We (I, my wife and our three kids - 5, 8 & 11) were so impressed with the size of the villa and surrounding grounds. Since it was at least 32 deg C everyday, the pool was a Godsend, We tended to spend the morning chilling at the pool and then explore a beach in the afternoon.

We cooked a few times at the villa and ate outside under the pergola. The kitchen is small, but open plan and perfectly functional. There is a double sink, plenty of storage and oven. The fridge could be a bit bigger and the freezer didn't work that well, but not a huge deal. There is also a great BBQ, which we used a couple of times and, again, ate outside. A few pesky mozzies, but nothing Citronella and DEET couldn't sort.

There are standing and ceiling fans in every room. No air con though. The hammock provided hours of wondeful (and rare!) relaxation time for the kids.

Given its location, the villa is equidistant from S, W and E coasts, which all offer something very different. Our favourite place was Santa Maria di Lueca.

Cutrofiano itself is a super little town. Pizza Mauro pizzeria and Dolce Arte gelataria are definitely worth a visit. Big hypermarket (Conad) not too far away plus plenty of local shops for essentials.

The villa could do with a bit of TLC and could have perhaps been a bit cleaner for our arrival, but overall a great place to act as a base should you want to visit Puglia, which is highly recommended!

Rory - in case you read this review, we had a brilliant time at your place. Thank you for your speedy replies to our messages and also the personal phone call when we first booked. If we could make one recommendation, it would be to install some overhead outdoor lighting above the table and cooking area such that using the BBQ and eating outside could be made even more enjoyable.