Maria’s place is beautiful. It was an oasis in Puglia and a great base to explore the region and have the space and facilities to come back to after a long day exploring.
The property is absolutely amazing. In a country setting, the olive trees , grounds and pools were immaculate and the Trulli style houses were fully equipped, well thought out and very comfortable.
Some of the positives:
* so clean and newly renovated
* the hosts have thought of everything you need down to kitchen utensils and appliances, through to slippers, gowns, amenities etc.
* the hosts even asked about the age/sex of our children and left out toys, boy/girl coloured bed spreads, pool towels and pool accessories accordingly. Such a nice, thoughtful touch.
* there is a second Trulli villa next door to this one which we also rented as we had two more friends join us. This came with a big outdoor pool which was an added bonus to the indoor one in our villa.
* playground for the kids was also a great touch.
Some of the negatives:
* wifi/internet was very unstable and unreliable which made it almost impossible to work with.
* there are approx 20 commercial grade CCTV cameras across both villas not just covering the perimeter of the properly but also some of the external areas for guests. While we understand the need for security when the property isn’t occupied, this was quite unnerving at times with a feeling of being watched.
* We had an awkward encounter with the owner which nearly ruined our stay. We asked their help to find a babysitter to help with our children as well as a chef to cook for us one night. The babysitter they found couldn’t do all the hours we needed so I found one that could, and the chef was quite expensive and I managed to find one for half the price. They seemed quite upset that we engaged a chef and babysitter directly rather than book through them and at one point tried to stop the chef entering the property about an hour before they were due. It was all rather confrontational and unnecessary and just left a bad impression. Perhaps it was a local cultural thing or even a language translation thing (as we spoke no Italian and the host spoke little English) but whatever it was it was certainly uncomfortable.
All in all the place is amazing but do ensure you agree everything up front by way of any extra people coming to the property either visiting or helping you out (like babysitting etc) with them before booking to avoid any potential issues.