We have really struggled over whether to write something. We have all been to restaurants where the food was a bit hit and miss, but the people were lovely – so rather than write a rather negative review, you just don’t. We have stayed in AirBNB places that – on paper – were divine, but turned out to be absolutely grim. But the owners were wonderful, and inexperienced. Again, you just don’t say anything, to give them a chance. So what do you do when you have a bad experience in a beautiful place? If you can’t write a kind review, is it better to say nothing? On this occasion, for the first time, after much heartsearching, we can’t stay schtum. It simply wouldn’t be fair to future clients. Just to put this in context, I am anything but a cleanliness fiend. In my view, a dirty, messy house is a lived-in, happy house. And we certainly accept our “fault” – we made a mistake and certainly ought to have read between the lines of previous reviews before we booked. So we will try to be objective, and try to see this from the owner’s point of view… They are a very small family, living in Italy, staying for two weeks. The mother seems OK – we’ve chatted quite a lot. Then the trouble starts. Since I live an hour away, when these clients call to say the loo seat is not fixed properly, my handyman went quickly to fix it and another small problem that they hadn’t mentioned. He didn’t stay for lunch, although they offered. Then a WhatsApp message at one o’clock in the morning saying it sounded as though someone was trying to break in. A reply could have been left until the morning, but I answered straightaway to reassure them. A couple of days later, a message that the washing machine wasn’t working. They’d been trying to sort it out for two days, cleaning the filter and whatever else. 48 hours later, my handyman reported that it seemed dead. Well, only a few days to go. They will manage. What’s a week without a washing machine when you are on holiday? They’ve gone. The house is clean. The beds stripped, towels and bedlinen washed (until the washing machine died, I suppose). The bathrooms are now spotless. On that note, a filter ought to be fitted on the swimming pool to clear away the accumulation of dead insects at the bottom, but that can wait. And the kitchen is cleaner than it has been in years – positively sparkling. That’s a good couple of days’ work. There is now space for guests to put their things – gone are old bottles and packets and spices dating back to 2012. They’ve even written me a thankyou note. But look at the doormat! Admittedly it’s years old, and it is now white and green, rather than grey. But it’s falling apart! What has she done? I bet she put it in the washing machine and that’s why it died. If you were the owner, what would you do at this stage? Would you just be glad that the washing machine was sorted and the house was so clean and tidy? Or would you phone them straightaway? We were chuffed – she was probably calling to thank us for all the cleaning. But no. She would not accept that we hadn’t washed that disgusting doormat in the washing machine. She even sent a photo of the “evidence”. What were we thinking of in washing it? It is “not as if we had to eat off it”. We offered to pay the technician, but the offer was batted away in the constant assertions that it was our fault, even though the washing machine was now working fine. It transpired that one of us had – after all – put that stupid, disgusting doormat in to “spin”, as the handwashing had left it soaking and weighing a ton. But we remembered that too late to apologise, after we had blocked the owner on our phones to avoid any more nastiness. I am sorry about the doormat. We would have replaced it and paid for the technician, who was probably actually the lovely DIY man. But we will certainly never stay here again. There are other issues I would like to warn people about, but my husband – probably quite rightly – says enough is enough. The house is beautiful, the setting divine. Let’s remember that. The owner will probably reply to this review, and be understandably defensive (perhaps we did other things wrong – who knows?). But we will not read the reply. We want to forget the nastiness and remember the beautiful setting.

Enjoyable stay in a typical Italian farmhouse / villa perched in the hills outside of Rocca Sinibalda. Quite and peaceful location. Nice pool although it is about 100yards from the property....but that does afford the best views. Lovely outside terrace areas. The property isn't modern if you like that sort of thing, but it has what you need and a lot of rustic charm. 4th bedroom is actaully accessed separately.

This villa has everything required for a great family holiday. It accommodated 6 adults without difficulty and there was plenty of comfortable space inside and out: the various terraces by the house and pool offered wonderful views in various directions. Preparing meals for 6 people presented no problem whether using the kitchen or barbecue. The insectproof meshes on all the openable doors and windows were a particularly impressive and welcome feature, and we were also able to keep the interior pleasantly cool against the July heat. The pool was lovely and gratifyingly free of chemicals. Excellent wifi. Rieti and the Lago di Turano were both a short drive away and we easily managed a day trip to Tivoli.

This villa is one of the nicest we have rented over the years in this price bracket. It is spacious, well appointed, clean, comfortable and set in some lovely countryside. The furniture is of a good quality and it is clearly more than just a holiday home. There are some great terraced areas where you can sit with a coffee, beer or wine (depending on time of day and position of the sun) where you can take in the views. The pool area is set in an olive grove some 50 m or so from the house. There are some good quality sun loungers and a shaded area if it gets too hot. We made use of the barbeque and had a visit by a herd (not sure of he collective noun) of wild boar. The house was great and the only minor concern would be the stairs from the kitchen to the upper areas which may be an issue for smaller children or those with an infirmity. The house is in a very rural location. There are plenty of smaller shops and basic amenities on which you could survive within a couple miles, but you need a car. That said it is only 15 minutes to Rieti and an hour and 15 to the centre of Rome. There are plenty of suggestions in the visitor book and pamphlets about the surrounding area. Finally we were met by the owner Carla who speaks much better English than I do Italian. She was a great host and had lots of useful tips. She was a pleasure to deal with on arrival and through the booking process.

The previous positive reviews are accurate and we were not disappointed with this property. A comfortable and well equipped house, with three large bedrooms and two bathrooms. Well designed to be cool inside, while offering three separate terraces (plus a huge garden) from which to enjoy the sun and views at different times of the day. It was hot while we were there, but being up the hills means that there's a pleasant breeze to take the edge off the hottest weather. The swimming pool is lovely, with good quality furniture and a convenient shaded seating area. Wifi in the property is excellent, and it's a great place to completely unwind safe in the knowledge the internet is on hand if required! Rocco Sinibalda is just a short drive away and has the basic shops, bars and restaurant - it is a pretty little place with an extremely beautiful castle perched on the top of a hill. Rome is approx 1 hr 15 mins in the car (right to the centre) and we visited several times. Owner Carla is very helpful and friendly, and previous visitors had left useful information, which we added to, about local attractions and places to eat.

The villa is beautiful and full of character, the garden (it's huge, not your average garden!) has plenty of room to roam or sit, with shade and sun at all times of day. We spent most of our time by the pool, cooking in the rustic and very well equipped kitchen or bbqing with food bought in the local butcher or in one of the supermarkets in rieti. Carla is very nice, and was patient even with our long delay from Rome. We would recommend the villa to families, couples or friends. We would echo a previous guest who mentioned that it might not be suitable for toddlers as there are a lot of stairs.

I travelled to Italy with my partner, my brother and my 9 year old son. We are all in agreement that Casa Del Mandorlo was perfect! The villa was even better than we expected! It had everything we could ask for and more to make our stay comfortable. Carla had thought of everything! The villa is situated on the top of a hill, with the most beautiful views across the hills from which every terrace we were relaxing on! Lovely to watch the sunrise from behind the hills in the morning. When we were not relaxing by the pool or sipping a glass of wine on the terrace we enjoyed exploring the local area. There are lots of pretty towns and villages nearby and Rome is about an hour away. A must visit is the Cascada del Marmore Waterfall (about 1hour 30 mins) definitely worth the drive, it is amazing! We would not hesitate to recommend this property! You won't be disappointed!!

The house is just fantastic. Set in picturesque grounds (calling it a garden does not do it justice) containing fig trees, mature oaks, wisteria, flowering shrubs and colourful pot plants.Whether you are up by the pool or relaxing on the large terrace the views are just lovely. The scenery around the lake is eye wateringly beautiful and when you first see the castle at Rocca Sinibolda you won't be able resist visiting it. There are plenty of good value places to eat authentic Italian food and the locals are friendly and welcoming. There's a new barbecue area and cooking in the kitchen is fun. The owner Carla was so helpful and made us feel at home. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's a beautiful house in a beautiful part of Italy.

We spent a lovely holiday at an absolutely beautiful, spacious house, which is set in the middle of really well kept and large grounds! We got to see stunning sunsets in the beautiful mountain enclosed panorama and enjoyed the lovely area around the swimming pool. As has already been mentioned by other reviewers before, the photos don't do the property justice - the place is much more impressive in nature than on the pictures and furthermore immaculately kept, elegantly furnished and really well equipped! The owner, Carla, was tremendously welcoming and made us feel really at home, leaving us with excellent tips where to go for gorgeous local food. Thank you for pointing out Elena's place to us - we loved it!

Had a brilliant week staying here with our teenage son. The house is spacious and very elegant. The grounds are large and have several sitting areas in and out of the sun. The pool is excellent too with loungers and a lovely sitting area. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here in this very classy house. We never seen so many butterflies in one garden (albeit a very large one). The house is in the countryside and is very quiet in the evenings. There are restaurants nearby and Rome is easily accessible by car or train. The local area is nice too with the villages and the lakes to visit. We had a very memorable stay and enjoyed meeting Carla and her dog Rouge who had come to meet us on arrival. Thank you once again Carla for having us. You have a very special house. We will need to do this again. Kindest Regards, George Elizabeth and Neil