Portovenere: House / Villa - Portovenere

This beautiful and charming villa has an amazing view over Porto Venere, the island and the sea. Easy access to Porto Venere, the restaurants and the sea by stairs, even though many steps! MariaLuisa is an excellent host and very helpful.

1. Beautiful panorama over Portovenere. 2. Kind and friendly welcome by owner. 3. Large terrace in the garden. 4. House is not really equipped for 6 adults (see sleeping facility). 5. Not well informed about 230 steps of the stairs to the village and 125 steps in the garden to reach the house.

Once you realize the stairs only encompass about 15 minutes of your life, you can deal with them and get much easier. We were there 8 days, two couples, 60+ and a single woman in here 20s. The beds could be better. I only slept about 4 hours a night and the lack of wifi (a personal choice of the owner) was an inconvenience for three professionals - Architect, Writer, and Broker. We explained these to the lovely owner on the last day and I imagine she will take them into consideration for the future guests. Multiple sets of keys too, as we needed to devise a system of leaving the key under a rock at the gate with a piece of paper you would remove if you were the first group returning to the villa and know to leave the key for the late returners. Should the steps be mentioned in the description? I think so. One of our group was in a knee brace and arm cast and still gamely made their way, but others needed to carry their loads. It is a unique, magical place that is isolated from one of the most lovely villages below Cinque Terra. I would return here and stay longer. I am a writer and found the beauty and solitude inspiring. I would certainly recommend it if you want something out of the ordinary. The house was very clean and the owner, Maria, is a beautiful soul.