Villa Tomicich

Travelling with another family we had a fab holiday at Villa Bella Vista, however it is a villa of two halves.

As other reviews say, you are greeted by the owners who are warm and welcoming. We weren’t expecting the gifts of cold meat, wines, liquers and the invitation to help ourselves to the figs from the garden - delicious cooked with the honey liquer! Their guidance on things to do in the area was also really helpful.

The villa is immaculate. It is well equipped and has absolutely everything you could ask for. The open plan kitchen, dining area and lounge opens out onto a stunning terrace with views for miles which are incredible. The layout of the bedrooms also works particularly well if you have two families; because there is a dividing wall that runs down the middle of the villa and there are two rooms on each side this afforded a lot of additional privacy that we weren’t expecting and meant that none of us felt ‘on top of each other’ as can be the case in other villas.

The outside space is also good. The brick bbq is great, and having a sink and a dustbin right next to it made its use really easy. The pool is smaller than the pictures suggest (it tapers at one end), and once there are three children and a couple of inflatables there really isn’t a lot of room for much else, but totally sufficient never-the-less. There are plenty of sun loungers and our children particularly liked the shade of the hanging swing. The table tennis table also got lots of use, although we suggest you take a handful of spare balls in your suitcase as a well aimed shot can see them fly out across the countryside never to be seen again!!

The challenge comes from the disconnect between upstairs and the outside space. What we didn’t realise is that you don’t have any access to the the downstairs rooms (the large patio doors that are poolside in the pictures). This means that access is through the main front door and down the steps at the side of the villa. For a group of adults it’s vaguely annoying carrying trays of drinks etc up and down, however if you have children with you (the youngest of our group was 6), every time they want something from inside, or need the toilet an adult needs to go with them to unlock the front door and then check it has been shut properly again. We also found ourselves carrying patio chairs through the villa and up and down stairs depending on whether we were eating on the terrace table or on the one by the bbq.

Locationally the villa is in a remote area - you certainly need a car. This suited us, and Labin, supermarkets and beaches are in relatively easy reach, Pula is also less than an hour if you want to soak up the history. However, while the villa looks out onto the beautfiul countryside, its drive and front door (although fenced and gated with a low fence) sits on a fairly busy road which is a direct route to the local concrete factory. I guess it depends where you live at home as to whether the road noise and thundering lorries bother you, but it is another reason why we felt the need to keep the front door locked and escort the children up and down from pool to villa.

The owners are passionate about what they have created and it really shows - Villa Bella Vista has the potential to become a very boutique villa and there are plans to create further kitchen space downstairs and even put in a hot tub. Ultimately we would recommend this villa and we had a great week there, just think about whether the ‘upstairs downstairs’ split works for your group.

The villa is in a fabulous location, with far reaching views of the Limski Canal and beyond. The property is very clean, modern and well equipped with four generous bedrooms, two with en-suite facilities and a further two separate bathrooms. It's equipped with everything that you need to have a relaxing self-catering holiday, including good terrace space and a lovely pool. The best feature of the villa though, is the lovely family who own it, and who come bearing fruit fresh from their own garden when they welcome you and again during the weekly linen/towel change. Their personal hospitality when inviting you to have a wonderful stay in their house was very touching and greatly appreciated.

We thoroughly enjoyed a very relaxing stay in the beautiful Istrian countryside and the peace and quiet that went with it. Lovely country, lovely house, lovely stay, very lovely people.

la villa è nuova di zecca, pulitissima, ben equipaggiata (portatevi però una caffettiera!) ed in perfetta efficienza. il proprietario, che parla molto bene l'italiano, è molto disponibile e vi riceverà con la sua gentile famiglia.
è indispensabile essere automuniti: nelle vicinanze ci sono alcune belle spiagge di sassi e roccia che digradano in un mare limpidissimo, il ristorante più vicino è quello del camping tunarica a 2,5 km mentre il minimarket più vicino è a koromacno a circa 4 km, per le spese è quindi consigliabile rifornirsi a labin (15 km) prima di arrivare.
stupenda la vista dalle terrazze, specialmente al tramonto e poi di notte, quando si accendono le stelle.