An old, country-style villa sympathetically restored in a quiet, private location within easy reach of Cortona and other sights. Nice pool and lots of outside space for relaxing, cooking (brick-built barbecue) and eating. We barely spent any time indoors except when sleep

Living in Villa elisa is like going back in time where genuine Italian details are well taken care of. Beautiful trees and planting on the grounds and the pool area are breathtaking. The owner lives in the neighboring building and is very helpful. The neighboring town of Cortona is incredibly beautiful and charming. A stay in Villa i Elisa is highly recommended!

Positives: An old romantic, winding farmhouse with plenty of space and a great pool in a large area with a fantastic view of Cortona. The hosts are friendly and the outdoor area is regularly maintained. The furnishings are romantic and antique, if a little rickety. The two kitchens are equipped with all the necessary utensils for self-catering. The location is great. Completely secluded, you really are on your own and have your privacy. Nevertheless, you can quickly reach the next town, which has a few supermarkets, and it doesn't take long to get to Cortona either. Negative: The access road is adventurous on a steep, narrow gravel track full of potholes. It becomes critical with oncoming traffic. The pictures in the description are glossed over. The photos of the interiors must have been taken with additional spotlights, because in reality the rooms are all very dark as they only have small windows with trees in front of them. You often need light even during the day. In two of the bedrooms, the air conditioning is so loud that we didn't switch it on. There is no air conditioning in the lounges - only high ceiling fans that do nothing. Unfortunately, the hosts hardly speak any English and when there are problems (e.g. handover of the house, 2 x power cuts, final bill) communication becomes difficult. Dogs are barking in the neighbourhood, even at night. Since there are also additional costs for final cleaning, tourist tax and all the electricity, the price-performance ratio is actually not good. Nevertheless, we felt comfortable and do not regret our stay.

We got off to a bad start as it took me an hour to find the house. The name of the villa is not shown on any signpost or gatepost. We called at the villa next door and the had never heard of Villa Elisa. We asked various locals who were walking in the area but received only blank looks. We did not realise that it was part of Villa Salcotto - fortunately my son turned up and his google map led us to our destination. We received a very warm welcome from the owner and a guided tour of the property and grounds. The grounds and pool were very impressive. The accommodation was tested to the limit as the temperature during our stay was mid thirties to forty and we were plagued by mosquitoes. Our only complaint would be the lack of air-conditioning in most rooms. A problem with the dishwasher caused an upset as the owner did not want us to contact the agency - although there was a sign up in kitchen telling us to do so and our lack of Italian combined with her lack of English could not have resolved the problem. We had a wonderful week at Villa Elisa and little things such as bus timetables to Cortona, names of local taxi firms, recommended local restaurants would have been very useful. It is about a 20 minute walk to Camucia which has a number of very good restaurants and bars. The views of Cortona from the pool are spectacular as are the woodpeckers and hoopoe in the grounds. As light upgrading of air-conditioning and mosquito repellents would have given us the perfect holiday