If you have gone on holiday with us and would like to give us some feedback, please do send us an e-mail at info@italian-islands.com or call us on 0845 0944 309.

Here are some testimonials from our recent customers:-

Hi Shirah,

We got home safely yesterday. Thank you very much for everything. The house was very nice and clean, and Giovanni was extremely welcoming and attentive, with a great smile. He declined the deposit. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very great, mostly wet, windy and quite cool, around 14 degrees C, but we can't blame you for that! We asked Giovanni for extra blankets as we were cold at night, and he brought them within half an hour! We should probably have used the coal fire in the lounge, but couldn't be bothered with the hassle. The pool looked beautiful and was very clean, but I'm afraid we weren't brave enough to use it given the weather.

We had one day of good fairly sunny weather, about 20 degrees, when we went down to Agrigento and the valley of temples, stopping at Monte Calogero (fantastic views although the therme wasn't open until the afternoon) and Eraclea Minoa where the beach was breathtakingly beautiful. The last day was actually the warmest (23 degrees) but windy, overcast and misty, however Ruth and I did go swimming off the beach at the nature reserve. There was a body board at the house which was fun to use for surfing. The Selinus ruins are very impressive, as was the valley of the temples. The country and coast are spectacularly beautiful, and overall we had a really good and relaxing time. We ate out all lunches and dinners - the food was excellent everywhere.

When you speak to Giovanni, you might to mention I think I accidentally left a bar of chocolate in one of the kitchen drawers that he might like! Thanks again,

Hillary

The Taunton family stayed at Casa Giuseppina, Marinella di Selinunte, Sicily in October 2007

Thank you Italian Islands for a wonderful holiday. You were so helpful right from the time we enquired about Villa al Mare to our departure. We went as a family and thoroughly enjoyed our daily walks across the road to the beautiful sea and sandy beach.

The Milne, Elford and Clark families

The above families stayed at Villa al Mare, San Vito Lo Capo, Sicily in September 2007

San Vito Lo Capo was easy to find and a drive of less than an hour and a half from the airport. It has a very picturesque waterfront with fine sandy beach and turquoise warm waters. Within a stones throw from the beach there are lots of lovely restaurants, one of which we thoroughly recommend called La Gna Sara just off the main street. Be patient if you have to wait as it's well worth it, and if you like seafood, go for the Fish Soup, but book a day in advance. Fantastic. Another great restaurant can be found at the Hotel Capo San Vito. If you eat here try the Aubergine Pie (no pastry). You won't be disappointed.

From our accommodation at Casa Faro it was just a couple of minutes stroll to the beach. Even closer was the harbour for those boat trips. We were disappointed however that the Hydrofoil mentioned on the Italian Islands web site and literature received when the holiday was booked wasn't running as 2 people in our party were looking forward to trips to Palermo and other stops along the coast.

The accommodation 'Casa Faro' was lovely. It was easy to find, clean and very comfortable. Mariella was charming and on hand if we needed her for anything.

Two of the three bedrooms had air conditioning, which was a must due to the very warm weather we had while we were there. Beds were comfortable; kitchen was fairly well equipped but could have done with a few more smaller cups and glass tumblers. The espresso coffee maker was a nice touch.

Outside there was a nice eating area with BBQ that we made good use of. The veranda at the front was great place to sit out and watch the world go by while drinking a good bottle of Sicilian wine.

A few negative points - Mariella turned up at 9.10am on our last day waiting for us to vacate the property so she could clean ready for her next guests but was kind enough though to let us park our car until mid afternoon so we could spend most of the day on the beach. One other thing, we needed to buy mosquito plugs as none were provided.

All in all we would thoroughly recommend San Vito Lo Capo and Casa Faro. Great location, lovely accommodation, turquoise sea, golden sand and great food.

Rob and Anne

Rob, Anne and family stayed at Casa Faro, San Vito Lo Capo, Sicily in September 2007

Hi Shirah

Yes thanks we had a super holiday. The Villa was perfect, the position the same, no driving to Restaurants in the evening!!

Lucciano was a star, we didn't get there till about 10.30 and he managed to find a restaurant at 11.30!! He took us on a couple of 'find the beaches' trips, well beyond the call of duty and gave us a couple of 2 litre bottles of wine. I would not hesitate to recommend the Villa Acquamarina to anyone.

I would also like to compliment you guys for the wealth of info in your pack, the best I've ever seen in over 30 years of self catering holidays.

Regards
Chris

The Arbenz family stayed at Villa Acquamarina, Calasetta, Sant'Antioco island (Sardinia) in August 2007.

Hi Shirah!

The Gazebo was a really beautiful place, with in particular an extremely nice bedroom and bathroom. It was very useful and comfortable the gazebo outside and the barbecue, which we really enjoyed. Also it has a great location, and it's very romantic, very chic! Unfortunately we did have some problems with the electricity, which was a little inconvenient but Salvatore tried to do his best every time we called them. Anyway, we liked the place; Lampedusa has a sea like at the Maldives! And we would be happy to go back to Lampedusa or try another island with your assistance in the future!

Many thanks, Serenella & Patrick

S Fornara stayed at Il Gazebo, Lampedusa Island (Sicily) in July 2007

Hello again!

Now we are well back in Norway after a wonderful vacation in Sicily. And we are all very thankful to you! Castellamare del Golfo turned out very well for us, and the hotel was just perfect for us. Good place, nice pool, and beach and spacious rooms for us travelling with Children.

The two houses that we have been living in are also very good places. For us casa marinella was the greatest but that was mostly because of the city of marinella di selinunte, that was more our kind of place, st vito la capo was also great but a bit crowdy for us.

Casa Marinella: Its a perfect place for holiday if you would both like to see things around, Italian small-town life, and beachlife. The pool and the area around it in the property is also perfect. Giovanni the owner also is a good man who helps you as much as he can. The apartment is clean and with good size bedrooms and have a good kitchen.

Casa Faro: This is a great house lying in the middle of everything in St Vito, but it's anyway not noisy there, it has quiet surroundings. The house has nice outdoor and indoor areas and have good space in it for two families. The owner don't live at the property but if there is any problem she is there straight away and are very helpful. The beach is very close to the house.

In the end we are all very happy that we choosed to rent our houses through your company. You have been given us very good service, and if we are coming back to Sicily we are absolutely going to choose you again!

Liv Kari

The Holm and Hansen families stayed at Casa Marinella, Marinella di Selinunte, Sicily; Casa Faro, San Vito Lo Capo, Sicily; and Hotel Punta Nordest, Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily in July 2007.

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Hi
We had a really lovely holiday. The flat was easy to find, very good information from you. However, it was a bit difficult to find the signs to Via Panoramica at night time, (but we managed to find it after a couple wrong turns). The flat was much better than we anticipated. You should have more pictures of the view on your web page!!!!!!!! Otherwise the information you sent was really helpful. We enjoyed Italy and want to go back.

Many thanks,
Cecilie

C Christophersen and friends stayed at La Terrazza dei Gabbiani, Porto Santo Stefano, The Argentario in June 2007

Hi Shirah,

Sorry it's taken me a wee while to get back to you, we had a lovely time, unfortunately the weather wasn't great, I mean it was good most of the time but the first 3/4 days weren't great and it was a bit colder than I thought it was going to be but that may have just been unlucky - it was perfect for Derek being more of a shade lover himself!

The house was good, small and basic, but lots of outdoor space had it been a bit warmer in the evenings. It was really clean, comfortable and tidy and Giacomo and his wife were very nice and Giacomo very helpful. 1 thing I will say about the house is it doesn't have a washing machine and being there for 2 weeks, especially if you had kids, I think would be a little inconvenient.

Scopello is a delightful little village, quiet and perfect for what we wanted. We only ate out 2 nights in Scopello and the first night we had a really lovely meal. Plenty of day trips to do around the western coast, ruins, islands etc and nice beaches near by - our favourite was definitely at Zingaro where the sea was crystal clear.

All in all it was a good choice of area and accommodation and any complaints are only minor and did not detract from the enjoyment of the holiday. Thank you again for all your help and if we go back I'll be in touch!

Regards,
Louise

L Walker stayed at Casa Calamazzo, Scopello, Sicily in May 2007

Dear Shirah,

We had a good holiday, even though a bit more beach weather would have been nice, it was a bit cold most of the time to use the pool at the villa. Giovanni was very charming and tried to be as helpful as possible, his English, although not great, far surpassed that of anyone else we came across, apart from tour guides etc., and far exceeded our meagre few words of Italian.

Casa Marinella was in good condition, and provided all we needed for our stay. We found that there was lots to see and do, and didn't have enough time to do it all, but we loved the temples at Selinunte and Agrigento, and going up Etna was amazing. We would have to report that the food in Selinunte was disappointing as we are not seafood eaters and on the whole we found the light lunches more enjoyable, such as bruschettas and salad.

We enjoyed our week and it was all over too quickly.

Regards
Lorraine Wilson

The Wilsons stayed at Casa Marinella, Marinella di Selinunte, Sicily in May 2007

Hi John

All back safe and sound. An enjoyable time was had by all.

The villa was very pleasantly located with views and good exterior facilities; bbq area, car parking, gardens, lighting and outside dining. Shade and sun were available in good proportions and seating in your preferred choice of temperature readily available.

Inside was a little different and disappointing - the decor was a little shabby and had the feel of living in someone else's house. I guess they had gone for the 'quaint' look that in our opinion didn't really work. The villa was great during the day but was very cool in the evenings. One fire was provided but was not enough to heat all the rooms.

But hey! We enjoyed the time; the owners were kind and helpful, provided cakes on arrival. The area was interesting, the beach ideally close by, and the restaurant excellent - never have a bad meal in Italy! - and recommendations welcomed and information given comprehensive and informative.

Simon

The Fosters and friends stayed at Villa Mediterranea, Porto Palo di Menfi, Sicily in April 2007

Hello Shirah,
In a word - fantastic! We had a great time and reluctantly boarded the plane back to the rainy/cold reality of northern Europe. The villa was perfectly placed on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean and provided a great view of Sciacca, the harbor and Sicilian coastline. Nothing like waking up to a good espresso and a sea breeze! It was also well suited for the kids with plenty of backyard to run around in and a hammock for their relaxation craving parents. Francesco and Margherita are very sweet people and though our communication was somewhat limited by the language barrier (Francesco and I connected with a cocktail of Spanish/English and my pigeon Italian) they were always willing to lend a helping hand and even showed us a great local restaurant (a pizzeria called Friends - good tip for future renters). The evenings were a bit nippy and we had to ask them for a heater (fyi for future guests - €15 charge), so you may want to let others know a heater will be necessary in the evenings before the summer months hit. Sciacca itself is pretty cool, a nice mellow town without the annoying tourist traps you find in Taormina and Palermo. Also it was a good launching point for visits to other parts of the island.

Ulrike and I were both extremely pleased with the house, your prompt and detailed information during our search and the work of Italian Islands Ltd in general. We would gladly recommend your services to others.

Thanks again for all your help and follow up and we look forward to the next holiday!

All the best,
Scott
S Gilbert stayed at Villetta Margherita in Sciacca, Sicily in March 2007

I spent a wonderful week with my boyfriend on the island of Sant'Antioco in southern Sardinia. We stayed in a little apartment on the edge of the pretty village of Calasetta, so were able to spend our days beside the pool or at the beach and then walk to a choice of restaurants in the evening. The beaches in Sardinia are some of the best I've seen and with so many to choose from they were always free from crowds. One evening Italian Islands arranged a meal for us at a nearby agriturismo, where we were served a five-course dinner of local delicacies deep in the beautiful Sardinian countryside - certainly one of the highlights of the holiday! The pack of maps, tips and recommendations we were sent before our departure was also invaluable and provided us with lots of ideas for places to go. Altogether a very relaxing holiday with lots of great memories and we're definitely hoping to go back again soon.

Ruth
R Saxton stayed at Casetta Azzurro in Calasetta, Sant’Antioco Island in September 2006

ISLANDS

"The most passionate and enduring geographic love affair of all time (is) the one between mankind and islands." - Thurston Clarke

"Islomania is a rare affliction of spirit. There are people who find islands somehow irresistible. The mere knowledge that they are in a little world surrounded by sea fills them with an indescribable intoxication."
- Lawrence Durrell

ITALY

"Italy has given me back I know not what of myself, but a very, very great deal. She has found for me so much that was lost." - DH Lawrence

"Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy." - Bertrand Russell

"You may have the universe if I may have Italy." - Giuseppe Verdi

"If there is one country and its people that have contributed most to western civilisation's man-made world continuously for the last 2000 years, it must surely be Italy." - Harry Seidler

"I was offered a free villa in Hollywood, but I said no thank you, I prefer to live in Italy." - Ennio Morricone

"That would give me great pleasure because Italy is the country so close to my heart." - Jose Carreras

SICILY

"We love Sicily. It is the perfect place to just relax - eat, read and not worry about the stress of work. And we always come back with so many ideas. It is very magical." - Domenico Dolce

"Without Sicily, Italy cannot be fully understood. It is here one finds the key to all things" - J.W. Goethe

SARDINIA

"Lost between Europe and Africa and belonging to nowhere. Belonging to nowhere and never having belonged to anywhere... Left outside of time and history." - DH Lawrence