Casalabate holiday villa: Lendinuso - Casalabate, Lecce

An ideal location for those who want to experience a real Italian holiday. This is a working agricultural region with endless fields of glorious sun-drenched tomatoes, melons and vines, not to mention the acres of magnificent ancient olive groves. The area is low key, a place where Italian families chose to sepnd their holidays rather than one over-run with overseas tourists. Various local markets offer picked-that-morning fresh seasonal produce and the market holders appreciated our efforts in Italian, usually offering some extra small gift with our fruit and vegetables. The local villages of Lendinuso and Casalabate provide all that is necessary if you don't wish to explore further. However, for those wishing to investigate, the region provides some amazing fortified port towns, such as Otranto, wonderful baroque masterpieces in Lecce and the incomparable Alberobello, the centre of the 'Trulli' architecture. For those visiting in late August, the highlight must be the spectacular evening horseback parade of the Cavalleri through the streets of Ostuni, a night of real adventure.

The villa provides a perfect base to set out from and a cool welcoming interior to return to. The standard of accommodation is extremely high and well thought through. Abundant fruit trees surround the villa and we feasted on pomegranates, plums and figs throughout our stay. The roof terrace offers a peaceful spot for those wishing to sunbath whilst the cooler outside terraces provide the perfect spot to rest after days out. The local beaches were unspoilt and quiet, offering chances for snorkelling and exploring.

The welcome basket is a kind and generous gesture which offers a great selection of local food and was indeed most welcome when we arrived late at night. Bob and Debbie could not have been more hlpful, turing out to meet us on first arrival, providing lots of helpful suggestions throughout the week and being unobtrusively available at any stage to help.

We look forward to returning soon!

This is a charming place for a holiday. The Villa is beautifully furnished and kept. The welcome basket was a great surprise and we were able to manage without immediately hunting for shops the morning after we arrived and the fruit in the garden is fabulous.
A beautiful undeveloped beach with crystal water just 300 yds away, 2 kilometres past Lendinuso we visited a more commericial beach, with bars, Lidos and other facilities, .. but we preferred the more natural beach even though it has less facilities
Easy location from which to access many of the best attractions of the Salento and southern Puglia. The nearby holiday village of Casalabate is totally unspoilt by commercialism and bright lights and its Sunday market was brilliant, bargains galore and fresh cheap produce.
Lendinuso is also not to be missed, with lovely pizzerias, a butcher with good meat for the barbecue and the pastry shop/deli. Having an ice-cream or coffee on the Lendinuso seafront after dinner and then just having an evening stroll along the promenade is not to be missed.
Thank you Debbie and Bob for helping make our holiday all so wonderful with your suggestions.
If you are looking for pulsing bright neon lights, burger bars and "Ibiza Uncovered" type of holidays, then forget it.
If you are looking for overpriced Rivieria formality where the waiters are better dressed than the customers, then forget it....
If you want a holiday with a real spirit, culture and cuisine of Italy then this is it... Puglia and the Salento is the area where Italians go on holiday and now we have found it too.
Will definitely be back

We visited in April 2008 with our two children aged 7 and 18 months. The villa was nicely decorated and had all the equipment you would need on holiday. In fact, most of the stuff looked pretty new. Bob and Debbie were really nice and the welcome pack was great - wine, beer and plenty of food to get us started.

There was a slight damp smell in one of the rooms but I think we identified the problem and Bob was going to work on it after we left! Should be a simple fix. The only thing that caused us a slight problem was the 12 to 18 inch drop from the patio area to the soil in the orchard - our 18 month old got used to this but it was quite nerve racking for a couple of days.

The area is very quiet, with not much going on outside of the Italian holiday season (July and August) but this was great for us as we like it quiet. There is plenty to go to see within 30 mins to 1 hour (markets, historic towns with castles, safari park etc) so a car is essential.

The beach was a little messy, with lots of litter washed up by the sea. The council start to clean up in June. When we did find a clear patch it was clear that the beach has the potential to be an absolutely stunning place when cleaned up.

In summary, a good holiday. A clean beach would have probably made it a great holiday.