Raffaella and Michelangelo have clearly put a lot of thought into preparing a good experience for guests. It’s a thoughtfully remodeled apartment that combines clean and modern within an old stone monastery. The mix of old and new is definitely special.
They were both really kind and extremely welcoming with lots of great recommendations for nearby areas to eat and visit. They also had prepared several welcome gifts for us (including a bottle of champagne and a loaf of Pannetone - a traditional italian Christmas cake). They made themselves available for any questions and were extremely responsive throughout our stay.
The only drawbacks are that the space is dark, cold, and slightly small relative to our other AirBnbs in Italy - which makes the space feel a little like being in a tomb. There are no windows in the bedroom and the natural light in the living room is limited. On the plus side, this means that there’s no outside sound whatsoever. With the insulation of the thick stone walls, we were able to sleep like babies even with firecrackers lighting up the streets outside.
The other negative is the inability to leave bags if you’re arriving early or leaving late. We understand that this is an AirBnb, but hotels at the same price point commonly offer this service. When we asked, we were sent to a public storage locker that’s a 15 minute walk and costs 3€/ hour.
Both of those would be fine if we were paying a bit less. However, the nightly rate was tripled relative to the listing’s other January rates for high season - so we ended up paying almost $300 / night including a cleaning fee of over $80 (charged automatically).
Relative to the other AirBnbs where we stayed in Italy during the same high season, this just didn’t feel like a great value.