Italy

Escapes To Italy

House Amiata is a beautiful, rustic farmhouse and we had a lovely holiday.
It was however, more remote than we were led to believe. There are some inaccuracies with the distance to the nearest town in your advert. It may be 2Km as the crow flies but the rubble path from the farmhouse is at least 1.5 Km to the main road and then it is at least a further 4 km to Seggiano. We hoped to be able to walk to the nearest town but this was impossible as the rubble track to the main road was treacherous and we were unable to push the baby buggies. The difficult access to this propery should be clearly stated.
Near to the villa, dogs could be heard barking pretty early every morning which was slightly irritating.
I had emailed the agent beforehand to check if there was a microwave oven as we needed to steralise baby bottles. He/she replied stating yes of course. However there actually wasn't one on our arrival and the owner bought one for us to use. She was helpful and discreet. 
The indoor and outdoor cooking facilties were good and the villa was spacious. The heated swimming pool was excellent, a real bonus.

Seggiano - House Amiata - 10 Pax

United Kingdom

Family from Middlesbrough, United Kingdom

Perfect! Close to everything, 5 minutes walk to the center of Siena. 
Easy to reach the lovely surroundings in Tuscany with the car. 
Can highly recommend this place


Siena - Apartment Dalila - 2 pax

Sweden

Couple from Helsingborg, Sweden

This property is as it says, old and atmospheric.  The courtyard mentioned is down flights of stairs and not suitable for sitting in. The balcony is very narrow but you can sit out on it. It gets sun in the evening and can get very hot.  The owner had fixed up a rattan screen but this blew down one night when it was very windy.  The kitchen is not well equipped and you would struggle to do any meal cooking at all.  Ok for breakfast preparation. We ate out every night at local places, several within easy walking distance including a pizza place just up the road.  The supermarket is also just up the road.  There is a sink, fridge, a small microwave type oven (no instructions), and a gas hob but hardly any work surface at all.  The bathroom has an open shower in one corner with a curtain,  a sink, toilet and bidet, but is pretty small.  Both these are at one end of the balcony and the main living room and bedroom are at the other end. If you need to use the bathroom at night you have to go out along the balcony.  However it does have a roof.  None of the windows or doors latch properly and blow open in strong winds.  There was a portable AC unit in the bedroom but the hose outlet went out through the window so you cannot close this window.  The access to the property is on a one way system down some very narrow streets (we had to fold both wing mirrors in at one point to get through).  This property is only really suitable for 2 people.  However it is a very old building and the owner is very proud of the fact that it has antiques, old tiles, the hob is in an old range etc. and he was very helpful. The check in process was very good as well, operated by a local tour company who met us in the main Square of Meta on arrival and escorted us to the property.  Due to the difficulty of driving the car all round the narrow one way system we did not drive it for the week we were there, but left it in the secure parking area nearby.  We used the train system to reach all the places we wished to visit, such as Pompeii, Herculaneum and Sorrento.  The trains are cheap, frequent and the station is about a 10 to 15 minute walk away.  The clock did not bother us but it does chime regularly.  The pebbly beach on the right hand end of Meta was lovely and has a beach bar and sunbeds (to hire).  Much quieter than the more crowded bit by the harbour.  If we visited the area again we would probably stay somewhere with better facilities and easier access, but we did enjoy our week and as we live in an old property ourselves we coped ok with the quirkiness of it.

Sorrento - Apartment Mara - 2+2 pax

Couple from Norwich, United Kingdom

The apartment is spacious and has an excellent position. Although there is no lift we did not find the steps too onerous. It is only a short walk to the centre of the town and has the advantage of being on the seafront with breath taking views from the terrace. The panoramic views are the main feature of this apartment. We found some excellent restaurants nearby and the harbour area  is vibrant, lively and interesting. The adjacent church has bells that chime regularly, including early morning. This did not pose a problem for us. However. during our stay the church square was used as a play area for local children, who congregated there well into the early hours of the morning, on occasion making considerable noise. 

Sorrento - Apartment Marinella - 6 pax

Couple from Leeds, United Kingdom

Property is very atmospheric and one gets a real sense of living in a truly Italian way -nothing artificial here. The lounge and bedroom are spacious but the kitchen and bathroom, reached via the terrace are not. The area is lovely and we really enjoyed the short walk to the beach and shops. 
The owner lives above and is on hand with friendly advice on what to do and recommend a restaurant. 
Fair to point out that there is a church clock closely that chimes every quarter hour and the dog in the downstairs property is active from about 5am. For those reasons only we wouldn't go back, being light sleepers. Otherwise, we probably would. 

Couple from Tonbridge, United Kingdom

We stayed for 2 weeks in this property, which was a huge disappointment. This is definitely no value for money (roughly EUR 5000 for 2 weeks)! Normally I am not much of a review-writing traveller, but this time I wanted to write a review as I just feel ripped off.

Firstly, the word "villa" is hugely exaggerated as it is just a small bungalow. Although the listing suggests you can house 6 people, I was happy we were with only 3 people, as it is not very spacious. The "villa" can house 4 people I would say, as the last 2 people will have to sleep in the living room on a fold-out-bed. The photos on the website are of various properties that are rented out, so don’t expect to end up with the “villa” that looks the nicest. When I confronted the owner, the answer was that he has 20 properties on the estate and can’t make photos of all. I rented several villas in different countries over the years, which always offered a lot of space (inside and outside), private garden and room for even up to 8-12 people…for 50% of the money we spent on this property.

Secondly, for the amount we spent I would have assumed to have some privacy around the "villa", but we had to share the garden with the "villa" next to us...and there was hardly space between our "villa" and the surrounding properties. The walls were very thin so we could hear everything our neighbours were saying, literally. If the neighbours were not at home, there was always the entertainment program at the other holiday residency of “Stintino Country Paradise” that kept us awake until at least after midnight. This is located on top of the mountain, so the whole area can enjoy loud music, not only the holiday guests of “Stintino Country Paradise”. A bit of music is always good, don’t get me wrong, but this was just unbelievably loud.

Thirdly, the "villa" was very outdated when it comes to the interior design. The beds were old and clearly needed refurbishment, the mattress was dusty and we only were provided 1 thin sheet to sleep on. The house did not have air-conditioning. The refrigerator light was broke, as well as some shelf-compartments. Cutlery was old and very fragile, causing it to break when using, as well as the corkscrew. The kitchenette was small and did have no dish-washer. The outside plastic tables and chairs were old and scruffy. Around the pool, there were 5 sun beds, of which 2-3 were broken. Although not included in the property facilities list, there was a BBQ on premise…but this was broken, rusty, and still filled with charcoals as well.

Fourthly, the garden is home of a large ant colony, especially housing in and around the pool. This meant that after every 2-3 days, the pool was filled with dead ants accompanied by some other local bugs. After several complaints the pool boy showed up and was able to clean the pool, but the structural problem remained, as after a few days I was again swimming in ant-soup. After a few days the ants also showed up in our bedroom, but that problem was easily solved with some anti-bug spray, kindly supplied by the reception.

Lastly, when confronted with our disappointments the owner called us very promptly, but was not able or willing to offer any help. He kindly referred to the reception, which were not of great help as well…as they referred to the property owner. So in the end, we were forced to stay in this property as nobody wanted to help us out…and instead they pointed to each other for offering help.

The area of Stintino is a great area to have your holiday, with a lot of beautiful beaches and Stintino itself offers great opportunities to have good Italian (sea)food, so I would definitely recommend going to Sardinia and specifically to the area of Stintino. However, I would never recommend renting this property.

Stintino - Villas La Pelosa - villa 6 pax

Netherlands

Family from Amsterdam, Netherlands

Beautiful romantic old fashioned villa in a quiet area of Meta. Highly recommended.

Couple from Coventry, United Kingdom

A lovely big apartment in a fantastic location overlooking the beach. Lots of space and balconies to enjoy the view all day long. Excellent size and space with all the rooms being very large and plenty of extra space for privacy or to escape from the others in the group if needed.
Check in was done through an agency in town. Very efficient but the owner hadnt passed on the request for a baby cot.
Arrived to a clean apartment with all the beds made up, but this being our first time renting in Italy wasnt aware of the need to bring own amenities (toilet paper,dish washing liquid etc). I would have thought there would have been a "starter pack" as per previous rentals around the world.
The Apartment on the sea side gets very hot in the afternoon (June) and holds the heat all night, luckily we could get hold of one fan from the rental agency to keep our children cool for a couple of very warm evenings - for the price of this accommodation I would have expected air con, ceiling fans or the very least a few portable fans.
The decor is very dated, with some of the walls cracking and plaster on the floors from these cracks, the doors and windows are in need of replacement and you need to weary of the wind as the old doors will crash and bang unless held by the well positioned large rocks around the apartment. Again for the price of this accommodation I would expect some renovation work to be completed.
The town has very strict recycling rules (good to see). We had a car which proved problematic to find parking and although there is limited free parking around the town on our arrival I couldnt find any park within a couple of miles of the apartment. I eventually bought a local parking permit for 50 Euro, but early evening I found a park close to the apartment (this needs to be clarified with the owner as he quoted 40 Euro, and again given the cost of the apartment I would expect one pass to be included).
Extras to pay - 100 euro for cleaning, and 25 Euro per person for utilities.

Levanto is a lovely town with fantastic restaurants and great proximity to the 5 Villages.

Would I stay again? Unless some renovation work is completed and a few domestic issues addressed as detailed above, probably not.

Levanto - Apartment  Blue Sea - 6 pax

Hong Kong

Family from Pokfulam, Hong Kong

There are several very positive features about this villa.  It has wonderful views over the Bay of Naples towards Vesuvius it has a small but well-kept garden the terrace is very pleasant and it is a nice place to enjoy the views.  The situation is quiet, and there is a lovely walk from the back of the villa up through the woods to Santa Agata.  It is much nearer this little town than Sorrento - but this is no bad thing.  Santa Agata has every kind of shop (including a lovely fishmonger) and several good local restaurants.  It also doesnt have the parking problems of Sorrento, and is generally quieter and more local.  We were very happy with the position of the house, and - if we wanted to go anywhere - there was a bus stop only 50m away (with buses down to Sorrento and also off in the other direction, towards Amalfi and Positano).

So far, all good.  The inside of this villa, however, really lets it down.  There are only two serviceable bedrooms ( a double with a terrace, and a childrens twin).  The other so-called bedrooms are wholly unsuitable.  One is merely a bed in a huge and sparse spare dining room (with no curtains, and it is a corridor to the next bedroom).  This third bedroom is the the worst of all built into the side of the hill, it is damp and almost windowless.  In the end, we found we couldnt use it, and had to drag the mattress out into the living room.

Meanwhile, the house generally smelt damp and unused (we may have been the first bookings, in May), and the bedding smelt mouldy and damp.  It had clearly not been properly aired, and the owners had simply swabbed the place out with bleach (the smell of which never really went away).

The kitchen was also very badly equipped no kettle no functioning coffee maker (two were broken) no dishwasher no trays.  In fact, it all looked a bit charity shop.  The cutlery was very old, with burnt plastic handles.  At this rental price, we would expect the owners to have invested more in the equipment.

Finally, the swimming pool.  This was a canvas structure, and not a built-in structure as wed assumed.  It took up most of the garden (the rest was taken up by the owners new bungalow, which was also crammed onto the plot).  In this regard the photos of the villa are misleading.  Anyway, this type of pool is fine, but children cant jump in, or dive, and the only access is via a precarious stepladder over the side.  More troubling, the owner insisted that we wore rubber bathing caps - so that our hair wouldnt block the filter!  

Does the fantastic view make up for these shortcomings?  I thought so, but the rest of our party (4 adults and 3 children) disagreed.  We all agreed that it was a big disappointment.  For me, there must be better places locally, at an equivalent or better price, and I certainly would not recommend this house.  

But do look for somewhere else.  This is a wonderful area, and the sites (Pompeii, Herculaneum and Vesuvius) are without parallel.

Sorrento - Villa Lilly - 6 + 2 pax

Family from London, United Kingdom

We were a family group of 4 adults. 

The apartment is lovely, spacious, well equipped and in an excellent  location if you do not want to hire a car. However, we did feel that it was in need of some basic maintenance, and the bathroom was actually quite shabby.  The dishwasher and washing machine did not seem to have enough water pressure to operate, and could not be used. Obviously this was rather a disappointment. This is why I have given the facilities only a 3 star rating.

I did contact the agent about the dishwasher and he said that he would try to get it repaired, but it was not done whilst we were there.

I contacted the owner on my return, but after 8 days, he has not replied to me.

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