Villa Penelope

For the first 7 days out of the 10 we stayed we had problems, mainly electrical and had people fixing things around the house. One light bulb missing in the first bathroom, the maintenance person came after 3 days, didn’t have the right bulb with him, said he would come back but never did. Bedsheets in the first bedroom had holes. Some indoor doors were not closing properly, some outdoor doors could not fully open. Overall the house is in dear need of maintenance. Suggestions 1) Thorough electrical check need. The first night no AC (it was over 90F in the house). For the next 6 nights we had to switch off some appliances in the kitchen, the laundry room, the hot tub to try to keep the AC on 2) Upgrade the kitchens pots and pans which are well beyond their useful lifetime 3) Add utensils, counted for 10 people (1 meal only) and only 6 small spoons available 4) Provide a second set of keys 5) Adjust the property gate. One of the panels hits the stones on the ground, you need to manually lift it to get it open. It is quite heavy and complicated to open and close. 6) Update entry instructions as code for the main gate was incorrect. The price paid for the stay (even with the promised partial refund, not yet received one week after leaving the property) is absolutely not in line with the service received. The house is beautiful and location amazing but the rest was extremely disappointing. Jacopo was responsive however we spoke with him way too many times.

The location was good for us as it was close to Porto Cervo, Palau, and Santa Teresa Gallura...which were the main places we were visiting. The Villa was in a private, gated community which was nice. But the main issue was that they advertise a water view and THERE IS NONE. All the plants have since grown and have completely blocked the water view. That is a big deal, and was a real disappointment. Also, the grass lawn was overgrown for our entire stay, making use of the hot tub and the grass lawn less appealing. Additionally, nobody met us at check in. It was all done with written instructions and over the phone...which made the whole process a lot more inconvenient. One of the bedrooms doesn't have A/C, which we did know beforehand, but after staying there I would consider this more of a 3 bedroom than a 4 bedroom. As instead of using that bedroom the kids that were supposed to be in that room slept on the pull-out sofa in the living room. Additionally, we had a big rain one morning and the laundry room in basement flooded, and we couldn't use it for a day...until someone drained the water (which they did do in a timely manner later that same day). Water also came into the kitchen as well and made a bit of a mess too, which nobody cleaned they just left us a mop to do it ourselves. All in all it was OK as the location was centrally located and great for what we were looking to do. But the Villa & experience was not nearly up to what is should be for the price. And misrepresenting a water view in the pictures is really unethical. We stayed at another Villa an hour or so south of this Villa, for the other half of our stay...and it was only a couple hundred euro more a night (but also required a 7 night stay). And it was stunningly beautiful with amazing water views, a beautiful pool, and a top-notch host that met any needs. So realize what you are getting with this Villa before booking. If you are looking to do same places we did and can't commit to a 7 night stay in peak season, this Villa does the job. But it is not as nice as it looks and don't expect the advertised water view.