Villa La Ventana

June 2023 We were a group of 20, 10 couples, all from the USA. My partner and I were the coordinators of the trip and arranged all of the bookings, accommodations, transportation, side trips and meal plans with the input and approval of the group. We collected all of the money ahead of time that needed to be paid to the villa, transportation, guides, and meals that we had arranged for. We are not travel agents, we have a passion for travel and the research that goes into pulling it all off - thank goodness for a spreadsheet! Booking the villa for all 10 rooms for the week we wanted was very easy to do over email. We had a prior contact in Sorrento with the uncle of the owners of the villa so that helped. The villa only has 10 rooms so we knew the villa would be ours for the week we were there (June 10th - 17th, 2023). We booked the villa about 12 months in advance. The villa also had all ensuite rooms, which again made it all that much easier to choose this villa over others. Angelo, Guitano, and Danilio, were our gracious hosts and insured that we enjoyed our stay from start to finish. The villa is beautifully perched on the hillside and overlooks the bay of Amalfi below and the town of Praiano and to the far left you can see the bay of Sorrento in front of the town, such gorgeous views. The villa is clean, the beds were fine, AC worked better than anticipated, and breakfast was what we expected. We used the pool and the jacuzzi and laid out in the sun and just loved it all. The grounds were well maintained and they had lovely gardens to take in. Adjacent to the pool and jacuzzi area was an outdoor pavilion with a ping pong table and a big table to hold dinners at. Two of the seven nights we were there, we arranged to have a sit down meal which we planned for the first night of our arrival and on the last night as our going away party. The cost was agreed to prior to arriving. The dinners were well received and the brothers did a great job along with Mamma, we had a great time! Breakfast consisted of yogurt, rolls, sweet breads, tarts and cereals, coffee, milk and a couple of juices. We were offered omelets to anyone that wanted one for a small extra charge, we also asked that there be some fruit on the buffet, which they quickly obliged us with the next morning consisting of bananas, oranges, peaches, and other seasonal fruit. Coffee service was handled on an individual basis by Danilio each day and he did a great job keeping up with our list of coffee and tea requests. The only cons to the entire villa experience were the extras we didn't know about up front. If you wanted a change of bath towels it was 5 euros, pool towels were 5 euros, an extra roll of toilet paper was 5 euros, everything extra was basically 5 euros. I would suggest that they reconsider their extra fees and roll it into the cost of the room rate and get rid of the extra costs altogether or state over and above a daily allowance. I will say they waived the cost of a change of bath towels for all 10 rooms because one day we had no hot water, which was not their fault and they quickly resolved the problem. The problem with the bath towels is that they would not dry fully with the humid weather and there was no ac in the bathrooms so you would need to bring your bath towel out into the bedroom to get it to dry. In the end, we felt a little taken advantage of with all of the little extras they charged or wanted to charge us for but overall the villa was perfect for what we needed it for. The brothers were very accommodating and worked extra hard to make our time at the villa enjoyable. We very much so appreciated everything they did for us. One other thing to note if you are planning to come to this villa, the villa is in a town located about 20-25 minutes outside of Sorrento. You cannot walk into town, it's not possible with the twisting and winding roads, so you need to arrange transportation ahead of time to get into town or wherever you are going, so have a plan so taxis are called and waiting for you for when you need them. We worked out all of our transportation with the villa and their uncle and it all worked out great. There is no need to arrange for a taxi to get back to the villa from downtown Sorrento, just go to the taxi stand in the middle of town and grab a taxi, just negotiate the rate before you get in so you aren't surprised when you get the to the villa. Taxis did cost about 80-90 euros each way for a van of 6-8 people, so factor the cost of transportation into your budget and overall costs. Lastly to note, the villa does have a steep driveway of about 50-60 feet that you have to walk up to get to the secure gate above. Even the taxis would only drop you off at the bottom and say it was not possible for them to go up the driveway as the taxi would get damaged which makes it difficult for people with disabilities or anyone that might have trouble with steep inclines. The location and views is why you are choosing this villa, not that it's centrally located. You will have a hard time finding a villa in Sorrento that accommodates a large group and 10 bedrooms that are all ensuite, at least we did not find one. It was a great value per person for the week compared to the other bids we found. Thank you to Uncle Sal, the three nephews, and Mamma for making such a wonderful experience for us. We hope to see you again soon!