Villa Matilde Amalfi

Luigi was a kind and helpful host, and the view from his place gives you a lovely glimpse of the sea and surroundings. He gave us clear directions, welcomed us, and explained the home and places to visit. His advice to take the bus to Ravello was really helpful. I was there with my elderly parents, and he helped carry our bags and arranged daily transfers to and from the place at a reasonable price. His mother kindly picked us up another day. We were very happy there and would certainly return. Thank you, Luigi, and best wishes from Rio to you and your family.

We had such a great time at Mathilde’s villa, and everything was perfect. Luigi was so helpful and made sure things were the way we wanted. Thank you so much for everything ❤️

We left halfway through our planned stay for much better accommodation at almost half the nightly price. After I complained about the apartment and said its advertising was extremely misleading, the owner replied, “the price is the price” and threatened to “sue me for slander.” I don't need to lie about the owner, and I'm describing our experience compared with how the apartment was advertised so others don't feel cheated after spending their savings and limited free time. People can make their own choice, but here's what we found. We paid $3,700 for eight nights, which set certain expectations. On arrival, the owner said we still owed several hundred dollars in cash, even though we'd booked on booking.com and paid in full beforehand. I don't know why he said that or why it had to be cash. The balcony and “garden” photos were taken from around waist height, hiding much of the sea view behind a very large, poorly maintained, dilapidated building. There are pictures on Google Maps. The owner says there's A/C, but it's only in one bedroom. To cool both bedrooms, you have to leave the door between them open, with no privacy, and then the A/C room gets cold while the other is barely cool. To reach the bathroom from the room with the large bed, you have to pass through the bedroom with two beds, which is inconvenient with children. The refrigerator has no freezer, so there's no ice or ice cream. Hot water would randomly cut out in the middle of a warm shower. The shower was minuscule, barely big enough for a small child. I'm tall and couldn't wash without banging into every part of my body, and there was no room for a shelf for soap or toiletries. The washing machine is tiny. For a family of four sweating every day in the Italian summer, you'd need two or three loads a day. There's no dryer, so wet clothes have to go on the clothesline. “Rustic” doesn't begin to cover it. I know the owner never claimed there was a dryer, but at close to $4k per week, it's something you'd assume these days. There were stink-bugs too, and one got stuck on my shirt, making the bedroom stink for half a day. Ants crawled on the kitchen walls, across the floor, and into the bathroom. We understand a few ants around food on the ground, but there were many. The kitchen smelled terrible. We first thought it was rotten garlic, but throwing it out made no difference. There was black stuff on ledges and in corners that looked disgusting, maybe mold, though I don't know what it was or whether it caused the smell. The only kitchen and living room had almost no natural light and an old couch with a slipcover. We never sat there. There was a tiny safe, but it wasn't secured to anything, so someone could just pick it up and walk away. The owner first provided four hand towels and four tiny, paper-thin, old bath towels, about 18" X 25". I wouldn't have used them as rags on my car. The toiletries were two or three half-full bottles of shower gel, one of which could work as shampoo too.

I cancelled a month ahead, but apparently I was just an hour past their cancellation deadline and was charged $485. I immediately messaged, emailed, and called to request a refund or rebook the room. The only reply I got was an initial “we will check into your situation.” This was during a pandemic, and even after weeks of trying to reach someone, they never offered a credit. I couldn't rebook myself because they were completely full. I never got a response, not even a no.