On the plus side, the pool is wonderful, although quite a distance from the villa. The villa provides a very Tuscan experience - think 'Under the Tuscan Sun'. It is charming and quaint, although some may find it rather cluttered and lacking some mod cons we take for granted elsewhere in the world.
In August it can be very hot. Fans in all the bedrooms are a minimum requirement for comfort.
Some of the beds in the villa have very hard, old mattresses that can be considered uncomfortable by modern standards. The time it takes for hot water to reach the upstairs bathroom is also unreasonably long. This is something we were made aware of, but paying guests shouldnât have to deal with this annoying quirk.
This is a large property and although well maintained, not everything is in perfect order. Guests staying in the little cottage should be aware that there is no closet into which you can unpack your clothes - fine for a short stay, difficult if you are there for over a week.
There are a lot of bugs and insects at the height of summer, including mosquitoes and horse flies that bite. You need to adequately prepare for these. We left several vape machines that the next guests can use, but they will need the vape mats from the Coop.
The main gate is operated by punching a code on the wall - you have to exit your vehicle, which is inconvenient. The gardener has a remote that operates the gate, I canât imagine why guests are not afforded the same convenience.
Unknown to us the water in the small cottage alongside the house was off. The villa appears to have a complex water system and it was difficult to locate the water setup and figure out its operation in the dark. At the time, this was very irritating.
Guests are told to bring towels for both shower and pool. The house seems to have plenty of towels and we left some of our towels (I guess others have too).
For foreign guests it isnât easy to arrange for house cleaning with someone who speaks no English. The owner did help make arrangements with a cleaner, however the outdated 'house manual' incorrectly stated we had to perform an exit cleaning. This meant we spent time negotiating an exit cleaning that had already been paid for.
Finally, the property is extremely remote and you should expect to have intermittent and slow internet connectivity and no mobile service. We were unable to locate the pub the owner said was 1 km away. The closest eating establishment we found was 3kms from the villa.