Al Melo

Our holiday with the five of us (3 children aged 4-10) was really great. The pool and house (you really can't call it a barn here) were excellent, Fabio was a treasure and was on hand with help and advice as far as fresh fruit. The only drawback for us was that there was nothing nearby for shopping and eating out, but we would come back again.
Arrival date: 24 August, 2024

Wat hadden wij een fijne vakantie in Al Melo afgelopen zomer! Het huis heeft een perfecte ligging t.o.v. Vagli, winkels, bergen, stad(jes), Cinque Terre, etc. We konden dus heel veel doen! Het was niet te heet want het huis ligt net wat hoger en de slaapkamers zijn relatief koel omdat ze een niveau lager gelegen zijn. Verder heeft het huis alles wat je nodig hebt. Het Vagli meer ligt op 15 minuten en vanaf daar kan je prima wandelen en rondom het meer kan je hardlopen. Ook hebben we dieren gezien rondom het huis, waaronder een vos, wild zwijnen, herten en de uil hoorden wij ook een paar keer. Wel minder vaak dan gehoopt...wellicht doordat er toch vaak aan het begin van de avond nog in de moestuin wordt gewerkt. Het zwembad was helemaal fijn, had de perfecte temperatuur. Enige kritiekpuntje is de wat luidruchtige buren bovenop de heuvel wanneer ze zijn thuisgekomen van werk en school. Fabio en zijn vrouw zijn heel aardig en gastvrij en brengen geregeld lekkere verse groenten uit de moestuin. Ook het welkomstpakket was fijn! Wij komen zeker terug en dat doen we normaal nooit. :-)

What a great holiday we had in Al Melo last summer! The house has a perfect location with respect to Vagli, shops, mountains, town(s), Cinque Terre, etc. So we could do a lot! It was not too hot because the house is a bit higher and the bedrooms are relatively cool because they are located one level lower. Furthermore, the house has everything you need. Lake Vagli is 15 minutes away and from there you can walk and run around the lake. We also saw animals around the house, including a fox, wild boar, deer and we also heard the owl a few times. Less often than hoped... perhaps because they often work in the vegetable garden at the beginning of the evening. The swimming pool was really nice, had the perfect temperature. The only point of criticism is the somewhat noisy neighbours on top of the hill when they come home from work and school. Fabio and his wife are very nice and hospitable and regularly bring delicious fresh vegetables from the vegetable garden. The welcome package was also nice! We will definitely come back and we normally never do that. :-)

Stayed July 2024

Great isolated place with a fine House and lovely garden and pool
Arrival 22nd July 2023

Really friendly hosts who gave competent advice and always had a good tip ready. (Thanks, Fabio and Elisa) And a holiday home with its own pool, which is really very clean, by the way, where you can really enjoy your time out. Magnificent view including deer, wild boar, badger and owlet. But you should already have a motorized, mobile vehicle. And above all: fun driving! You can't really do your shopping here within walking distance. Since we wanted to explore even the smallest mountain roads in this beautiful landscape by car anyway, that was a very welcome circumstance. (Even if various well-known map services away from the main traffic routes now and then persistently refused to cooperate with the digital content of the Italian maps) Conclusion: We would have wanted to stay....for a long time!

We really enjoyed staying in casa al melo. A rural, quiet and lovely place to stay with our family of 4. Altough the pool was not heated, is was a perfect cooling in the hot weather. The view over the moutains were stonning. The owner supplied us regularly with fresh vegetables from their land and local products. A tomato salad never tasted that good. The only minus was that althe supermarket was not closeby, but hey, that's worth the sacrifice!

The house is very clean and that made us feel at home. Only the long curves before you end up in a village was a downside.

Arrival 16th  July 2022

Great house, fresh air, everything is very well maintained. The right place to switch off. You experience Tuscany with its valleys and mountainous region in a completely different way. We had a very nice and relaxing week here. Greetings from the Huber family from Oberkirch

Arrival 27th August 2022

With two small children the holiday was very successful! The pool was very cool and everything was very clean! Even providing a high chair was not a problem and everything was prepared for us. We felt very comfortable

Arrival 4^th September 2022

We stayed in this house for a week, it is very nice, very clean and you have everything you need here. The landlord Fabio is very friendly and takes care of everything. In between we got fresh fruit and vegetables from his garden next door. The pool and garden are perfect for relaxing and beautifully landscaped. The only small point of criticism is the access to the house. The path is quite narrow and steep, not for sports cars. Otherwise everything is top notch, definitely recommendable!

5 stars
Fabio was a great host making us feel so welcome bringing us fresh cherries and generally making sure we had all we needed. Accommodation and pool were great, not a heated a pool but on hot days that's no issue. Location was perfect for us as it provided privacy, tranquillity and views while also only being a 15 min drive from a shop, train station which put Lucca, Pisa and Braga all within reach. We'd recommend lunch in Braga and dinner in Roggio - Perfecto! Don't be put off by no air conditioning, because it's in the hills the bedrooms downstairs are sheltered from the sun so are lovely and cool at night which was such a treat after a hot day. Thanks Fabio for a wonderful holiday
Arrival 29th May 2022

5 stars

We had a fantastic weeks stay in this beautifully restored barn house. A lovely quiet rural location with great outdoor space and swimming pool. Fabio was a great host and was there for any queries that we had.

Arrrival 4 September 2021

5 stars

The path into the Apuan Alps and the access to the property are a bit wild, but Al Melo is definitely worth it. No problem with a normal car, but lowered vehicles are not recommended. The single location is great, wonderful views from the terrace and garden and pool. At night, deer, deer and wild boars roam around the fenced property. We even saw a badger last night. Host Fabio is super nice and regularly supplied us with fresh vegetables and raspberries from the field below the house. Once he even brought us extremely delicious pizza from the wood-fired oven. If something does not fit, he takes care of it immediately. The entire facility is well equipped. We also used the grill a lot. Excursions e.g. to Lucca, Pisa or the sea take a while, because you always have to get out of the mountains first. Some of the streets are also used as a rally route. Once the local road was closed because of tests by a rally tire company. It's very exciting to see it up close. All in all two very nice weeks !!!

Arrival 21 August 2021

5 stars

The path into the Apuan Alps and the access to the property are a bit wild, but Al Melo is definitely worth it. No problem with a normal car, but lowered vehicles are not recommended. The single location is great, wonderful views from the terrace and garden and pool. At night, deer, deer and wild boars roam around the fenced property. We even saw a badger last night. Host Fabio is super nice and regularly supplied us with fresh vegetables and raspberries from the field below the house. Once he even brought us extremely delicious pizza from the wood-fired oven. If something does not fit, he takes care of it immediately. The entire facility is well equipped. We also used the grill a lot. Excursions e.g. to Lucca, Pisa or the sea take a while, because you always have to get out of the mountains first. Some of the streets are also used as a rally route. Once the local road was closed because of tests by a rally tire company. It's very exciting to see it up close. All in all two very nice weeks !!!

Arrival 21 August 2021

5 stars

If you need some peace and quiet, you can find them here. A secluded property ensures paradisiacal conditions, the owner has supplied us with fruit and vegetables. Also the animals around the property (deer, wild boars, ...) come up to the fence. We felt very comfortable here.

Arrival 24 July 2021

5 stars

And the owners were very friendly

Arrival 14 August 2021

 Every day we saw different animals on our property. Our granddaughter learned to swim here. Fabio, the landlord, provided us with fresh fruit and vegetables and immediately took care of all our concerns. He gave us riding lessons, reserved tables in the restaurant, cleaned the pool and outside area every day and treated us very friendly. We felt very welcome. You definitely need a car - the nearest supermarket is 4km away, as are the restaurants. Other destinations are also a long way away. The easier it was for us to really come down. Just the thing, in times of COVID. We had hardly any contacts, masks were worn in an exemplary manner and fever was measured everywhere in the village. In the house itself, all contact switches were packed in foil (remote control, light switch), there were sufficient disinfectants, gloves and masks available. We felt very safe at all times. When we parted there were hot tears from all of us. We really hope that we can come back soon…. Reviewer location - Munich Date of arrival - 3 July 2021