Villa Lori

Qeparo beach is phenomenal and feels untouched, and the villa has a great location, wonderful views, and direct access to the water. But our stay was a disaster because of how poorly the place and its guests were looked after. My wife and I came back for a second summer after having a good stay the first time. The owners don’t live in Qeparo and there’s no full-time caretaker. We arrived to find no running water and a broken toilet. A family member showed up four hours later to fix the water, but the toilet still didn’t work for another 24 hours. We spent the day waiting for someone to come, with no communication from the owners at all. They hadn’t even left contact details. The outside door was broken too, leaving us stuck inside and the couple downstairs stuck outside. Its lock was badly rusted and had not been oiled. Someone broke the lock, and the door stayed that way for the rest of our visit. We travel a lot and have visited Albania four times in five years because we love the Riviera. This was our last stay at Villa Lori. There are plenty of other places whose owners take care of the property and care about their guests’ experience. These owners showed no concern or effort, and when problems came up we couldn’t reach them. We didn’t even get an apology for any of it.

What a letdown. We booked through Booking.com six months ahead and had planned the trip in detail, then got a message there just three hours before check-in saying the owner couldn’t host us. They cancelled our reservation at the last minute for no apparent reason. We’d stayed in this apartment before and it had been okay. But the owner lives elsewhere, and they don’t seem to care about your comfort, just getting your money. I wouldn’t trust them.

Out of all the apartments we rented on our Balkan road trip, this was the best. It’s clean, quiet, right by the sea, and has only a few neighbours. We even picked grapes from the garden. The owner arranged parking and found someone to help carry our bags to the house. Getting there means hiking for 10-15 minutes, so it may be tough if that’s difficult for you, especially with bags. For us, the effort was absolutely worth it. I recommend it!

Getting down to the villa is really difficult, but Alexandra, Lije and her sister helped us carry our bags both down and back up. They were so helpful. I loved the place and would definitely return in summer. ♥️