Villa Elia - Parabita, Provincia di Lecce

Giovanni Inguscio

Magica

M. Marzulla

This is a hard place to review. On the one hand, the location is gorgeous, and some of the staff, specifically Rowan, were great. On the other hand, there are a couple of things you need to consider before you book this place. Pros/Cons:

Pros:
1. Gorgeous property with many friendly animals and fruit trees to forage.

2. Pool, Turkish Bath, and Pizza Oven were awesome.

3. Close to some small towns with nice cafes and bars. Gallipoli is a cool city.

4. Plenty of bedrooms

Cons:
1. Remote and hard to get to. Not just distance from the airports, the small roads leading to the villa can be precarious, especially if another car happens to be going in the opposite direction.

2. Our bedroom was open to the elements due to having a door that leads outside. There was about an inch of space beneath the door, allowing for all sorts of insects in our room and bed. The first night, we found several spiders on our bed, which made for an uncomfortable sleeping situation the entire week. We couldn't move rooms due to the number of people in our group.

3. The bathroom also had spiders and other insects in the shower and by toilet. Once again, it's not a comfortable situation for an entire week.

4. Our last morning was not good. It was clear they wanted us out, even though we left a few hours before the checkout time. Gardeners were using the mowers at 6 AM, and random cleaning staff milled around the property while we were getting ready. The worst part, however, was the key fob situation. The gate closed on us while trying to leave for the airport. Someone was supposed to watch us and make sure we got out okay before closing the gate. They did not. We sprinted back down the driveway to try and get it open again with a key fob, but no one answered the door despite the number of staff onsite. I had to run around to the back door and grab one. I got it open, but it started closing again before I could get back to our car after putting the fob back. Eventually, I just left the fob outside by gate because it kept closing on me.

5. Finally, it was hard for some of our party members that had physical disabilities to navigate the property itself. The floors, short doorways and stairs can be precarious for some.

The service failures, insects, and remote location really soured our experience here. That is not to say others would not enjoy the experience, which is why I am giving a 4. Others may have a better experience, but I hope my (long) review gives some perspective on what to expect when booking this place.

Imi

The villa os nice to stay at, has many facilties and many rooms.
Hard to move around from the villa if you don't have a car. Cleaning service could be better, slept with 5 dead flies all over my room for a week but nobody bothered to do anything about it.

Jem

Nicola Vitale

Jai Clarke-Binns

Leonardo Campeggio

Luigi Zezza