villa AVEMAR is potentially great. its outdoors spaces (dining, sunning, the pools; the outdoor shower) are wonderful The villa is beautifully perched above the marina.
we were greeted by the lovely Lucia, ready to respond to all our needs.
The check-in time, however, is unusually late. One cannot move into the property before 4pm. for us, who arrived from another location in Istria without a car, this was a real hardship.
the interior contains ample decoration which, unfortunately, stood in the way of us as guests.
the interior, we suggest, needs to be calmer (the house must not be not overstuffed with furniture, picture frames, table- and wall- decorations, etc);
Focus must be on sufficient storage space for clothing and shoes,
2 rooms have tiny storage space. No rooms offer benches for for suitcases (we had to leave ours on the floor in the larger rooms; Storing suitcases anywhere in the smaller rooms, which leave little space to move between the bed and the walls, was a real challenge.
2 bathrooms of the 4 are fine. they belong to the 2. larger rooms. Even a bidet in one (or both?).
the other two bathrooms are thumbnail size -- so much so that the space, even just for for towels, is seriously compromised. very hard to turn around in the smaller bathrooms.
[a minor detail, easy to correct: we did expect more bathroom tissues in the bathrooms. as well as hair dryers. (only 1 bathroom has a hairdryer)..]
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the real disappointment were the bed pillows. one expects comfortable, not old pillows. all pillows in the house need to be urgently changed. [let me add that the broken zippers of the decoration pillows must be changed.
the kitchen - visually pleasing, and extending from the dining room to the east wall. But not even a hand soap there.
only one hand towel. no paper towels, or paper napkins whatsoever. no dishwashing sponge at all. we did not plan to camp and expected very basic conveniences.
there are only 2 breakfast bowls in the kitchen. there are only 2 (or was it 3 ?) glasses. we had to use ceramic cups for water. the salad bowl is insufficient for a family of 5, let alone more than 5 people.
there is no ice cube tray in the freezer.
there is no tray to help take the food out to the terrace where we regularly had breakfasts and many meals.
the dish rack (go figure!) was stacked under the kitchen sink, and its tray was full of water when we arrived.
(the dishwasher works fine)
Finally, A number of signs around the house command the guest behavior (e.g.,: not: "PLEASE do not..., ", bur "IT IS FORBIDDEN TO...", or "YOU ARE REQUIRED TO...., rather than: 'would you please make sure to...)'. Not of great consequence, but irritating. .
In collusion, this is supposed to be a deluxe property.
but our complaints do not have to do with deluxe expectations.
we did, however, want some basic needs met. They were not. met. We had to shop for items and bring them in the house. The lack of basic provisions could not be compensated by the many existing frills in the house; this was a disappointment and made our stay often cumbersome.
Owner response:
Dear guests,
Thank you for your review of Villa Avemar. We hope that you had a lovely stay in the villa and in Istria in general.
We would, however, like to comment on some of the issues in your review.
The check in time is from 4pm for all our villas, as stated on our web page. Since these are large properties, it takes time to prepare and clean them for each group of guests, especially if another group of guests is leaving the villa on the same day. The owner confirmed that he tried his best and allowed an earlier check in, however, in the end you did not use this offer and checked in at 6pm.
Villa Avemar was decorated with a lot of care and a lot of attention was given to the details, which are visible on the photos in the advertisement. They are there to make the villa feel warmer and basically like a second home so we are very sorry it didn´t leave that impression on you.
The villa does not have benches for suitcases as this is not a standard part of furnishing in in Croatia, but also as is does not seem necessary to have them in a villa with 200m2 indoor area for a maximum of 8+1 persons.
The villa owner assured us that on your arrival the villa was fully equipped with everything that's supposed to be at your disposal (such as dishes, some amount of toilet paper, soap, towels etc), as well as that the mattresses and the pillows are not old and are in a good condition. However, in case that you needed more glasses, some additional kitchen/bathroom items etc, we are sure that your host as well as the owner would be more than happy to help.
Regarding the signs, we apologise if they seem harsh, however, to be able to keep the villa in a good state for future guests too, it is necessary that all guests abide the house rules.
We thank you again for your review and hope that we will have the opportunity to welcome you again as our guests.
My Istria Team
