Il Casale

We were stranded without anywhere else to stay, and the woman was nice, so we went ahead even though they wouldn't show us a room first. We spent one night, and honestly, we don't know how the hotel stays afloat. All the villas around us were empty in the middle of summer, which made us uneasy. The place was clean, but the kitchenette had no utensils, the wifi didn't work, and the AC ran without cooling the two bedrooms, which were too far apart. After two hours it shut off, as if on a timer. It was 40'C that day, and by morning we'd sweated through the night in a little oven. Breakfast was only sweet cakes and runny, salty eggs. We hoped the pool would help, but then found out each chaise lounge cost 3 Euros for a half day. We took a few dips anyway, and tried to leave our villa on time, which they fussed about both that night and the next morning. Then the attendant suddenly told us to go pay at the front desk. At the desk they said checkout was late, though they'd clearly not checked the villa, which we'd left on time. They also tried to charge us for the lounge chairs, but we refused because they had told us to leave early. I wished them luck in the future and hope their next jobs outside hospitality work out better.

Friendly people run the place, and it's very well maintained. Good value for the quality.

The welcome was pretty limited, and breakfast wasn't great. We stayed outside the tourist season, and the rooms smelled strongly musty; the fourth bed was especially messy. Apart from that, they're mini-suites with a kitchen and fireplace.

The pool is the one real positive, with a fantastic, friendly, energetic team running it. The rooms are actually mini-apartments with kitchenettes, but our stay had plenty of downsides. An older gentleman greeted us, and he seemed like he might rather retire than continue working there. The room used the usual card to turn on the electricity, which is fine, but there was an unfriendly sign telling guests not to use cardboard or anything else to keep the AC running. It said the place cools quickly, though our split unit high on the wall by the bedroom door only cooled the small hallway between the bathroom and bedroom. Another sign in the bathroom warned against wasting water, saying the whole facility might run out because of drought. That doesn't feel like eco-friendliness, especially with plastic cups in the bathroom. The mattress was lumpy and crooked, and the TV tiny. Breakfast was so disappointing that we went to the bar on our second morning. The cappuccino was like dirty water, and the plum cakes were so chewy they bent without breaking. The alternatives were toast or a slice of tart left on a small plate. The fruit juice had gone bad and was almost fizzy. There was no choice at all for my lactose-tolerant partner. There's wifi in every room, but no signal outside them, so you feel completely cut off.