Paulo was very kind in enabling my husband who is in his seventies to arrive a little earlier so that he could rest after the journey. He had made sure the pool was ready for our use and the house had been prepared for our arrival. The pool is deep enough to dive in at the deep end and good for older children who are confident in the water. We all enjoyed it and it was great to have the place to ourselves. We were the first family in at the start of the season and were a group of seven. We had a lovely time at the house which was spacious but 'homely' and had lots of outdoor space where we could spread out. We ate outside every night and never felt crowded. The surrounding area when we were there in late May was very quiet which was perfect for us, and the beach was a short walk. Paulo was helpful in advising us about the idiosyncrasies of the downstairs plumbing - (the downstairs loo doesn't handle paper) and he also was careful to explain where vital switches can be found for the lights, water tanks etc. He also let us know where the nearest shops were and we did most of the weekly shop in Lidl on the route into Syracuse. Syracuse is only about a 20 minute drive. A car really is essential if you want to get around easily, but be careful on the smaller roads as some of the potholes are quite big. I'd also recommend an automatic if you are not used to driving in a car for a right hand drive road. I found that helpful. All in all, for our particular group this was an ideal place to chill out and socialise together in a relaxed way. We only visited one site during the visit - to the Greek Theatre and 'ear of Dionysis' in the Archaeological Park in Syracuse which was great. Some people in reviews online moaned about the theatre being covered with wood for seats for current performances but as our family has connections with the theatre industry we were all delighted to see it still being used today and it did not detract from the experience. We would have liked to have seen a performance there but we decided against it. A couple of us in the group react quite badly to mosquito bites and had a few bites from mosquitoes in the evenings which is to be expected... Paulo had left some mosquito repellents in the house and these came in handy as we ate late outside in the garden every evening. All in all we had a lovely holiday at this house in Arenella. Very restful. Very beautiful. Thank you Paulo for being a friendly and helpful host.