First of all, if you're staying in Badolato you'd better be an independent traveler. It is NOT a touristy place, which suited us perfectly.
At the time of our stay the village had one bar and one restaurant, and you could get wifi at the photographer's studio if you bought a few postcards from him. There is also a small grocery store, pharmacy, tobacco shop, and a few vendors bring trucks of goods in on certain days. Everything but the bar closes from 1-5 in the afternoon.
Now for the aprartment. It is quite lovely! The wood cabinets, the bathroom tile, the tall windows with balconies are all just beautiful.
The kitchen is fully stocked with dishes, pots and pans, utensils and a moka coffee pot. You could prepare any meal there. There was some salt and pepper on hand that we helped ourselves to when cooking.
The kitchen, dining area and sitting area are all one great room. It is bright, well-lit, and has two tall windows with a wide balcony overlooking the rooftops and the Mediterranean sea.
The bathroom was clean and fresh with a nice large shower by Italian standards. Only complaint is that it could use better lighting.
There is a dumb-waiter from the kitchen to the roof-top terrace, and we took our breakfast there most mornings. We also watched the bats and owls fly about at night, and we were able to see a billion stars because the area is so remote. The view is spectacular.
The booking site we used says there are 3 bedrooms in this unit, but that is incorrect. There is one bedroom with a large canopy bed (and air conditioning). There is a charming sitting room connected to it that has a separate door and a small sofa that folds out to a single bed (no air con). The final sleeping area is the sofa in the great room, which folds out to a queen sized bed (my niece slept in this bed as the great room did have air conditioning).
We had a few problems on arrival as the local manager was out of town. We speak very little Italian but the young woman there to meet us with the key did her best to help us. We did have some confusion over the sheets, towels and the hot water heater.
All the problems were eventually solved, but as I stated in the title of this review, you should be a laid-back, independent traveler to stay at a place like this. It is laovely home but you are not going to have a concierge, housekeeping, or high-quality linens. You will have a place of your own to relax in Calabria and live like a local, which is exactly what we wanted.
One final note- it is a long, steep walk to the apartment from the parking area. It's a beautiful walk but strenuous and your legs will be in great shape by the time you leave Badolato.
Liked best:
The great room, kitchen and roof-top terrace.
Liked least:
Sheets were scratchy, old, pilled-up polyester.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Oct 17, 2014
Thanks for the nice comments, I must apologise if you ended up with polyester sheets. We have 3 sets of 400 thread cotton sheets for all the beds and if you didn't have them then something went wrong I'm afraid. I'll chase up and make sure that it doesn't happen to others - to you, sorry.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.