It is unfortunate that I am writing this review since I have read such wonderful reviews from everyone prior to our August 1-7 stay at Vito's place.
1. Check in was simple - Toni made it easy with his directions and communication via Airbnb and What's App. The place is beautiful with adequate number of rooms for large groups, and the swimming pool was a great, especially in the August heat. However, please be aware that the bedrooms have a musty odor. Also be aware that the washing machine is outside and is quite small - difficult to do a normal load and you'll need to hang all clothes/towels on racks which they provide - Italian Al Fresco - something to get used to.
2. Problem: After three days of enjoying the swimming pool and pebbled beach, a huge rain storm hit Ficarazzi. We arrived back from a day in Cefalu to find the kitchen and entry way in the main house with 2-3 cm of water. Then to our dismay, the two bedrooms by the swimming pool in the guest house (where two of our members were staying) flooded up the height of 50 cm. The toilet overflowed with fecal matter which destroyed clothing, luggage, and electronic devices. Toni came right away after we contacted him and tried to help us to resolve our issue with Airbnb. The owner came and worked on cleaning the guest rooms by the pool but didn't let us know of any support while we personally cleaned the kitchen and entry way without any acknowledgement. Finally, after calling 3 Airbnb representatives, we were assigned to a case manager who helped with some definitive answers: we were able to get a hotel room for 3 nights with Airbnb reimbursements for the couple were mostly affected by the flood. However, we are still working on resolving the issues after our trip is over - with the lost of luggage (shoes and clothing items) and electronics due to the flood and floating fecal matter, and of course our lost of vacation time trying to deal with the flooding issue and lost of valuable electronic devices.
3. Advice: If you're planning on staying at Vito's place, I would suggest that you try to fit everyone in the main house. The guest rooms by the pool may still have residual contamination from the overflow of the toilet and flood water.
We understand that when we travel, we need to roll with the punches. However, the flooding, the hours spent talking with Airbnb reps, cleaning up the mess that we didn't anticipate, and now still following up with Airbnb have made this trip beyond unpleasant.