Overall, we had an amazing stay on Ischia but this place was not the reason. Whilst we didn't expect anything amazing about the villa, and knew it would be basic based on the rating of the place, other than amazing views, which the owners can't claim as theirs, the stay was pretty underwhelming.
On arrival, the taxi that met us from the ferry got lost - clearly not familiar with the area we were staying in. When he finally found the tiny road leading to the villas, his vehicle wouldn't fit, so we were dumped out of the minibus and an employee arrived on foot down the hill to meet us. No warm welcome after a long day of car, air and ferry rides. He just took 2 of our cases and walked off some 20 yards ahead, leaving us to follow on and pull the other heavy case and 3 heavy hand luggage bags uphill in hot sunshine. We didn't expect a red carpet, but do better maybe! First impressions matter. Small vehicles do fit down that road.
Our room was a "family room". Well if this is their typical family room, I feel for any parents with young kids staying in one. We were 3 adults. There was a double-bed and a tiny bunk bed. It was basic to say the least. One tiny fridge, 8 hangers on a rail to cater for 3 people - women too in our case, so we definitely had more than 8 items to hand up! 2 chairs on the balcony and a few other sparce offerings. Hand towels were in fact tea-towel fabric and did not absorb water when trying to wrap hair in them. Shower was broken - no hose, just had to stand under a static spray so unable to rinse the shower down for anyone else to use. Tiles were chipped and the toilet cistern clearly had some sort of air blockage as every time you flushed the chain, the most hideously loud groaning noise would follow for about 5 minutes - probably had half the block awake - and only subsided when the tank was full again. Hairdryer was useless, no kettle/cups, no iron. My daughter asked to borrow an iron one afternoon and was told "someone else has it". We sent a further WhatsApp message to ask if they could get the iron from the other guests (their requested method of communication was WhatsApp) but were ignored. The view of the balcony was nice enough - shame some of the overgrown gardens and shrubs couldn't have been properly cut down and tidied up to make it more attractive. The place looks as though it's falling to pieces in some areas, ants crawling everywhere on our balcony and the one next door, broken bits of equipment, old cars, etc. As a suggestion, give the place some attention, clean up, tidy up, and stop promoting the place with pictures of earlier days, which don't truly represent the current condition of the place.
The staff were not very friendly - with the exception of the older chap/handyman/shuttle bus driver. He seemed to be the only person happy to help, engage with people, and share helpful information. We took just one breakfast (as this wasn't included in our stay) which comprised a coffee and a cake/croissant for 5 euros. The cakes we had were dry and bland, though they claim to make all produce on site. Wouldn't recommend! Full breakfast was 15 euros but we didn't bother.
We sensed that as we weren't the type of guests who hung around the pool all day, or spent money eating and drinking at the villa (which wasn't cheap), we were somewhat ignored and left to our own devices. Every place we ate at - most restaurant staff were more helpful and welcoming, providing us with recommendations and advice on things we should see/do, so we had some great days and experiences, thanks to them.
Some of the service and people we met during our stay on Ischia - including the lovely cab driver, Angelo, reassured us that the majority of Ischians are warm and friendly people.
Would we go back to Ischia - yes, for sure. Would we use the taxi driver again, yes, for sure - we made a great friend of him and will keep in touch. Would we go back to the restaurants we visited - with the exception of one, yes, for sure. Would we stay here at Villa Janto again - no!
