Villa Tripepi

Our first trip to Calabria ended up becoming a highlight, despite a very bad start. After a stressful search late in the evening, we found Tito Serrano Hotel in Melito di Porto Salvo. Roberto and Sandro were delightful, friendly, and helpful, and their excellent service turned things around and left us with a beautiful memory of Calabria. We had booked a sea-view room at Tripepi Villa through Booking.com, but the room we were offered was in an old building at an unfamiliar location. The villa may be near the sea, but that was no use when we couldn’t properly use the accommodation. At 20:30, we were told to drive somewhere to meet a young woman, and it took us 30 minutes to find the place. She offered us an apartment there, so after a brief conversation we left to look for somewhere else. Neither the owner nor Booking.com charged us for the experience. Earlier, after we reached Reggio Calabria, we told the owner when we expected to arrive. We were surprised to get an SMS saying we couldn’t access our room until 20:30. There was no apology, just: "If you do not like it, I can refund you all the money." We chose to wait, which we regretted. We bought dinner at a local store and waited on the beach in front of the villa. Something bit me while we were there, and three weeks later I was still itchy. Finding another place late in the evening after the main season took two stressful hours. I strongly advise caution before booking Tripepi Villa because of the unacceptable check-in delay and the unexpected change in accommodation location.

The villa has a nice view, but the place was run down, uncomfortable, and not clean. It sounds opulent by name, but it’s really an old, outdated house. This was the worst accommodation of our trip to Italy. We wanted to visit the southern beach and were disappointed. I don’t think the town is worth visiting, though perhaps a different hotel would be better.

For a reasonable price, this was a very good choice. The owner was very helpful, and the house is beautiful with big rooms. I’d come back.

Even in November, the weather was warm. The villa is beautiful, right by the sea, and the apartment has a stunning view.