Appartamento La Paolina

Getting up to apartment 8 means dealing with a few stairs. Once inside, it's clean, roomy, and welcoming, with modern, tasteful furnishings. It also has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a lovely terrace that's kept in great shape.

Apartment 6 was nice, and the location and view were lovely. But the people managing the apartments made the stay harder than it needed to be. We were asked for a €150 deposit for my brother, though the reservation didn't mention one and the house guide said €50. When we asked about leaving the key in the house, one colleague said that was fine, while another said it wasn't possible. We'd already had a two-hour drive to Piombino, a one-hour ferry ride, then 30 minutes in traffic from Portoferraio to Marciana. We just wanted to get in and relax, but check-in meant going to the management offices in Portoferraio to collect the keys. The email the day before did explain this, but it got lost among messages about tickets and swab tests. It was hard to give them two or three days' notice. After we collected the keys and drove back, they hadn't given us the automatic gate number, so another guest had to help us out. The gate to our apartment was broken, and the previous guests' laundry bag had been left behind. There wasn't any soap or toilet paper, and the bathroom rugs were missing. The place itself is very nice, but the people running it less so.

The view was the best part, along with the neighborhood peacock we kept bumping into. He's harmless, so no need to worry. The apartment wasn't very clean, though: there was mold on all the shower grout, the curtain, and the strip behind the kitchen sink. I also expected towels and bed linen to be provided. The mattress was so worn that I felt curled up like a banana.

The listing doesn't match reality. It's a small basement apartment with a window that won't open and a broken bunk bed. The dirt road leads to a spot 700 meters from the sea, but from there you have to climb about 300 steps to the road and then walk another kilometer to reach the water. The fridge seal is broken, and the TV plug sits leaning against the gas stove.