Casa Jonica by BarbarHouse

The agency’s promises didn’t match the house, either on its website or, even more so, in the phone call when we booked. We were assured it had just had a proper renovation, but the furnishings and main bathroom were old and worn. There were clear signs of neglect, including rust, limescale, and broken handles. For €500 a night, those problems weren’t acceptable. The bedrooms had no windows. The new closets had no drawers or shelves, just one shelf and a few rusty hangers. The house was only superficially clean. Plumbing made annoying noises whenever a faucet was turned on, and the well pump was exhausting to listen to. Even sitting on the veranda, we had to put up with its constant noise whenever anyone used water. Although the listing said there were three bathrooms, one was only a half bathroom accessed through another bathroom. The dishwasher didn’t always fill with water and would produce smoke if we didn’t stop it in time. During the vacation, the bidet inlet pipe burst in one of the two bathrooms. When we returned, the house was completely flooded. We had a newborn and two children under two with us, and had to let them sleep on the veranda until 2:30 a.m., when we finally finished drying things out. The agency, which I don’t trust, offered a refund they estimated at €190 for all the trouble. The house cost €500 a day, so we refused. I’ll never book through this agency again.

You step straight onto one of Italy’s loveliest beaches from this spot. The apartment is gorgeous and has everything we needed. We’ll be back for sure!

It’s frustrating, because the place has a lot of potential. The location is its one real plus, only a few centimeters from the beach. Inside, though, there are security cameras, the undersized boiler runs out of hot water within minutes, and the kitchen ceiling is peeling. It was rented through Sud Sud Vacanze, and they didn’t help sort things out. They didn’t even reply to the emails reporting the problems.