La Marchese home | House in Oliveri, Sicily

“Good but definitely not excellent”

“Upon arrival we conducted a full inspection of the apartment with our host, which both he and we recorded. We handed over 200 Euro in cash as a deposit and were given a receipt. Our money was returned in cash at the end of our stay following another inspection at a time we had mutually agreed. We also paid 2 Euro per person per day as a tourist tax. Bed linen for the second room cost us an extra 15 Euro as there was no way to make clear at the point of booking that one male and one female travelling together did not necessarily mean we were a couple! Although booking.com says check-in is from 2pm, our host told us that it is in fact from 3pm. The apartment was clean, well furnished and everything worked. It has a cosy, homely feel to it. There is a good coffee machine and a proper kettle. The hairdryer works well. It has air-conditioning in the living area and the larger of the two bedrooms. There is no washing machine but there are two in a nook underneath the apartment at street level. The apartment has a balcony overlooking the street and is equipped with a hammock for one, a table and chairs and a small barbecue area. The two bedrooms also have a shared balcony where laundry can be hung (and the apartment has pegs). The apartment is in a very convenient location with a panificio a couple of doors down and shops and bars a couple of minutes' walk away. The railway station is an easy 15 minutes on foot, the beach is about 10. We had a very good stay in Oliveri. We found it to be a safe and friendly town. Our host was communicative and did not mind when we sent him a message with a question. Local people were kind and were happy to help with our attempts to speak Italian.”