Porto Santo Stefano area holiday villa: Cala piccola

My wife and I, together with our 2 children ages 7 and 4, enjoyed a week in this wonderful apartment overlooking Calapiccola (small cove) and the Mediterranean.

Calapiccola is a private homeowner's association with access to a wonderful private beach. Calapiccola is also home to a fine hotel, Il Torre di Calapiccola, which offers cocktails and dinner from a garden overlooking the Meditteranean.

The apartment is beautifully decorated and offers all modern conveniences including a very functional kitchen. It has one private bedroom with a queen bed, a private bathroom with tub/shower, and a large open living room. The living room faces the ocean and has 2 very large sliding glass doors with sliding shutters which allow for spectacular views of the ocean. Our children were very comfortable in one-half of the living room which has 2 sofas which convert to single beds and which is can be separated from the remainder of the living room by a divider curtain. This allowed us to put the children to bed and still enjoy the remainder of the living room as well as the terrace.

There is also a second sofa which coverts to a larger bed but which we did not use.

The terrace is wonderful and runs the length of the living room. It has a comfotable exterior dining table at which we enjoyed our breakfasts and some dinners while enjoying the view.

The beach is terrific. Monte Argentario has very few public beaches so it is critical that you have access to a private beach. Included in the apartment is full access to the beach as well as 2 beach chairs. The beach is not a sand beach; if you want a sand beach you need to go to Punta Ala or off the peninsula. Instead the beach is a series of terraces cut into the rock cliffs all leading down to the water. Kids love to jump off the cliffs into the water. The beach bar and restaurant are open all day allowing you to stay at the beach all day. The water is crystal clear and refreshing but not too cold. A free and regular shuttle service will pick you up from the apartment parking lot a bring you to the beach and back or for a fee there is limited parking at the beach.

The owner and the owner's local real estate agent were both wonderful and very helpful. Easy check in and check out.