Vincenzo’s place is located mostly as described, away from the town and connected to the beach by a private stretch of land, and the apartment is on the top floor. Communication was great with Vincenzo, who managed to direct us easily to the location and greet us upon arrival.
However, the few carefully taken photos, minimalist description and previous reviews do not quite give an accurate picture of the location and layout of the apartment in relation to the house and surroundings or state of the garden.
It is located on the corner of a main road next to a railroad crossing, where noise from the queued traffic and passing trains can be obtrusive at times.
The property is quite high up on a hill, which although offers a great view of the city and sea, makes the walk down to the garden quite steep. We had access to a lower terrace, behind the main house but it only had a table when we arrived and would not have been practical to transport any meals to it having to walk down the stairs, out the door, under the drive way and round the house back up more steps.
The 'garden' itself is not quite what the previous reviews suggest; in fact it seems to be in quite a state of disrepair and even Vincenzo himself described it as a 'jungle', there were no beautiful flowers and just a few rotten oranges on the floor, which is a shame because this was one of the main aspects that attracted us to the property.
The rough path through to the beach is quite tough-going under foot and would not really be safe for children with a number of obstacles; we only used it once in the daylight and decided the main road was easier to get into town thereafter. I understand personal circumstances may account for some of these issues - the garden does have potential, but I would suggest the listing was revised with more external photos and a more accurate and honest description of location and proximity of the road and train line.
I wish Vincenzo and his family all the best, it's just a shame that the place did not live up to our expectations.