Green House

We stayed at Viviana'a apartment for nine nights and because we are full-time travelers with senior dogs, we tend to spend more time in the rental units than those on holiday. The apartment has been beautifully restored by Viviana, combining historic architectural details with modern decor. The apartment was exceptionally clean with the furniture and all items...kitchen, laundry, furnishings...in very good condition. The furniture, especially the bed, was very comfortable. Parking is in the courtyard which extends to the side of the building, having an enclosed parking area was one feature that drew us to the apartment. Viviana is incredibly welcoming, she provided recommendations for restaurants and outdoor activities and even bought a vegan treat for our dog with food allergies. We enjoyed talking to her and learning about the building (a former hotel) and the plans for its future. At the moment, the rental and Viviana's apartments are the only residences on-site which meant it was quiet and our sun-worshiping dog could lie on the steps or meander around the courtyard without fear of traffic. The apartment does face the busier street and you can hear cars but as with any new noise, it fades into the background quickly. We have an extremely noise-sensitive dog and she settled within a day. The apartment has large windows to provide a lot of light, they do not get direct sunlight which was disappointing for our dogs but should be perfect in warmer months to keep the apartment cool. We liked the location, it was a quick walk to Ortigia and the grocery store and perfect for walking our dogs. The streets are in a grid so it's easy to get a good walk in without going too far, sidewalks to not worry about traffic, and with many other dogs in the neighborhood, tons of places to sniff.

We thought the TV was too small for the distance from the couch. There is a rental fee for the sheets, it is fully disclosed, but I have never been a fan of the practice. In my view, linens are essentials and should be included in the nightly fee. The only item that impacted us was when we needed the wifi reset, the router is not in the apartment and so we needed to wait until Viviana was home. To be clear, there were no issues with the wifi, with any wifi performance wanes once in a while and the solution is a reset. Viviana responded to us immediately and reset the router as soon as she arrived home - we are appreciative of how quickly she responded. It is only because resets are a common solution for wifi issues, in our view, having access to the router is preferable.

A lot of space, great kitchen, great style.