Our group of 15 friends stayed at this property for a week, and came away with mixed feelings about it. While the property is unquestionably beautiful and more than sufficient to accommodate a large group like ours or even larger, it disappointed us in several significant respects. This property is that it is NOT a residence, it is a hotel. Indeed, when you approach the property you will not see the name “Villa Delizia” anywhere on the property. Instead, you’ll see a sign for “Relais Vittoria”, which is the name that the hotel previously used.
Because it was built as a hotel, there is no “family room” or other space in the property for friends and family to gather. The photo on the listing of couches in front of a fireplace with a TV over it does not exist.
This is purely a commercial kitchen, and there is no space for family to gather and chat while meals are being prepared. There is no countertop for family or kids to sit at while the others are cooking, or anything of the like. There aren’t even any windows.
Likewise, because this property is a hotel, every bedroom door has a lock on it, and you’ll need to take your room key with you each time you leave, or you will be locked out of your room. Just like a hotel.
Staff arrives everyday around 7am, and several times I was faced with strangers when I went down to get a cup of coffee at 7:30am. Most mornings, there were at least two – sometimes more – people in all areas of the property. One afternoon staff was there late in the afternoon. They were cleaning, doing maintenance, and other tasks that are required to maintain such a large property. Not what we expected at all.
The unique electricty charges were disclosed at the booking, so we knew that we needed to conserve to ensure that our overage charges were held to a minimum. But we were surprised is to see that the staff’s electricity usage is also counted against the allotment the guests receive. So when the staff are doing their chores, their electricity is charged to the guests. Indeed, although we were locked out of one of the industrial fridges in the kitchen, we paid for the electricity to run it all week for staff use.
In summary, while this property is absolutely gorgeous, it is NOT a residence. Had we known that going in, none of this would have been an issue. But when a property is listed as a “private” villa on a site like “HOMEaway.com”, our expectation was that we would be staying in a residence, not a hotel
