These are my constructive feedback regarding the following points:
COMMUNICATION: very poor the reply time from Raphael from an emails point of view (it took 2 to 3 weeks to receive a reply the first two emails I sent, but I did not get any reply to the last one), whilst it was easier to phone directly his mother once received a contact number. Keep in consideration that the reception in Alicudi is not always decent especially in Pianicello so sometimes you need to try with many attempts. For the same reasons it might be unsafe for a single person to stay in Casa del Mare, should incidents occur.
CHECK IN: it was good. Raphael's mother came to take me at the port, she helped me to buy the groceries and to organize the mule up to the house. I have to say that she was also helpful during my staying in case of necessity. For example one time the cooker got broken and she quickly substituted it with a new functioning one. She even brought me two times some home made jam of apricots, really appreciated.
STATE OF THE HOUSE: there was a sufficient level of cleaning of the house, keeping in consideration that it is an old house. Be aware that it is very likely to find a lot of debris fallen down from the walls due to poor plaster of the wall; I have not complained about it but it is something to be aware anyway.
BATHROOM & SHOWER: differently from what I expected, the bathroom was in poor state with the shower not functioning and there was building material on the floor. Again, I felt to not complain because there was in use a shower in the garden and it was actually very nice to have a shower naked in the open space!, but be aware that the water is mostly cold, and only partially warmed by the sun hitting during the day on the reservoir. It is important to keep in consideration that every day water needs to be transferred from the well to this reservoir that collects water for the kitchen and the shower, in the number of 4 to 6 buckets (for one person).
KITCHEN: it contains everything that it is necessary to cook in terms of utensils but be aware of two very important aspects: 1) it is an open space so there are a lot of ants and mosquitoes 2) there is not a fridge to conserve the food. I was informed about it so I don't complain but honestly next time I will be looking for a place where the solar panel allows at least to keep a little portable fridge (like I then discovered the neighbors did have!!)
ELECTRICITY: the normal panel solar of the house is NOT functioning, so the owner provides a little portable solar panel that it is just enough to charge one phone a day and to use some electricity for the lights in the night. I did not complain initially because it was sufficient for me, but I had some problems in charging my phone when the owner started to send a person from one of her other accommodations to charge her own phone. This lasted for one week.
LOCATION: it is sure a special location for a person looking for silence and open spaces. The view on the sea is amazing. It is important to keep in consideration that the different roads to the sea/beaches and the port are very steep, some (the blue one) a little better the other (the red one). In my opinion what the owner says in their advert regarding the house is misleading: IT DEFINITIVELY DOES NOT TAKE 35 MINUTES TO GET TO THE beaches, unless maybe you are a professional climber!! It took me around 1 hour and ten minutes and a lot of sweating. Furthermore I did not receive any warning from the owner about the steepness of the different roads and the irregularity of what they call "gradini" (steps), but perhaps this is also my fault because I did not research well this aspect of Alicudi. The outcome was that after one week my feet got swollen, I had constant pain and I could not walk anymore. That cause me a lot of trouble in procuring the food and brought me to the decision to cut short my staying to two weeks (instead of the paid 4 weeks).
FLEXIBILITY OF THE OWNER IN CASE OF INCIDENTS: I have to say that Raphael's mother did not accept to allow me to receive a partial refund for the 2 weeks (on a total of 4 weeks) that I could not spend in her house. Even though I respect her position, I think it is important for a customer to be aware that in case of incidents or health's problems, you will not be shown any understanding or comprehension. Raphael's mother kept saying that it was not her problem and I agree but I would have hoped in a better understanding, that would have allowed me to continue my holiday somewhere else, due to my limited budget.
CONCLUSION: the house is in an amazing location for what concerns the view on the surroundings, but is at least one hour away from the port and beaches, via roads that are really steep with irregular steps and that ARE TOO DEMANDING for persons with normal fitness level (like me, that I am only doing regularly only 2 or 3 walks in the park a week) or who are not regular hikers. The malfunctioning of the solar panel and the poor state of the bathroom are two issues that could be addressed better by the owner.
I was happy to pay 40 euros for a kind of hermit accommodation for a whole month (accepting the above mentioned limitations), but at the end I paid 70 euros per night for 2 weeks and this is too much, in consideration that this was