Villa Effe, Terre Marine

La casa era spaziosa, accogliente e ben pulita. La posizione era ottima per il nostro viaggio, in quanto isolata e tranquilla, ideale per chi cerca privacy e relax.

La piscina era completamente sporca e non veniva pulita, nonostante fosse uno dei motivi principali per cui avevamo scelto questa struttura. Questo ci ha deluso molto.

Das Haus inklusive Grundstück sind wunderschön gelegen auf einem Berg bei Borghetto di Vara. Der Pool ist groß genug, dass die ganze Familie darin zusammen Spaß haben kann und es gibt genügend Sitzmöglichkeiten um auch draußen zu sitzen. Das Haus liegt sehr ruhig, da es nur ein einziges weiteres Haus oben auf diesem Berg gibt, also für Menschen die ihre Ruhe haben wollen, perfekt! Die Kommunikation mit den Gastgebern hat auch immer ohne Probleme funktioniert und bei Fragen oder Problemen wurde meist in kurzer Zeit geantwortet, manchmal aber auch erst am nächsten Tag, das ist aber in ordnung. Insgesamt hatten wir eine wirklich schöne Zeit mit einem nahezu perfekten Ausblick! Lohnenswert ist auch definitiv das Outlet in Brugnato, was nicht weit entfernt ist, mit Kind und Hund war es dort absolut schön, da die meisten Ladenbesitzer kein problem mit Hunden hatten.

Leider gibt es keine Möglichkeit den Müll wegzubringen, was etwas ärgerlich ist, denn weder riecht der Müll gut noch sieht er gut aus wenn man ihn vor die Tür stellen muss. Ein weiterer (kleiner) Minuspunkt ist die Anreise, welche durch den Ort des Hauses massiv erschwert wird, denn die Straße den Berg hinauf hat definitiv schon bessere Tage gesehen. Der weg ist sehr holprig und hat diverse Schlaglöcher, welche bei Dämmerung sehr schlecht erkennbar sind. Wir hätten das Haus ohne Hilfe vom Gastgeber nicht gefunden, daher wäre vielleicht eine noch genauere Beschreibung für zukünftige Gäste hilfreich.

We hebben zeer genoten van 8 dagen verblijf in Villa Effe. We waren met ons gezin met 7 (ouders en kinderen variërend van 8-18 jaar). De locatie is de 1e keer wat lastig te vinden (via een smal weggetje de heuvel op), maar de ligging fantastisch. Heel veel privacy. Twee oude boertjes kwamen 1 keer per dag langs op hun trekker om het land achter het huis te bewerken. Zeer ruim en comfortabel huis met woonkamer met digitale tv (waar je ook je eigen streamingsdiensten op kan bekijken), eetkamer, keuken, 2 ruime slaapkamers en badkamer beneden; boven ook 2 ruime slaapkamers, badkamer, ruimte met de wasmachine en ook nog een ruimte waar een deel van het gezelschap rustig zou kunnen zitten; tenslotte mooie grote tuin, lekker terras met zonnescherm, heerlijk ruim zwembad en tafeltennistafel. Wifi was prima in en rond het huis. Huis heeft geen airco, maar is redelijk koel te houden. Goede bedden. Het meubilair bij het zwembad (2 ligbedjes, lounge set met 2 stoelen en bankje, 2 zitzakken en 2 ligstoelen vonden wij ruim voldoende. Boodschappen halen kan goed om Brugnato (10 minuten rijden). De communicatie op de dag van aankomst en ontvangst door Giovanni was prettig. Hij was gedurende het verblijf ook goed bereikbaar via Whatsapp.

We vonden het een heerlijk huis; z'n geld zeker waard. Wat beter had gekund zijn echt kleine punten / suggesties. 1. De uitleg bij de ontvangst had wat uitgebreider gekund; nu moesten we wel meer navragen of zelf uitzoeken. 2. Koken was wel een beetje een uitdaging, want het eten was met niet echt sterke gaspitten moeilijk aan de kook en gaar te krijgen. Ging wel beter door de oven meer te gebruiken. 3. Het was niet duidelijk waar we het afval kwijt konden laten gedurende ons verblijf.

Locatie was top. Huis staat boven op een berg. Het uitzicht is fantastisch. Rondom allemaal bergen met heel veel groen.

This house is located at a hill, and when you arrive, you’ll notice the surroundings and the view from the hill are definitely stunning. What. A. Beautiful. Place. To spend your holidays. You’ll have A LOT of privacy here. At the same time, it’s pretty close to the highway, which will allow you to visit places like Parma, Genova, La Spezia, Portofino, Cinque Terre and Lerici. The house itself is great, with 4 bed rooms and 2 bath rooms. It is stylishly decorated. The kitchen has everything you’ll need, including a fridge, freezer and dish washer. The TV comes with Netflix. There are only some Italian books to read, but no games. There is no air conditioning, but we didn’t need that during our stay. There’s a fan in every bed room, which did the trick during the few nights that we’re pretty hot. Each room and the door to the terrace is equipped with mosquito nets, which is great! This will make it possible to open the doors and windows, for example in the evening, when the outside temperature is decreasing. Outside, you’ll find a large parking spot for your car(s), a nice place to have breakfast, a very nice swimming pool, a table for table tennis and a climbing frame for your kids (which we didn’t use). There’s a very large and steady parasol/umbrella, to create some more shadow next to the pool. There’s a lot of (green) grass and you’ll find some roses in the garden as well. A representative of the rental company – Terre Marine – welcomed us at the house when we arrived and explained everything in good English. After that, we’ve been in touch with them a few times, especially since it turned out that (temporarily?) garbage/rubbish didn’t get collected. They offered us to pick up the garbage/rubbish and to deliver clean sheets and towels. I definitely felt like Terre Marine has done their best to make sure we had a great time at Villa Effe. Communication overall was pretty good and responsive as well.

There are a few downsides to the location. First of all, the road up to the hill is very small and meandering, especially the last 500 metres. Since we’re used to booking holiday houses in the hills, far away from mass tourism, this wasn’t a problem for us, but could be for anybody else. A second downside of the location could be that if you want to go somewhere, you will almost always make use of toll roads. So almost every trip will cost extra money. Then the house. It’s not the cleanest house we’ve ever seen, but hey; you can’t have it all. Remarkable was, that almost every night, we found at least one grasshopper within the house. We caught them and released them outside. Not a big deal, but I think I should mention it. The swimming pool is something you have to clean yourself, but hey; not a problem, since everything is available there. The biggest downside? The WiFi connection for internet is VERY unstable. If you’re from outside of Italy and you don’t have unlimited internet access within your mobile subscription, you will find yourself having to make extra costs for internet. In the end, it has cost me 40 euro’s more with my telephone provider… You have to understand that we have 2 daughters – aged 11 and 15 (the oldest one celebrated her birthday in Parma during our stay; Sweet Sixteen!) – and for kids this age, WiFi/Internet is a lifeline. They can’t live without it 😉 (and yes, they do read books as well 😉). The available garden furniture is lacking a bit, since there are no pillows available AT ALL. None. Nothing. Zero. Not for the chairs, not for the sunbeds. The second thing is: there are only 2 sunbeds available. That’s too little when you stay with 4 people, but it’s even far too little for a house with 4 bed rooms! We stayed at Villa Effe for two weeks – from Saturday to Saturday – and they only replaced sheets and towels on Wednesday of the second week, which is a bit late, but hey; this wasn’t a problem for us.