Villa Da Vinci

There’s no atmosphere here, and the owner isn’t around. The owner is nice, but the service feels hit or miss: the place hasn’t been cleaned or updated in a long time, and the photos seem old. The shower looks like it’s from 2010. The veranda is dirty, and getting to the sea means going down stairs. The router and clocks don’t work, and some of the lights are out. Make up your own mind, but even our stay wasn’t that bad.

The room is spacious, there’s a kitchen, and outside you’ve got tables, a barbecue, and parking. The sea is nearby, with some of Odessa’s best beaches close by. In summer it probably feels like paradise. But a few hours before arrival, they called and kept pressing us to pay in advance. The place was wonderful about 15 years ago, but now it feels like a nightmare. Everything is old and worn. We were too uneasy and cold to shower. On the second day the radiators went cold, and when we asked, they said, “Why heat it? It’s 11 degrees outside.” The internet kept dropping out, there was a sewage smell, and the washing machine seemed a hundred years old. For this kind of money, the appliances could be replaced. It may have been fine years ago, but not now.

The place looks lovely in the photos, but those pictures are three years old. Inside the room and around the grounds, there was dirt and grime everywhere; anything you touched felt dirty. The bed was smelly and torn, the microwave didn’t work, and the owner was cold when we asked about replacing it or fixing the problem. The apartments were cluttered, and the same neglect showed in everything there. We were told there was indoor parking on the property, but our car had to stay on the roadway where reckless people drive. There’s only one key, so everyone has to come and go together. There’s no generator, which means sitting in the dark when the power is cut. We also had to carry our rubbish to the neighbors ourselves. The owner wouldn’t handle it and even threatened us. It felt like getting the money was all that mattered, and after that no one called. If you want your holiday spoiled, come here.

We booked the whole villa for our wedding guests, and they celebrated their second wedding day there too. Everyone really enjoyed the cozy courtyard and all the different places to sit. The hosts were warm and easy to talk to, and the sea is close enough that going for walks there is a pleasure. Renting the entire villa works perfectly for a big, lively group.