My husband and I stayed at Carlo's country cottage with our 3 teenage children. Carlo and his parents were wonderful hosts, bringing us delicious breakfast breads one morning and fresh stoned baked pizzas on another evening. They were friendly and responded quickly to our texts if needed, but were not intrusive in any way.
The house itself is in the country and has a pleasant view, over-looking olive groves and vineyards. It was very quiet and dark at night, with just the sound of nature - we heard a Scops Owl calling on a couple of nights. During the day some occasional planes came over, landing at the airport and we saw a couple of entertaining air manoeuvres from the local military jets, but they all ceased at night. Carlo showed us the wine cellar in which his grand-father sheltered from bomb raids during the war. The house is clearly special to Carlo and his family; the garden and house are well looked after.
Inside the house, there was plenty of space for the 5 of us, and the house is well equipped for self-catering, with lots of pantry basics provided; there was even a cold pack in the freezer which was very handy for our picnics. There were plenty of fans and an air conditioning unit which served the two back bedrooms, although were rarely used it, preferring the fans and open windows (all protected with insect mesh) at night. I am very picky about showers, and the cottage shower was lovely, with decent pressure and a good shower head. There were plenty of towels, soaps and shampoos available.
The house is well placed: an hour from Palermo airport and halfway between Marsala and Trapani (about 25 mins to the harbour fronts) and just 10 – 15 minutes drive to the coast, where you can see the salt flats, and hire kite boards, canoe and paddle boats. We paddled over to the little island of Mozia in our boats. Erice is about 40 minutes drive, as is Grotta Mangiapane with the near by Mount Hood Beach (Baia Cornino), which was relatively quiet, but had showers, a bar, changing rooms and sun beds and umbrellas for hire.
There are Cafés, bars and restaurants within 10 minutes drive of the house, and also a couple of traditional stoned baked pizza takeaways. When we returned from our days outings, there were 3 good sized sofa’s which were ideal to chill on out of the sun, with a cooling fan. In the cool of the morning and evening we sat out to eat at the large table on the terrace, and watched geckos. Overall, Carlos house was comfortable, well equipped, secluded, and secure – ideal for a family looking for quiet and roomy accommodation.