Villa in San Vito dei Normanni, Provincia di Brindisi, con Piscina esterna privata (non riscaldata) e Balcone o terrazza

What a pleasure to have had this wonderful family as guests at Bombolina. It was wonderful to see how much the grand children enjoyed the poo and the grounds. These guests made full use of all the Villa and the area has to offer, including going to a football match between two national teams in a nearby town. We will check the scheduled matches next year and watch a few ourselves. The wine tasting in the nearby Salento wine region is also a wonderful experience for wine lovers, including a visit to the wine museum. Great guests to end the season with, love to see them back soon

This guest from hell keeps on badgering! Breakages/damages to the villa during their stay were as follows: Front door lock broken, kitchen work surface burnt, broken tap on solar shower, bedroom door kicked in and badly damaged, one of set of matching display plates broken, professional boule set destroyed, 2 large and 2 small solar lights broken, sheets ruined(stained to no return, marking pen used),Air Conditioner condenser packed up, Very dirty (need to replace) cooking pans, Floor tiles underneath BBQ stained, some bath towels ruined as used as pool towels and vice versa against our advice, Broken shower rail, torn beach umbrella, distasteful rubbish left in bedroom, very dirty oven hobs, (both internal and external), and dirty above oven hob, Dirty oven. Had to wipe down a lot of the bedroom walls (never had to do previously), the balls from the “boules” set were used to knock down the cactus fruits, which were then subsequently thrown around the grounds (hence the splinters mentioned in guest write up). Despite all this we returned the measly £150 breakage deposit because, we wanted nothing more to do with this unpleasant guest, the, £150 would not go very far in paying for all the fixes we had to do, and not because of her threatening to write a review. We do not like to retain guests damage deposit so even in this extreme case, have not done so. This guest was also expecting a refund on the holiday rental else they would write a review, as per correspondence below: “Hello Owners As you know from TripAdvisor's communication with you we are disappointed that you have not even offered a small refund as a gesture of goodwill for ruining our holiday and it leaves us no option but to leave our own honest reviews..... and we will continue to take the matter further through an ombudsmen. The Guest “ We will not be making any refund under any circumstances, in fact any mention of funds paid should be the other way around i.e. funds due to us for all the breakages/damages, and for ruining our mood and creating a very bad atmosphere by their most horrific attitude and behaviour. There are no inaccuracies on the website and this is the first complaint we have had from over 50 guests at this property over the last 6 years. Indeed, we have been renting up to 14 properties for over 20 years in 3 countries, and this is one of the worst guests we have had. The “town 5 klms away which is “not worth seeing” as the guests refers to is San Vito Dei Normanni, this guest definitely did not go to the old town, which is typical of small Italian villages with its lovely pedestrian cobbled streets, old churches, cafes bars and restaurants; of course it does not compare to Lecce as Lecce is the Florence of the South, and this was never implied, and we never indicated that the villa was walking distance from the town. This is the first complaint we have had about the town or distance from it. Unhygienic bathroom facilities is a total insult and falsehood, many guests have commented that it is one of the cleanest villas they have stayed at. We steam clean everything after cleaning with bleach and disinfectant. They were sparkling clean when the parents checked in on the Saturday, last of their party arrived the following Friday, with the house already been used by three adults and 4 children, if the bathrooms were unhygienic they made them so. The bed linen is ALL COTTON, the top sheets are Egyptian cotton, the villa was fully equipped with 9 of everything from 3 sizes of cutlery, 3 sizes of plates, 3 sizes of bowls, cooking pots and pans, salad bowls and numerous kitchen gadgets and necessities. There additionally is a separate cutlery tray with an additional set that can be taken to the barbeque area with all the barbeque equipment for convenience. In fact one of our guests last year was a lovely chef from Paris with his party of 8 and he had a great time with us and our cooking facilities… with reference to the gates, they are security gates to lock when you leave the house, it was up to them to the guests to lock them or not, we can only advise, however locking them is for own security. The outside bathroom was never locked and neither the gardener or anyone else uses any part of the Villa including the outside bathroom, they use our apartment bathroom if they need to. The external door to the en-suite bathroom was locked as previous guests found it cumbersome to have more keys and more doors to worry about when leaving the villa or when retiring at night; if this guest wanted it opened all they needed to do was ask (part of the check-in discussion that the guest was on numerous occasions “too busy” to have). The children were not warned by me that they will be banned from the pool, I clearly stated after numerous gentle reminders, that I WOULD CLOSE the pool if they did not stop jumping which I am TOTALLY in my right to do; because we do not want our guests to be injured, nor do we want to have a ripped pool and have to inform our next guests that the Villa they rented with a pool now no longer has one. The children were not constantly monitored by us, we have a life and have no interest in monitoring other peoples’ children, but when we heard constant jumping in the pool, and on not hearing the pool shower come on (i.e. people getting in the pool without showering) then a reminder is necessary. We do not stay three meters from the Villa, our little apartment in more like 12 meters away, and if they heard me in the morning it was because I was • Empting their 5 dustbins, for their convenience, and putting out whatever rubbish was being collected that day. • Keeping the grounds clean for the guests by sweeping the leaves from the grounds etc. • Cleaning the pool and all that was done as quietly and as early as possible before anyone woke up so as not to interfere with their privacy (except for the one Saturday after the storm). The A4 instructions was the only way to communicate with this guest as she refused to have any conversation; and if there was any aggression it was all on this guest and her mother’s side not on ours – please see other guests comments! This guest would not correspond with us. The elderly couple arrived a few days before the rest. We did the check in with the original elderly couple, but don’t think they remembered, we attempted on numerous occasions to go through the “rules” and advice with the owner of the booking herself, but in vain, she was always “busy”. The guests arrived on 3 different dates, and the check-in data was never transferred to the new arrivals. (The only time they corresponded and shouted and were very rude was when there was a problem e.g. that electricity tripped (twice - we suspect due to their faulty portable appliance) or broke air conditioner or got washing machine stuck or got oven clock stuck, we could not reason why as they would not talk. Any issues (and there were many due to improper use) were dealt with speedily, many within minutes – far faster than would be achieved at any other rented villa in Italy. The guests left the night before they were due to leave, probably as they did not want to get up too early the next morning. They also did not notify us that they were leaving until they were in the car outside the property and thus did not go through the normal check-out procedures. No manners or common decency from this party. Due to time constraints and a waste of our valuable time, I am not going to go into it in further detail, but attach correspondence with the guest which covers a number of other salient points. One subject to add here is our pool and the pool rules. The state the pool deck was left in daily was very bad, all deck chairs in disarray, toys, chocolate wrappers ,water bottles and underwear/costumes Floaties were also left in the pool (which can and has previously blocked the skimmer causing the pump to burn), sharp objects at the bottom of the pool (which can rapture our above ground pool), constant jumping into the pool (which is prohibited under manufacturers rule, as it is dangerous to the users, can rupture the pool and can break the skimmer); they were also asked to have a shower before entering the pool at each occasion, which did not happen, and they advised that the children had a shower in the house in the morning; so throughout the day the sweat, dirt and sun cream was being washed off in the pool, requiring us to do extra cleaning of the pool early every morning and before the next guests arrived. One of the children also drew a picture and left this behind clearly showing a boy urinating in the pool and sticking his tongue out. The deck is 10 meters by about 4 meters, which is not small and is actually bigger than the one in the picture as we expanded it this year as we replaced the previous 7X3 meter pool with a new bigger 9.3 X 4.8 meter pool. We are very proud of the service we provide (completely the opposite to what this guest is complaining about ). We advertise this property with TripAdvisor, HomeAway and AIRBNB. We have only had 5 star reviews in 6 years, not even a 4 star, please read all previous reviews on all sites to get an honest view. Below is a copy of our correspondence with this guest in response to the email they sent us before they left, and before we had a chance to check the house and find the other damages: 1. There ARE three bathrooms. The outside bathroom was never locked, I showed it to your parents when I checked them in. Your party of 9 individuals is not the first that we have had as guests in this villa and we have never ever had any complaints. Re the solar shower at the pool, I was not looking to charge you for, as discussed with your brother, although it was working perfectly on your arrival, and was broken during your stay. “your brother said he was there when his son opened it and tried to close it and it would not, so I left it at that and did not argue with him, and paid for the cost of fitting an alternative tap to open and close the shower, rather than replacing it at a cost of 280 Euro”. 2. Kitchen. There is nothing misleading in the write-up or the pictures. The outside hob has three rings, we do not see what is difficult about that and have never had any complaints. The inside oven is a full sized normal oven. It has four rings all functioning, and have just re-checked.. Again we have had no complaints over 6 years about the oven or cooking facilities from any of our guests. We pride ourselves on personal service and being on-hand, If you had any requests, on ringing the bell and asking politely for it and we would have supplied it. We don’t know about a missing plug at the sink, it was and still is by the sink, if asked politely, we would have pointed it out. The small dustbin in the kitchen is for non-recyclable food waste, which is very little. It is only there as a repository while you are preparing the food, then it gets emptied in to the outside Non-recyclable dustbin so the house does not stink and you do not attract insects…. If the toaster and breadbin’s position did not please you, they could have been moved elsewhere. 3. Re ACs not working, this is totally untrue. I cleaned the house and checked all the ACs before your parents checked in, and showed them how to use it and they all worked perfectly. Your mother had pushed too many buttons, and put the AC on heating , as the technician found, and your brothers room, your mother had told him to “crank it up” (in spite of the explicit fact that I had asked them at check in to keep the setting as they were set , i.e. at optimum efficiency), so he put it on 31 degrees; (an AC trying to COOL the room to 31 degrees when it is at 28 degrees….)the condenser then stopped working, i.e. the AC broke. It was August Bank Holiday in Italy and there was no place to get one until they all opened on the Wednesday morning which is when it was fixed. And I have to add here that the way your mother handled this situation with almost violent outbursts and the manner in which I was spoken to and practically demanded I get her a fan, which I did, was very upsetting to say the least. 4. Re Bedding: I had said I would change it on the Monday. You arrived past midnight Friday, I was not able to welcome you, when I attempted to speak to you on the Saturday you snubbed me and said you want to do it later; so I waited for you to call me so I can see if everything is OK, and to actually go through the check in procedures with you as you are the main contact on the booking; Saturday, Sunday, Monday not you nor anybody else contacted me. I am not a servant, I am the owner of this Villa, and you are renting it, and technically, I am not supposed to enter the Villa without your permission, unless it was an emergency, how am I expected to change the sheets if nobody has the decency to speak to me. When you eventually did call me on the Tuesday, you asked for the sheets to be changed, and I did. 5. Pool decking. I have not had any previous complaints about splinters. (splinters and thorns most probably due to the kids playing with the cactus fruit all over the grounds) 6. There is a CO2 detector in the bathroom, where the boiler is, and there is a fire extinguisher in the kitchen next to the hob! 7. Re Breakages.. blue bowl, 2 small and 2 big garden solar lights, Boules, display plate, air conditioner, Solar shower. We do not want any of your deposit and will return in full, but it is the principle of the matter. 8. Re the sending notes and provoking you with my presence! I disagree and resent this statement. I have never sent notes to any previous guests, the guests spoke to me, so there was no need to send notes. We pride ourselves on the service we provide, cleaning the pool and grounds regularly so that it is in prime condition for our guests, thus our continued 5 star rating. You saw me cleaning your pool once, and I admit that was a bit late, it was about 9:30 when I usually do it at 6:30, but that was after the bad storm that we had where all the grounds were flooded, and I was not able to clean the seating areas or the paved areas around the house till that morning as everything only dried then. It took a lot of time to finish the grounds and I did not get to the pool till around 9:00 so rather than leaving it uncleaned for your first day I cleaned it. Other than that you saw me later on that same Saturday morning, for 30 seconds when you very rudely dismissed me, Tuesday morning when you rang for me to ask for the sheets to be changed, Wednesday morning (after I left you a note requesting to have a word with you) you and your mother gave me one minute as you wanted to go shopping and I said fine we can discuss things on your return, which never happened, Thursday morning when you rang for me because the power had tripped so when I was trying to find out why it had tripped you very Rudely said “I do not want a discussion I want it fixed!”…. That is all you saw of me your whole trip, I do not even know what your youngest daughter looks like. As for the workers all around, my handy man came when your mother put the timer on the oven, again pushing too many buttons and he repaired it. Then to check the AC and the pool shower, then to fix the same. I cancelled the gardener for that week, but had him come the following week for two days where he worked in my area. Sorry but a big place like this needs garden maintenance once a week, and all my guests accepted that, and I did discuss it with you, if you were not pleased you should have said something then I would not have had him come the next day to work in my area. I did not provoke you with my presence, I kept out of your way, believe me I did not want to have any altercation with you after the first few experiences… “Constant deluge of instructions”: this was one note re the garbage recycling because I do not want to re-arrange guests garbage when they have banana peels in with the paper etc. was I expected to separate them for you and continue doing it the whole holiday rather than politely revert your attention to it, because otherwise all your rubbish would have gone to non-recyclable, which happened for the first few days before I decided to write you the note. Checkout – we were not notified of when you were checking out, even though I emailed, another example of your party not communicating. This has been a most distasteful ill-mannered pompous rude dirty dysfunctional party to be welcomed into my house as guests, I am flabbergasted! Finally, as a very wise man once said: “People are like garbage trucks, they go around with all their garbage piled up inside of them looking for someone to dump it on, at work at home, friends , neighbours or whoever So be careful that you do not have people dump their garbage on you”.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do the reveiw, we really appreciate it. It was a pleasure having you all stay with us, we hope to see you all again at the Villa; our aim is to give the best personal service to our guests to help make their holiday a memorable one.

We really enjoyed having you all at the Villa and hope you return in the near future. It was a pleasure having you. We are happy to stay on site or in our nearby villa.