We are a family of four and we were looking for a good place where my wife and the kids could have a lot of swimming time. So here it goes:
the house is divided into 4 units and we were lodged on the ground floor. Airbnb often writes this in a non-clear way as "intera casa" and this, IMO, leads to some confusion. The owners live in one of the apartments on the first floor: they are around if you need them but are very respectful of the guests' privacy.
The apartment is quite large, with two bedrooms, a corridor, a bathroom, a kitchen+dining room and innumerable places where it is possible to have a shower! The apartment was clean and reasonably well furnished. It corresponds to the announcement except that towels ARE provided (when we read the announcement, it said the opposite). New linens were provided after our first of two weeks.
Outside there is a mini swimming pool with nice statues.
Very important for me, the view is really gorgeous all day long, with amazing sunsets.
The space outside the house is livable and you can have both lunch and dinner there. You are separated from other guests by a simple thin fence so you are not really completely on your own.
We were there in July 2022 and it was unbearably hot so we had to often use the AC that was working really fine and managed to make things better also during the night. There is a single splitter and it's in the corridor so the perfect temperature is reached after a while. we were told that this hot weather was completely out of the norm (and we totally believe it). In usual years the house is probably very fresh.
You can reach the beach in a few minutes but there are better places if you are willing to walk some more. If you have a car of course you can visit all the coast. There is a private place for your car: the car will be outside but repaired with a small roof from the sun.
It is possible to do laundry and the laundry machine is a few steps on the outside. There's plenty of space where to hang clothes and with this kind of hot weather, they dry immediately.
There are a couple of supermarkets 15-20 minutes walking away, one of them is pretty well furnished. In the vicinity, there are also 4 or 5 places where to eat (we just tried Zia Lucia and we recommend it, especially the cheesecake!)
Honestly, there isn't much to do around if you are not interested in swimming: walking around isn't very rewarding because the roads aren't very safe for pedestrians. Also, if you like nice walks at night near the sea... there are better places (of course you can take the car and go to Santa Maria di Leuca in a few minutes).
The zone around seems a bit neglected but it felt reasonably safe. At least, you don't have hoards of tourists continuously going around.
On the minus side: internet/wifi were pretty slow and in some rooms very very slow. From what I learned elsewhere, sometimes the problem is not related to the house itself but to the whole region.
All in all, I totally recommend this place if:
- you are looking for a safe base from which to visit the southern part of Salento
- if you are a family with kids but also if you are a couple and you love life on the beach
- if you like to just lay down and read while watching a nice landscape. We were not lucky and this summer was exceptionally hot but I loved to just sit in the shadows of the large palms and read (this is possible during the morning and the very early afternoon).
On the other hand, I would be careful if:
- you have problems with wasps: the house is beautifully surrounded by nature and it's inevitable to have some insects around...; btw, there are also cats around.
- you really want to "do whatever you want": there are other people around, and you are not completely isolated from the rest of humanity
- you love to just explore around walking: there isn't much to reach with just a walk. Santa Maria di Leuca is 40-50 minutes walking and that's pretty much it, probably
- you don't have a car: there is a bus along the coast but it doesn't seem very frequent
- you want a place for smart-working
- you hate hot weather