10/10 Excellent
John P., VALLEY VILLAGE
6 Oct 2022
Liked: Cleanliness
Like Staying at Your Own Private 5-Star Hotel!
We rented this property for 2 weeks, and hosted 22 friends and family in this 7-bedroom gem of a property. Located amidst olive groves and small villages, Villa Ambienta is truly a standout property. Our guests were amazed and felt pampered and relaxed. The location is perfect, right in the middle of the southern end of the Istrian Peninsula' basically, you can drive for 15 or 20 minutes to the east, west or south, and you are at the Adriatic. Head north and you are very quickly into Istrian wine country, Trieste, truffle hunting and other tourist destinations.
But for a lot of us, we just wanted to hang out at this amazing property and enjoy the relaxation. We had several great cooks with us, so going to the markets, prepping and cooking, and enjoying an evening meal in the spectacular lower-level dining room (seats 16) with its own kitchen and indoor charcoal grill. We also hosted two chef-made dinners for each of our two groups with a private chef that Mario hooked us up with. The room is spectacular when you collapse all the glass windows and open the room to the outside evening air.
The chef in turn hooked us up with deliveries of lots of great local cheeses, winery recommendations, cured meats, etc., as well as a masseuse who came and set up in the sauna area for those of us who needed some further relaxation.
Mario was also extremely flexible with us. We originally rented this property in 2019 for a September 2020 arrival. When Covid made 2020 impossible, Mario rolled our deposit and dates to 2021, and when 2021 was no better for Covid travel, he just moved them to 2022 and we finally felt that the world was safe enough to pull this off. We were met at the property by Mario's mother, Branka, who showed us all around and gave us all the information we needed. When we had minor issues that needed to be addressed, she was able to have the caretaker come by and all was well. Housecleaners were also very nice, coming on Wednesdays to change out towels, and on Saturdays to clean the house and change bed linens.
Can't say enough about this property. The house is not cheap, but if you have a large party (we had 13 per week, and the house will easily sleep 16, the per person/per night cost of having that many people stay with you in such elegant surroundings is far less than what you would spend to put the same number up in hotels.
John P.
Stayed 15 nights in Sep 2022