I’d like to start on a positive, so potential guests get a well-rounded review and don’t stop at just the negatives…
Positives:
Overall, we had a good trip to Mondello and enjoyed a long weekend at the villa.
- The villa itself was huge! and the communal areas and the bedrooms were very beautiful and big;
- The outside dining and pool area was really great for a big group of friends to relax and cool off and provided us a space to have dinner together (we were 12 people in total);
- The kitchen was well equipped and so preparing breakfast/lunch for a large group was easy, as we had everything we needed;
- Once we managed to get through to the agency, they arranged for a transfer from Palermo airport and so getting to the villa was a smooth process;
- A few of our guests spent pretty much the entire weekend on the ping pong table, so they were extremely happy;
Areas that CAN be improved:
However, there we’re a few issues that I think can be resolved or at least made explicit before a booking:
- Communication between the agency/hosts and us was almost non-existent. We were very stressed because we got so close to the booking and did not hear anything on check-in, even though I called, emailed and instant messaged the agency/hosts multiple times. This can be resolved and will lower stress levels in the person/ group booking a stay;
- Taxis in the evenings would all leave Mondello and go to Palermo, which made it impossible to get a taxi to Palermo after 5. We were 1.5hours late to a dinner reservation because no taxis were available to pick us up until very late on Saturday night. This could have been avoided, if we were advised to book a taxi well in advance, as Uber/Bolt do not work as well in Mondello. Alternatively, guests should be advised to hire a car to get to the city;
- A few of the bedroom showers had cold water and so a few of our guests had to share showers which had warm water. This defeated the point of having en-suites.
I think these issues are forgivable at a cheaper price however, when paying £3500, you expect a higher level of service and frictionless experience.