Masseria Scinarello

We were a group of 10, and the owners were friendly and easy to reach throughout our stay. We felt cared for from beginning to end. The cats greeted us happily each day and seemed sad when we left, which we'll remember fondly. The house exceeded our expectations. It suited a larger group well, with enough private space for everyone and plenty of shared areas. It was fully equipped, especially the kitchen, clean, and well maintained. The Italian-style decor and details fit the old building beautifully. The pool was cleaned and maintained daily. The setting was peaceful and quiet, with easy access to nearby attractions, shops, and restaurants.

The house had serious problems that made it much less comfortable than a vacation rental should be. The room layout was awful: to reach your own room, you had to walk through other people's rooms. I slept on a noisy, uncomfortable sofa bed that cost the same as a room with proper beds, which didn't seem fair to the owner. The shower was another problem. With the water turned up, the head sprayed out beyond the shower and flooded the bathroom. Since the bathrooms were shared, water was left all over the floor. The doors didn't lock and could be opened from outside, so there was no privacy. We'd paid for the property mainly for the pool, but it was unusable on days two and three because the owners hadn't cared for it. Algae turned the water green, which put guests at risk. The offered discount was just 2% of the total paid by 16 people, a paltry amount given the cost per person for one night. If all we were doing was sleeping and cooking, we might as well have stayed home. We also had to bring our own hair dryer, cleaning products, and toilet paper. The owner didn't want to discuss the pool problem. Friends who came two days after us found it in the same state and paid full price. Overall, a terrible stay with rude staff.

Our plan for a different kind of Ferragosto turned into a nightmare. I'm giving one star because zero isn't an option. The rooms and beds were meant for at most 10 people, but we were 16 and the sleeping arrangements were extremely uncomfortable. The rooms had no air conditioning, and some had "refrigerators" without vents for the hot air, so they couldn't be used. There was one TV with only one working channel, Wi-Fi only worked in the kitchen, and phone signal was almost nonexistent. The cats were cute, but full of fleas and stole food or slept on our towels, which felt unhygienic. The water wasn't drinkable, which I find unacceptable these days. The masseria was pretty ordinary. It had solar lights with no switches, and all the lights went out after 1:00 pm, so a night swim wasn't possible. Outlets were installed diagonally and couldn't be used. Every villa door except the entrance was locked and unavailable to us, making the place dark and hot. The induction stove meant we had to use their pans, which weren't a practical size for 16 people. The owner wouldn't listen when we asked for small things like extra beach towels, towels, or toilet paper. She was rude and wouldn't work out a compromise. When we visited a few days before our stay to look at the farmhouse, we were mainly curious about the pool and found it covered. After two days of our stay, it had turned green and was unusable, with algae that could have harmed our health. When we tried to discuss it, she called us rude, even though we were just telling her what had happened and how bad the stay had been. Highly not recommended!!!!

The pool ordeal took over our stay. On August 15th we spent the whole day waiting for the cleaner to purify it, after the water turned cloudy and green from leaks and became unusable. The damage took from the afternoon of the 14th until the evening of the 15th to fix, though we hadn't caused it. We lost a day by the pool, and the owner wouldn't listen to reason. She even invited us to swim, seemingly unaware we could catch diseases. The photos show how it looked on the morning of August 12th, before the nightmare began. We stayed five days, from August 11th to 16th, 2023, and ran into several problems. The owner was rude. She hadn't mentioned a tourist tax, then told us the day before that she needed another €160. Despite all the problems, she wouldn't refund our deposit or offer a reasonable price. The masseria is very old and poorly equipped. There were no electrical outlets, the showers kept getting worse, and hair dryers were missing even though Booking.com said every room had one. The refrigerator was practically at room temperature, the walls were peeling, and there were very few, uncomfortable bathrooms. Though we were told there would be twenty of us, the owner didn't provide enough supplies for a comfortable stay. To reach your room or assigned bathroom, you have to pass through other people's rooms and invade their privacy. Cats kept coming into the masseria and trying to steal food. Many bulbs and other lights were missing, one room smelled of regurgitation when we had just arrived, and the water wasn't drinkable. A terrible, nightmarish experience. The masseria's location was inconvenient too. Highly discouraged.