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We have just returned from the vicinity of Lucca where we stayed in a villa by Luciano Sidrak Masetti. Almost all prior information on the Internet and the additional information via email, was inaccurate or incomplete. We also had to pay more than the price indicated on the website. Do not rely blindly on the details of Luciano Sidrak Masetti!

I also tried to leave a review on the VRBO website about our stay, but when they contacted him with my review he told them that I must have his apartment confused with someone else's. In order to confirm that we actually stayed in his apartment I had to submit the rental agreement, emails, and photos inside the apartment. This man does not use a rental agreement, so the only thing I had was emails, which could not be used as confirmation that we had stayed in his apartment. He has been at this for a while, so he knows how to keep bad reviews off the rental site.

Try posting on Slow Travel. They have a lot of rental reviews. www.slowtrav.com

TAB

Hi,

I'm not defending Sidrak Masetti in any shape or form, but have just returned from staying in one of his apartments in Lucca centre, this was the second year that we have rented through him. Everything was as stated on the website and the only extra we had to pay was 13 euros that was taken out of the deposit by Paypal for their services. We will be happy to rent from him again next year. I don't know if we have just been extremely lucky or others have been very unfortunate.

mesh

I've had an iffy experience with him too.

Hi Mesh,

I only want people to post their honest experiences with him and then let the buyer beware, lol. I had read mixed reviews about this man, but after hearing your experience I decided to go ahead and give it a shot. Unfortunately, we did not have the same good experience that you had. We met a woman from Chicago who owns an apartment there and should we ever return (which we plan to!) we will contact her. I hope you continue to have good luck with Sidrak, but for me, "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me."

Hi Ab,

As I said I don't know if we have been extremely lucky with our choice of apartments from him. It's a shame that other people have had their holidays upset by him. We had a bad start to one of our stays in Lucca a few years back, the address that was given to us by the agent (not Massetti) was wrong and then they told us to sit and wait and they would come and take us to the apartment. Two and a half hours later they turned up and the first thing they said was " You pay now". Fortunately they are no longer in business.

mesh

Hi Mesh,

I don't know how Sidrak decides who to take advantage of and who not to, but it is obvious that not everyone has a bad (or good) experience with him. As I said in my original review, even though we had the problem with him our experience in Lucca and the surrounding area was in no way diminished. We still enjoyed our trip and look forward to returning. Renting an apartment comes with some risk, no matter. When we were shown into our apartment in Rome the person who let us in was showing us how to use the tv, which didn't work. He said that he would have a repair person sent over, but that never happened. We were not there to watch tv anyway, so we didn't care. At least we were not charged extra upon arrival, nor did we have to pay extra for utilities. People who check these reviews will just have to decide if they want to chance being one of the people who has a bad experience with Sidrak. I rolled the dice once and lost. I hate losing. :-)

Abby