Holiday rentals near Il Nido

This is the second time we have stayed at Gianluca’s and it was lovely once again. The apartment has everything you could want, it was spotlessly clean, well equipped, spacious and has superb views of the Lerici harbour from the living room and all the garden terraces. The apartment is surrounded by beautifully maintained gardens set on different levels and with beautiful views all around. The apartment has lots of design points of beauty; hand painted antique floor tiles, paintings and artefacts from around the world. Gianluca and his family are wonderful hosts. They are welcoming and work so hard to ensure you enjoy your stay. Gianluca is also an excellent chef and will prepare you a three or four course meal using local produce at a cost that is not much different to local restaurants and yet you have a chef preparing a bespoke menu and a private dining area so you can eat and drink good wine overlooking the wonderful views as the sun sets. There is a free bus that stops very near the apartment to take you to Lerici (it runs mornings and after 4pm). This is very handy if you don’t want to walk back up to the apartment from Lerici after lunch. You can also walk to San Terenzo which takes about 30 minutes and then you can walk the bay of poets back to Lerici harbour. We really love this place and will return as there is so much to do and see but mostly because we love the apartment, the garden and we think the hosts are excellent.

The apartment had everything you needed and was warm during a bit of a cold snap. The parking pass was a bonus and one day when we were just going into La Spezia, we left the car and hopped on a bus. After a 3 night hotel break in Verona doing a lot of sightseeing, it was nice to have space in the apartment, take our time and sort of 'live like locals'! Clemente gave us lots of info to help us find it and was generous with a 'welcome pack'; also very accommodating when it was possible for us to check-in early or check out later. Thanks again - we may be back again!

I spent a week in the garden flat and it was a lovely stay. The place was exactly as pictured, clean, bright and fresh with a very comfortable bed. My friends were staying in the upstairs flat so it was nice to make use of both outside spaces. The check in process was easy, Armando was super friendly and helpful and easy to contact when needed. While this is not necessarily a negative Just note the place is located quite far from anything so you do need a car if you stay here. I would definitely come back for a relaxing chilled break.

This villa is in an idyllic setting, with stunning views. We had a lovely week, relaxing in the gardens and cooling off in the pool, surrounded by nature in this spacious, beautifully appointed villa. Unfortunately, the owners had been called away before our arrival, but their neighbours were there to greet us and explain all we needed to know. There was also a brief guide to the property and area in English. We toured the area, which has the prettiest little villages, perched on hilltops, with fairytale castles and visited one of the colourful Cinque Terre town of Manarola where we swam in the sea and ate lunch at the cliff-edge restaurant. One of the best experiences was a visit to the world-famous marble quarry in Carrara, which involved a hair-raising drive up the mountain on a narrow, rough track with switchback bends, into the misty mountaintops. Our driver was very skilled and he and our guide made the trip both entertaining and informative. Massa Carrara is quite an industrial area, because of the marble quarrying, but it also has a lovely, long stretch of coastline and beach, which we strolled along. Also worth a visit, is the walled town of Lucca, under an hour's drive away. Here you can climb the tower for more stunning views, sip a drink at one of the bars situated in the circular piazza, formerly a Roman amphitheatre, and hire a four or two- seater bike to cycle along the tree-lined top of the city wall. The downside of this villa is the fact that, perched on the hillside as it is, there is a very narrow, twisting access road and a challenging driveway to the property, but it gets easier each time you tackle it. You cannot just stroll into the town though because the return journey would be a challenge unless you were young and fit. Supermarkets in the area are very good, making self-catering easy, but the local pizza delivery service was woeful. The stairs to the upper floor of the villa might prove difficult for some visitors. They are narrow and have two sharp turns, making it difficult to get luggage up to the rooms. And one off-putting aspect of the rural setting for me, although it might just have been a seasonal problem, were the many shield bugs which found their way into the house. While harmless, they do buzz around at night, so you don't want them in the rooms. Overall, we had a fantastic week here, in a part of Italy which is a little more off the beaten track, but which has its own charms.

Our stay in the apartment was brilliant. When we arrived we was greeted by Livio and showed the apartment. It is a massive apartment and everything was spotlessly clean and well looked after. We spent a week there and apart from the very hot weather (we managed to get the hottest week, so far this summer) everything was brilliant. Livio and Nina are a very lovely couple and we enjoyed living above them very much. When we arrived there was cold water in the fridge and a big basket of wonderful and fresh fruit and after about 4 days of our stay, Livio brought us a beautiful self-made cake, which we enjoyed very much. The village of Arcola is very quiet but if you walk over to the other part of the Village, you can find a few very good restaurants, an ice cream parlor, a supermarket, pharmacy, bakers and a few little bars where you can have a drink and enjoy the typical Italian way of life. We can only recommend this apartment, since you are quiet near to visit places like La Spezia, Sarzana, Lerici, Pisa and of course the Cinque Terre and you also have a lot of beautiful beaches within 10 minutes' drive by car.