We had a wonderful holiday with family at Monte Rotondo, the location of the villa, and the surrounding area is absolutely beautiful. The pool and outside space is lovely, with nice comfy sun loungers, and the view takes your breath away. An umbrella for some shade would have been nice though.
Upon arrival, the villa felt like it hadn't been stayed in for a while - although the bedding/towels were clean, the floors needed sweeping, there were dead flies on windowsills etc. The owner/ management company were very helpful and visited to see if everything was OK, and immediately fixed a problem with one of the toilets. Although a TV and hairdryer are listed as facilities at the villa, they were not there when we arrived, the owner did ensure these were provided a few days later (he let himself in while we were out and left the items for us - leaving the front door wide open when he left......)however, we did have to ask for these items even though they are listed as being provided.
The villa itself is well equipped with a dishwasher, washing machine etc, however we found the villa to be quite basic inside. Although all the bedrooms are en suite the bathrooms can only be described as functional, the shower is just a drain in the floor and the water goes everywhere. The two downstairs bedrooms are quite dingy and smelled musty. The double room had nowhere to hang clothes up either. A lot of the furniture is very basic - in the room my daughter slept in, the bed had had the slats removed and a camp bed placed inside the frame! We just felt that for the cost of the villa, it could have been equipped to a better standard. Having said this, the lounge is a lovely room with a nice veranda.
The town of Castelnuovo do Garfagnana is pretty with a few nice restaurants, however we were under the impression it is walkable from the villa, but it is a long walk down (and back up) a very steep hill to the town. We would have appreciated a bit more info about supermarkets and where to get provisions, the one in town had very random opening times!
We did have a fab time though - having the pool was lovely and the area is stunning - Lucca is a must see.