We flew to Rome which meant a long drive 3-4 hours to get to the villa not helped by sat nav tasking us the scenic route off the main road and over the hills. The villa is lovely, located at the end of a track in hilly farmland and completely private and not overlooked. The views over the hills are spectacular and the village can be seen from the terraces. Casalinguida is a pretty hill village, small and quiet. The few shops are ok for basic needs and there is a cashpoint and pharmacy. The bars are small and there is no restaurant. It is a decent walk from the villa, maybe 15mins, but an easy 5 min drive. The villa is very comfortable, well equipped and spacious. There is good wi fi, sat tv , games, books , etc. The living areas and bedrooms are a good size and v comfortable. There are several lovely terraces and balconies The pool is very nice, being on a raised terrace at the rear of the property and in full sun until about 4pm( in July/August). It is graduated from about 3' to over 6' deep with a platform around the edge about 3' deep and a deeper middle area. It is not fenced off. Maria and her husband live locally and were very helpful for any queries we had, and David, the owner responded to e mails and phone calls promptly, although our questions were not urgent! We did find the location of the villa a little more remote than expected so being the sort of family who likes to explore the area rather than pool sitting every day, we did have to drive quite a lot. Vasto, about 20 mins drive away, was a lovely classic old Italian baroque style town with a modern area for all your needs. There is a lively beach here as well with disco bars, etc We drove to Pompeii and Herculaneum for a day (about 2 hours) and took the passenger ferry to Tremeti island( 1 hr drive, 1 hr on ferry) which was a lovely day. Several other day excursions to see beautiful towns (eg Sulmina), stunning castles (eg Roccascalegna) and lovely ancient hill villages (Atessa) but due to lack of tourist information in the area, we largely had to suss things out ourselves. Very few if any Brits around - even tourist info in Vasto did not speak English or had any English pamphlets. Overall, a fantastic holiday in undiscovered Italy, away from the tourist track, in a beautiful relaxing, quiet and private villa. Thoroughly recommended.