Villa Carmela

Beautiful location, good facilities, amazing views, that’s where it ends

Toilet seat became loose during our stay and the came off completely, reported this to the building manager. Checkout was via what’s app due to early flight. Told all ok. Got back to the UK. Property owner kept €100 to cover toilet seat, and then claimed we broke a door lock and drove into garage door!! Reported to booking.com who said they would review and if no evidence invoice the property €100 and pay it me. Still haven’t. Ruined our honeymoon experience

Very nice apartment, very clean, wonderful views from the terrace. Sara was really helpful and informative. There were regular buses

The garage was a little small, we only had a small car so it was ok. And little precarious when coming out onto the main road. It was a bit of a distance to walk to a restaurant.

The view was amazing and once we figured out the bus tickets we were good. The bus stop is a 10 minute walk over to the Piccadilly ceramic shop, where the owners and staff are wonderful and helpful. We had coffee/expresso there a few times and purchased some items as well. The bus stop in front of the villa is not being used due to some roadway work being done at the location. Serafina is the owners rep that will meet you and she was like a concierge for us - making dinner reservations and helping out with transportation when needed, she also can arrange outings for you. The grotto Smeraldo is a must see over by the ceramic shop and there is a water taxi to Almalfi right from there as well.

There was an ant problem so make sure you have spray for them- check that you have a full can or more than 1, as they are on the deck area and in the bathrooms. It is mainly because of the grapes/vines that cover the veranda but if they weren't there you would be in direct sunlight all day. The WIFI never worked for us when we were there so be prepared for that. The pool was nice but "closes" at 7pm..... this would've been nicer if it was able to be used after 7pm. There is no place local to buy tickets for the bus so you will have to try online, which we were never successful with, or hope you get a bus driver that carries tickets for your first ride- once you get to your location you can get tickets for all your needs.

The host was amazing!!! Helped us with all our needs, transport, groceries, booking experiences. No questions went unanswered. Super friendly. Must do lemoncello making with dinner.

Nothing.

The view was amazing and having the pool to cool off was necessary. Serafina was very helpful.

Ants are a huge problem here. The bathroom was covered in hundreds of small ants around the toilet and sink. We had to spray to kill them and clean them up every day.

Location was great

No cleaning services 2nd bathroom was way too small

The appartment was spacious and clean, the properly manager was super helpful and assisted us with arrangements of dinners and local tours. We enjoyed spending some time on the balcony with the view on the sea and tiny lizards. The parking was available in the garage. It’s 15 min walk down to the beach, which was mostly used by locals and has good restaurants.

The first day we had no hot water, but the property manager was able to fix it the next morning, however hot water wasn’t running in the kitchen, so doing dishes was a bit difficult. The WiFi didn’t work and the regular phone reception was working well when being outside on the balcony. So if you plan to do some work while staying here, it won’t be possible. If the wifi can’t be fixed because of the location (villa located behind a cliff) I would advise to remove the wifi from the list of facilities.

Spacious accommodation with 3 good sized rooms plus bathroom (no bathtub though). Great view. One bit of advice for anyone staying here - you will need a hire car because the roads are treacherous to walk along. Don't hire a wide vehicle because the roads all along the coast and up to the nice villages are very narrow and twisting. We got away with it by some very careful driving. You are at risk of smashing your wing mirrors and get a hefty penalty or lose your excess unless you hire a small/narrow car!! There is an underground car park tunneled into the cliff; getting in and out of it onto the main road is tricky.

Serafina was good with check-in, although it was over 2 hours later than we had asked. But she dismally failed to get the hot water working for us; luckily the shower had its own hot water. Impossible to do washing up in the sink unless we boiled a kettle. "Hot" water was only ever tepid at best (only seemed to run hot on one solitary occasion in the basin in the bathroom, that's it). We did try running it for several minutes at a time but no success - Serafina agreed no hot water when we showed her. No heating in the apartment (and we did mention this more than once), could be a problem for some. Swimming pool not in use - disappointing in May. If two couples were using this apartment then one would have to walk through the other couple's bedroom to reach the toilet. "Smart" TV couldn't get any channels via netflix etc., which were meant to be functioning; only occasional access to local TV channels and despite us asking Serafina to help us how to use it/fix it, nothing had happened by the final afternoon of our stay, so I gave up told her not to bother! Difficult to recommend this apartment to anyone in its present state/facilities. Were the owners compromising on standards because there were only 2 apartments in use?

Great location with balcony facing the sea. A sea-facing restaurant at a walkable distance. Renting a motorcycle/car is a must. Amalfi is a 15 min ride away, Positano is like a 30 min ride. There is a swimming pool that is open from July to September. A personal lift within the property. Accessible by bus when you get initially to this place. The property manager claims there is a bus stop just below their property but the bus driver doesn't recognise it. Get down and need to walk 5 mins to the property. A nice balcony with tables/chairs to sit out and savour the view. Helpful and informative host.

Hot water does not flow for long - water turns cold half way through the shower. Need to wait really long before the water is hot again. No heater in the lounge and it was really cold during the 2nd week of April.