the guest rooms and have them photographed, but it will give you an idea of what we’re creating here."
I am a sucker for a good "follow-your-dream" story. While it's still a work-in-progress, La Bandita seems to have the heart and soul behind it to make it a great Tuscan retreat. That's what's really missing these days from all these overly-commerical, self-proclaimed "boutique" hotels -- heart and soul. I wish John and his wife all the best with La Bandita and look forward to hearing more about its opening next summer!
It was an email from a John Voigtmann. Hmmm...rings a bell, but not quite...probably junk. Just before I check the box that would banish it to the trash, I notice the subject line: John Voigtmann @ La Bandita, Tuscany. That last word caught your eye, didn't it. It sure did mine! So I clicked in and sure enough, jogged my memory of who this John was. Turns out, I had corresponded with John before. We were introduced over email by a DJ, a friend of my good family friend JL. All three of them are/or formerly were in the music biz. DJ had left to start a wine import/export biz among other things and JV had been working with him on it. He was in HK at one point, but we never managed to meet. And so the string of email correspondences, the meet that never happened, just kind of fizzled into cyberspace. But John had mentioned that he would be opening a hotel in Tuscany soon and I noted that with interest and told him to keep me posted.
Fast forward nearly 5 months later. The email reads:
"As D may have told you, I left my job at SonyBMG last year to develop a small luxury hotel property in Tuscany. We’re still finishing renovations, but we’re starting to take reservations for next summer...so I am starting to spread the word...Just like I did when I was back in the music business!
I wanted to pass on the link to the website:
www.la-bandita.com
The site is still a work in progress until we finish the guest rooms and have them photographed, but it will give you an idea of what we’re creating here."
I am a sucker for a good "follow-your-dream" story. While it's still a work-in-progress, La Bandita seems to have the heart and soul behind it to make it a great Tuscan retreat. That's what's really missing these days from all these overly-commerical, self-proclaimed "boutique" hotels -- heart and soul. I wish John and his wife all the best with La Bandita and look forward to hearing more about its opening next summer!
posted by 10000miles at 10:22
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