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Dear In Italy,
We recently stayed at the Villa Dragonetti and LOVED it!!! One of the best finds I have ever had using InItaly. The service was impeccable, and the assistance of the manager Nicoletta was of considerable value. She was amazing!! She even helped coordinate a private cooking lesson with the chef in the villa's large modern kitchen. We have never eaten to much fantastic food in our lives. Highly recommend this as a stop for anyone who visits the beautiful Abruzzo region.
Raymond K.
Hi Kristin,
Erwin and I got home Oct. 12 but have had two short trips and other things pending, so now maybe I can catch up here. Thank you again for the plans you made and for Patrick lining up our car. That was a great place for pick up as we just followed their directions and shot out of the city very easily. Thanks!!
Then off to Villa Dragonetti. We had one missed turn but found it quickly. What a interesting place. Only 6 people there but service and dinner was very good. All the paintings of animals most interesting. We slept with a leopard!!
Thanks for your part and as long as we travel to Italy you will always be my source of information.
Fondly,
Janelle B.
Dear In Italy,
You’ll certainly hear from me again. It just gets worse and worse every year—leaving Italy, that is.
The beautiful and elegant Villa Dragonetti (near L’Aquila) served a wonderful breakfast buffet and a marvelous, private dinner. We learned when we arrived that their ski-season had so far consisted of one snowfall which had badly hurt their business. We were their only guests and benefited mightily—in maps, directions, advice, and history. Castelli, a tiny town southeast of L’Aquila, was one such benefit for majolica-lovers. We visited every single one of its 25-plus shops (bought from several) and marveled at the art-form. We also found, to our hosts’ surprise, a most impressive memorial to the original Count Dragonetti in L’Aquila’s duomo and, by accident, discovered the church that prompted our visit to the area—the lovely Santa Maria di Collemaggio.
Dario G.
Dear in Italy Online;
This past Christmas season I went to Italy for the first time ever. We stayed at Villa Dragonetti in Paganica. It was wonderful!! The staff was friendly and very helpful. The owner, Paolo, gave us directions and a map to places that he thought that we would be interested in. The rest of the staff went out of thier way to make the experience as wonderful as possible. I did want to comment on an earlier guest review though. The guest said that their only complaint was that the beds were really hard. Well, my husband and I stayed at a different hotel in Rome when we first got there and they were very thin. I think the Italians don't have their mattresses as thick as we do, so I wouldn't really list that as a complaint against the hotel so much as Italy in general.
I did have one complaint about the hotel. The water pressure in the shower was non existant. It was like standing under the most miserly little trickle that you could imagine. In my opinion, it was the main thing that kept it from being a five star hotel. I don't know if it was only our room, but when it is 30 degrees out side you want to take a hot shower. The pressure was so bad, you could have the water on hot at full blast and still get lukewarm water at best.
I would also HIGHLY recommend renting a car. This is definitely an area of Italy where it’s best to have one. I bought the maps from the link on the website and we used them constantly. But, we couldn't find a map for La'Aquila. It was very hard to navigate the city without one. We had the address of the tourist office where you could get a free map, but could never find the place.
One more thing, in Tempera, the little town between Paganica and La'Aquila is a restaurant that served the best food while we were there. The owner was very friendly and spoke English. It's called Le Macine and it's on Via Atri 10 in Tempera. If you turn left off of bis 5 into Tempura following a sign that will point to a restaurant, go about two blocks and turn left again, you will find the restaurant. It isn't the one on the sign, we found it on accident following it. The restaurant sits on a creek and looks almost like a house. The only way that you could really tell it apart was that it had a glass entryway, almost like a little porch that is typical of restaurants. It also has a little courtyard where you can sit and watch the water flow by.
I hope my comments are helpful! Thanks again for helping me plan such a unique once in a lifetime experience!!!!
Ciao,
Jean Ann B.
Dear Italy Online:
We had a great time! We stayed at Villa Dragonetti in Paganica and found the staff (especially Sabrina) to be very helpful regarding how to go about touring the Gran Sasso area. The room was delightful. The only "thumbs down" I have to report about this property is that the bed was terrible. The mattress was thin and hard and the wood headboard, although lovely, creaked loudly whenever one turned over thus awakening one's sleeping partner (ie. husband)!
We look forward to returning to this fabulous area and will certainly use your booking service again.
Thanks.
Mary C.
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