Where to begin? We stayed with Silvana for two weeks and loved it. We never met Silvana's daughter Samantha, but Silvana is truly a super host and a very special person.
We had a warm welcome and she made us feel at home instantly. Silvana lives on the first floor, and is very considered and helpful. She is there when you need her, always ready for a chat but gives you the space so you feel like you have the place to yourself. She was helpful with recommendations for places to visit and things to do, and we loved talking to her about cooking - she is very passionate about cooking and kindly shares all of secrets to the Sicilian cuisine.
The garden is just amazing. We enjoyed warm afternoons is the shadow from the olive trees and evenings on the terrace looking at the stars. The outdoor kitchen is superb - surrounded by fresh herbs (mint, basil, wild arugula, sage, chili) to use in the cooking. Everyday we picked lemons and pomegranates from the trees in the garden. The outdoor shower was great for morning baths and for very hot days. Within five minutes walk you are by the beach but we ended up spending most of our time in the garden - we loved it.
The communication was easy from the very beginning. When we did the booking we communicated with Silvana's daughter Samantha. During our stay communication was obviously with Silvana - she speaks perfectly English which is quite rare in Italy. It was a big plus.
Silvana welcomed us with a baby bed, a stroller and baby bathtub - such a nice help when traveling with a baby. During our stay we unfortunately had to go to the hospital with our baby. Without hesitation Silvana drop everything she had in her hands, drove us to the hospital (even though we had our own car) and stayed with us for two hours helping us with all communication.
The place is super clean and during our stay Silvana cleaned it several times and provided us with new towels etc.
We can definitely recommend this place and really hope to come back sometime.