Reviews

Olive House

Olive House is a beautifully appointed two bedroom house and is one of two rental properties on an estate set into the hills outside Montone, Italy. Olive House is spacious, comfortable and well designed. It has its own swimming pool, television and computer. The owners, Julie and Carlo are hospitable, friendly and very helpful. They stocked the kitchen with ample supplies and had us to dinner our first night, making us feel so very welcome. During our week’s stay, they were discrete, yet available in the event we needed anything. We look forward to our return visit!

Carol Leventhal (Siver Spring, Maryland, US)Clleven@starpower.net

Carlo & Julie were the perfect hosts. They were attentive and eager to please. The accommodation is spacious, stylishly decorated and easy to relax in. Whether sitting around the pools, on the patio or in the barbecue area the views are stunning, especially when sipping some of the locally produced wines. Our children roamed freely on the site and enjoyed the games room, quad bikes, horse riding and the pinball machine very much. It was great to get a sun tan without getting sand in my toes and being able to relax when necessary in our apartment. When the sun goes down the stars come out and maybe I am wrong, but there seemed to be more and they shined brighter. Our trips to Montone and Umbertide were memorable, especially when Sophie, my daughter, bought a D&G belt ç 30% discount. The Montone festival was fun and the costumes were excellent. Sitting in Umbertide eating “la porchetta” was a real treat especially as I washed it down with a Peroni beer. Excellent!

All in all it was an excellent holiday with our hosts working really hard to make it so. I can’t wait to go back.

Trevor Cridland (Cranham, Essex, UK) Trevor-cridland@zieglergroup.com

Lavender House

Three couples of us rented this villa Oct. 10-17 2004. We had such a wonderful time. Julie and Carlo Narten (the owners) had stocked our kitchen with enough food to get us through comfortably until we could unwind and go grocery shopping. They also had us for cocktails and dinner the first evening and gave us great information on sightseeing and restaurants. It was just a beautiful setting with great day trips nearby and lovely restaurants. We visited Perugia, Gubbio, Assisi, Florence and many others including the jewel-like walled village of Montone which is only a few miles away. There is a fabulous and elegant restaurant in this little village. The villa itself is spacious and comfortable. We had a roaring fire every evening complete with Stella (the dog) curled up in front. For those who visit in the summer, there is a beautiful pool and pool house with grilling facilities which we did use one evening. Julie has horses to ride and the Nartens were great about booking reservations for us in various restaurants. Please feel free to e-mail me for further information about the stay. We all loved it.

Sincerely, Janice Berkley

Janice Berkley (Lynchburg, VA, USA) jberkley9@aol.com

This is the perfect place for a relaxing holiday. I could not fault Lavender House, the pool or the welcome we received from the owners on our first night. Our family felt like royalty for two weeks. The property is secluded enough from the other houses so we did not lose our privacy. The Umbrian countryside was stunning and the nearby towns were beautiful. There was no shortage of decent restaurants and shopping for food was simple in Umbertide. We would definitely come again.

Kathryn Everitt (London, England) kathryneveritt@aol.com