We enjoyed a relaxing week in the house, which is more or less exactly as pictured, very clean and sitting on a privileged location with a beautiful sea view. Bottom line: We would stay here again if our travels bring us back to Ustica.
Laura, the host, was available by text for any questions that arose, and she was gracious and helpful with advice about the island, providing information on where to eat, where to buy vegetables, fruit, and delicious homemade caponata, and even on attending a small festa at a chapel down the road from the house. She even arranged taxi service for us to and from the ferry. This “concierge” service was helpful and very much appreciated. Having the Panda available to get to the beach and to town was extremely helpful, and location of the house is perfect. It is in a quiet area yet only 5 minutes by car from anywhere you want to go. The double bed was firm and very comfortable and it was lovely to have the door open to the veranda for the evening breezes while we slept. The outdoor gazebo is beautiful, but we were unfortunately unable to use it as much as we would have liked as a result of scattered rain showers that often left the upholstery wet. Yes, we could have dried it off, but we were too relaxed to want to do that. Some may find the leatherette upholstery uncomfortable to the skin, but this can be fixed by putting a towel down.
A few things worth mentioning: Some of the amenities are showing signs of wear and this is inconsistent with the fully valued price of the rental. For example: the sheets are a bit tired and one of our pillow cases had a split seam; the small coffee pot provided (are we the only people in the world who do not like Nespresso?) was functional but badly oxidized and the plastic top was not attached to the pot. The skylight in the shower leaks during heavy rain, even when closed tightly, and we needed to use a bucket to catch the drips (it is our impression it rains infrequently here, though). As is the case with many European showers, it is quite difficult to shower and not splash water on the toilet, etc., A piece of Plexiglas is provided to partially block the shower entry and help keep the bath dry, but this is awkward and only partially effective. We found the natural loose stone shower floor uncomfortable, so we moved the rocks aside. Also, a couple of feral cats appear to live under the deck — not ideal for us as we are allergic . There were plates of food and water out for them. The host explained that previous guests had done this and we should remove the food and water. Nonetheless, the cats were a constant nuisance, roaming the deck day and night, and sitting outside the bedroom meowing loudly at 3 a.m. Nothing we did would discourage them.
Finally, because the host did not personally check us in, she required photographs of our passports to obtain the information to register us with the authorities. While we have no problem providing this information and understand its legal necessity, we do not like having our passports photographed and stored on unsecure Clouds like Airbnb messages, WhatsApp, etc. Because of the language barrier, we fear the host and her housekeeper may have felt we did not trust them, which is not the case, so we hope we did not offend them. We do think that if the host requires photos of sensitive documents, this should be clearly stated in the rental conditions. As we understand the law, the information from the passports is required, not photographs of them. You see too many instances these days of cloud platforms being hacked and information being compromised by bad actors.
Also, we had a misunderstanding about the price of the car rental. This was totally on us since we misinterpreted an idiomatic Italian phrase during the booking process, but it does point out the need to understand clearly what you are agreeing to during the process and not to depend on your interpretation of what you think something may mean. So lesson learned: when in doubt, ask for clarification! All this said, the situation was handled gracefully and with patience by the host.