Villa Almatema

Three adult couples stayed in this beautiful villa, which has a trulli house and a main house. The main house had what you’d expect, but it had one double bedroom and two single bedrooms, despite being described as having three double bedrooms. The outdoor kitchen still had charcoal from the previous tenants. The trulli house was very simply furnished. Whenever either my wife or I turned over, the beds creaked so loudly that one of us would wake up. The toilet was noisy too, so we avoided using it at night in case we woke each other. We were out during the day and mostly used the property in the evenings and at night, so we didn’t use the pool much. It was also very cold, because we had to refill it every day due to significant water loss somewhere. The skimmers gurgled like an old submarine even when no water was flowing in. The energy costs felt like a complete rip-off. Paying for electricity used in both houses would have been acceptable, but we were also charged for the 1000W night lighting, the large garden, and the pool’s 24-hour filter. That came to more than 700 kWh, billed at €0.35 per kWh, so we had to pay €245.00. Outrageous! The payment confirmation was a scrap of paper, not an official invoice. I can only wonder where that money goes. The €300.00 security deposit wasn’t used to cover those charges. We were told it would only be returned after 14 days. After we got home, we were then confronted with claims about damage that was already there before we arrived, including burn marks, damage to the leather furniture, and missing toilet flush rings. The deposit they kept has vanished into thin air. Please stay away from this house, beautiful as the property is, unless you’re prepared for another €600.00 in costs. Yours sincerely, Erich B.

The setting is just as beautiful as the villa itself.