Casa Bedda

What’s in the Airbnb photos doesn’t match what we found. Everything smelled musty and was moldy, and the neglected grounds looked disastrous. The jacuzzi was unusable because it hadn’t been maintained. There was no washing machine, and the fridge made so much noise at night it was unbearable. The terrace was only usable in good weather because it wasn’t properly covered, and the bed was the only place to sit indoors. Towels and bed linen cost extra on top of an already exorbitant room price. Getting into the property was complicated too. Since the host doesn’t meet guests in person when they arrive late, I expected clear instructions for operating the gate remote. The grounds are shut off by three gates, like a high-security prison. There are far better and cheaper places to stay in Sicily. I can’t recommend this one.

The setting is lovely and worth seeing, but the house and facilities are quite different from what the websites describe. The countryside around the corner is a dump, and the bins for the accommodation were full of rubbish, some of it smelly. For four people, we got just one bath towel. There’s no Wi-Fi, and mobile data barely works there. The water isn’t drinkable or suitable for cooking. The house is only partly renovated. Its kitchen is tiny and poorly equipped, with barely enough dishes, and the only place to eat is outside at a wobbly table. There are two bedrooms, but just one has air conditioning, and it’s shabby. The other has no air conditioning or closet, so my daughter and her husband had to leave their clothes in suitcases. It also has an old refrigerator being used more like storage.

I agreed with the two-star review from August 23rd. The place was extremely dirty and unhygienic: there was moldy, rotten pumpkin on the fridge, sprouting potatoes, and open food left in the kitchen by the previous tenant. The apartment was run-down and neglected, with a moldy sofa on the terrace. The jacuzzi held green, algae-covered, stagnant water, and the property itself was in dilapidated condition during my trip. I didn’t stay and left after a short phone call with the landlord, who was no help at all. The photos on the booking site and website don’t show the real condition.

The area is beautiful, and there’s a lovely, uncrowded beach about a 15-minute walk away. You’ll want a car: a small shop is 10 minutes away by car, the supermarket takes 20 minutes, and Noto is a beautiful 30-minute drive. We stayed almost a week and found the house comfortable and clean, with many kitchen items already provided. We did miss having an oven and coffee maker. The landlord was very nice, though he spoke very little English. There are two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. The bathrooms were great, with large LED-lit mirrors and stone shower walls. There’s no indoor dining area, and the two terraces aren’t usable in the rain because they don’t have proper roofs. Internet was available free throughout our stay. I took off a point because the owner’s large property could have been cleaner. It looked as if a lot of construction was going on. The hot tub shown in the ad was covered. The owner said it was closed for the end of the season, though it looked like it hadn’t been used in quite a while.