Italian Breaks Reviews

I am very sorry to hear of your troubles at the Villa. We really appreciate your email as it helps us tremendously with the service, and so far we have not received any complaints and my only frustration is that you did not call us as instructed on the various travel documents we send you where we state for any issues whilst staying at the property to please contact Italian Breaks directly (we give an emergency number and we take a mobile phone home when the office is closed.)All the issues you raise except changing the tiles in the bathroom would have been dealt with and we would have arranged it all. We of course have visited the property but not this season so unfortunately having not heard about the points you raise until now we were not aware and I am very sorry for this. However what  I will say is the owner of the house lives 30 minutes away and the caretakers live right by the house, in fact they would have been visiting the house early mornings to clean in and around the pool for example. The owner visits the house at least every 2 weeks.  On the first problem raised about the mosquitos, we really are sorry to hear of the discomfort you faced. We would have been more than happy to help with the problem but this is not something we can be held accountable for as we mention in point 24 of our T&Cs (which one has to accept and read before making payment online). Houses in the countryside during summer months will have mosquitos and we were not aware nor could control the presence of the particular breed of mosquito you were faced with this summer. The owner informed us however that upon receiving the call of the problem you had he spent €1000 on having the 13 windows fitted with mosquito nets. Mosquito nets were not included in the description of the house and it is not something that he had to provide, until now he has avoided it because it disturbed in his opinion the rustic style of the house. He also arranged for this to happen as quickly as possible during the Italian holiday period, same goes for the boiler which was giving irregular hot water, which is just something than can happen in these houses.  In terms of the seating, you were 6 plus two children so there was sufficient seating for you, when the house is full the owner re arranges the house and adds seating to make room for this. Obviously he didn’t want to overcrowd the space. With regard to the 12 beds made, unfortunately in the end all the beds were made as we weren’t sure which rooms everyone would want  so we had them make all the beds so you could choose. The sun loungers have been checked and are not broken, however some are reclining and some are not (I am getting the owner to send me pictures to double check).  On the shower and the drain outside by the pool shower, thank you for notifying us of this. Again sadly it had not been mentioned, the tiles in the bathroom are vintage terracotta tiles which the owner feels is in keeping with the style and he has wanted to keep them as long as possible. However, I have asked now that when the season closes this is re done before we consider renting for next year. That also goes for the pool side shower, the drain is ultimately outside the house so he needs to wait until close of season as it all needs digging out. The owner assures us the electrics are perfectly safe and we have sent an electrician who will report back, the socket covered with cardboard was anon-live, non-usable socket that had been covered with the cardboard to show it is out of use and was actually covered or should have been out of sight behind a wardrobe. I reiterate this was not a live socket. The owner is replacing the cot, unfortunately it was broken by a previous visitor this season and we were not informed. He once again said he would have replaced it immediately for you had you mentioned it when they came to attend the boiler / mosquito nets, he hadn’t checked the cot slats since early July and they were broken by one of the clients between then and yourselves. The same goes for the play area, he would have arranged for the bat and ball, but we must stress from our part they really are extras, they did not come with the house and were not mentioned in our description.  I am sorry once again and really wish we had known while you were at the house, we have that clause written numerous times to avoid this. We are ensuring all the points that need addressing are done so, and insisting on the bathroom being updated for next season as well as the drain work for the outside shower. I thank you again for valuable feedback.

Many thanks for your valuable feedback.

We are truly sorry for any inconvenience caused by the presence of the dog and in fact did ensure he was removed. Although it is mentioned in the description that the house comes wit ha dog, which for future clients this will remain so (he is quiet during the day) we are getting a more permanent location offsite during the night.

Similarly we're sorry to hear only now about the presence of the caretakers during the day, very frustrating for us and local contact who have discussed with the owner that any maintenance work around the client area should take place first thing in the morning only. We are working now with the owner to rectify the above points as well as everything else you mentioned with regard to facilities available in the house.

Thanks again and we're so sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Many thanks for your feedback it is very much appreciated to help us improve our service.  

I wanted to address the points raised if that’s ok – With regard to the sun loungers, we normally do not crowd the pool area with 9 sunbeds just to allow more space, also you were only two people so we did not provide the extra sun beds. That said of course when the house is full all beds are provided.  

On the oven, I understand our local contact Dario arranged for someone to go and look at the oven for you but it turned out it was working but rather it was proving difficult to operate. Dario will be sure to show guests going forward how to use the oven from the start. In addition I’m sorry you felt the kitchen was insufficient, Dario is at guests disposal to provide any extras or have anything changed or fixed immediately. Until now the issue had not been raised, so I’m very grateful for this note as the kitchen is now being checked over and the owner will replace, fix and add any utensils that are required.

I am sorry you were disturbed by the sound of the train, at the time of the description the service had been suspended (it is running between Siracusa and Fontane Bianche a quiet beach location) we will amend this now. It is a short train that passes infrequently during the day lasting around3 - 5 seconds. The villa has been rented solidly since 24th May this year and nobody has mentioned anything about the train to us or Dario so we are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.  

Lastly with regard to the Wifi, I’m afraid we do not mention there is Wifi in the villa as there is not.  I thank you once again for this valuable feedback so we can improve the property.