Lieber Herr H, Thank you very much for your review. I'm glad you enjoyed our house in September. I am very happy to reply about the access road as it has just now been newly repaired. It is a Via Communale and is maintained by the City of Atri. This summer there were two rare extreme weather events. One in July produced hailstones "the size of grapefruit", according to the newspaper. The second was a major hail and rain storm on 18th August, two weeks before you arrived, that damaged the road and many vineyards. Fortunately, we know the Mayor of Atri, and after a meeting with the Director of Public Works, the road was completely repaired on 15th and 16th October just two weeks after you left. So we now have a nice smooth crushed limestone road again. To show future guests the road, I have uploaded two photographs. I'm very sorry that the road was not good for you, and thank you for being tolerant, but there is nothing we can do about unusual weather. I'm just pleased that the City of Atri repaired it quite quickly. You mentioned a couple of other things. Yes, we can easily provide extra towels in the house, but you did not ask our manager and so I did not know. There were just two of you and we provided four towels. We also provided a complete extra set of bedding for your three week stay without being asked. You mention mark on the additional bedroom downstairs which you did not use as you were just two. This is cement adhesive on the ceiling used to position the insulating tiles on the ceiling. One board was installed upside down (!) and so the grey adhesive shows. It is not mould. These tiles are scheduled to be coated with plaster of course. I hope this reply answers your points and of course you will be very welcome to return!

This review is different from any we have ever received! All our previous reviews are 5* and so I shall try to reply. Feedback is always useful and we have used it in our meeting with the Mayor of the City of Atri who immediately authorized repairs to the public road that was damaged by the unusual storm just before you came. That was not of course our fault and so thank you for that! However we simply do not agree with much of what you say. I cannot understand why you drove from Germany and did not even bring the detailed arrival instructions with our address, including GPS coordinates. That is really surprising, as we sent you three copies of the arrival instructions. One of your replies refers to these and so we know that you received them. You also received all our previous emails and the payment instructions easily with no problem. However after that, we received no further replies from you even though we wrote ten days before your arrival to check that all was right. We received no reply. It really does help to bring the arrival instructions and that you did not bring them is not our fault. Fortunately we phoned (admittedly in our less than perfect German) within one hour of the arrival time, but it appeared that you had arrived two hours early with no instructions and said you could not find the keys. They were, of course, in exactly the correct place as described, and you obtained them easily and straight away after we spoke. It is really surprising that you did not contact our manager by phone as she lives only a few minutes away and could have helped immediately. We strongly disagree with what you say about cleanliness. As other guests have said, our house is beautiful and spotlessly clean. You mention that you moved a sofa and found an insect under it on the polished tiles below. Well, I’m not sure why you moved a sofa, but I’m afraid that there might indeed have been an insect on the polished tiles! You say that there were dishes in the cupboard over the sink. This is the normal way of leaving dishes to drip-dry in southern Italy in a rack over the sink. We also provide a dishwasher of course. Thank you again for letting me know about the road. You arrived close to the severe rain storm of 18th August and so I am not surprised that you were upset, as quite a lot of damage was done in the neighbourhood. In fact it was the second storm – the first was related to the hail storm in Pescara nearby in which 32 people were injured by hail the size of grapefruit and taken to hospital. We raised the matter of the access road with the mayor of the Citta di Atri as this road is a Via Communale. The mayor immediately agreed to carry out repairs caused by these extraordinary storms. We really cannot be responsible for unusual extreme weather events or damage to public roads, and I am very pleased that the town has carried out the repairs so quickly – the work was done on 15th and 16th October and so I am happy that we now have a lovely road and it is newly re-surfaced with white crushed limestone. I have taken photos and will upload these to our Homeaway website so that our other guests can see. I’m just sorry that you arrived so close to the storm. This is a very special house on the edge of the WWF nature reserve. It is in excellent condition and even completely insulated on the exterior under the fresh white stucco for energy conservation. It is not a simple beach apartment. For people who like peace and tranquillity with stunning views of the mountains it is wonderful! We have never had an experience like this, and I am sorry that this guest did not enjoy her stay, but to be fair, please do read our other 5* reviews. This includes the guests who wrote another excellent review just before you arrived.

Thank you very much and I'm delighted that you enjoyed it! Thanks also for watering my flowers! Best wishes, Anna