Agriturismo Grotta dell'Eremita

Nice hotel in a romantic atmosphere. But there are several maintenance issues in the rooms. Pros I===== • Excellent location in the amazing Castelmezzano village • Reasonable price • Very good dinner • Attractive breakfast • Good value for money • Free parking • Clean room • Clean linens • Very large room • Good service • Fridge • There are blinds that prevent light from entering in the morning. Disadvantages I============ • The bathroom door and the bed are creaks and makes a lot of noise, which is a real problem when you're sleeping at night. • Very basic breakfast • Low water pressure in the bathtub • Uncomfortable bed • Stairs and no elevator • No air conditioning • No bedside lamps

Where do I start... We were travelling through Southern Italy and decided to try a farm stay for a few days. Booking.com directed me to Grotto dell' Eremita, and the website looked okay so I booked 2 nights. Driving into the place it was showing signs of rustic decay but being late October and a dull day I remained hopeful that it would be a better experience than it looks. Check in was somewhat clumsy but we did get shown to our room, informed of the restaurant times, and left to settle in. That was when I started to worry. There are plenty of reviews on here warning about the accommodation and the restaurant, and I should have checked the latest reviews before booking. By now was late afternoon and I apologised to my wife and made plans to move somewhere else the next day. We headed to dinner at 8pm (earliest) in the quaint dining room and over the next 2 hours I was slowly charmed by the Grotto dell' Eremita experience. The food and the service were good enough to enjoy it. The setting is of a time long gone by. With a warmth and a comfort that comes from not new and shiny, but weathered and well worn. Everywhere you look are signs of previous prosperity. But I doubt that this place will still be operating in 10 years time. The owners/operators seem tired, a bit like the property. And that is a pity. There is an authentic charm beneath the ageing facilities. So no, we didn't move out the next day, we stayed on and immersed ourselves in the countryside and what could have been, but wasn't, a Fawlty Towers experience.

For a relaxing weekend we, me and my spouse, were looking for a calm and authentic place surrounded by woods and charming yet not overcrouded spots and towns to visit, and that's basically what we got. Grotta dell'eremita is a small village in the lucanian country and a family farm where the familiar side is maybe a lil prevalent on the need of being good hosts, when you have guests that are not your family. I mean, feeling home is important when you travel, but when you got the feeling that you are in someone else's home, that can be disappointing. I'd say that taking much care of the common spaces surrounding the rooms would not be a bad idea, to avoid a general impression of sloppiness that you could feel around you (an old and rusty tractor just beside one of the access to the rooms area, cars parked everywhere, people screaming at debatable volumes and times talking of daily business problems just down your balcony). With a few attention to details, this place, without changing its autenticity, could really become a sort of lost bucolic paradise, qnd it's a pity not to have had the chance to live it at its highest potential. For the rest, the family and workers were warm and always available and dinners were good yet simple. Just a final remark: what I espect in an agriturismo is a taste of autenticy even in food, and was disappointing to have a tradtional antipasto, where the most of the products served were basically products that you would find in any Italian supermarket. More attention to details, would represent an actual improvement, that would eventually justify the fact that, at the end of the sotry, the staying in a place which is far from everything in the heart of a non-turistic place, though not costly, could not even be deined as cheap.

Phenomenal experience in the restaurant. We had an all inclusive meal at 30€ per person including wine. All locally sourced ingredients and incredible service. I would give 10 stars if possible. Grazie

I am never coming back to this place. The owner was really really inappropriate towards me. He groped me many times, tried to kiss me, kissing me on my cheeks many times, pinching my cheek and arm and touching my shoulder constantly. He did the same to my friend, but not nearly as many times. We are two female backpackers, who are respectively 22 and 23 years old, and I would never come here if i am a female backpacker, a young female or a female alone. We did not feel safe. The owner is about 55-60 years old. His actions went far over our limits, so i couldnt handle it in the end, and ended up sitting and crying in front of the reception. So uncomfortable was it. And i didnt help that he didnt speak english, so we couldnt tell him that his actions wasnt okay. Would never recommend anyone coming here, nor support a place with an owner like this. Nothing was wrong with the rest of the staff - they were VERY nice and helpful. This seems like a place where very few women come, which could be the reason why the owner was so disgusting.