B&B CasaVera — Local services in Orvieto

Room itself was cozy and comfortable. There is a cute little kitchen. The whole facility was clean and close to a supermarket, cit center, bus station, and etc (Orvieto is very small to begin with). Bathroom was small and a bit outdated but I'm used to European size bathroom so it was not a big deal. Like all other typical European bathroom, it had a radiator which was very nice. Although.... I could never reach to the owner before my trip. I emailed her asking about my luggage but never received a reply. She emailed me a day before my arrival finally and told me to store the luggage at the wine store (I assume she owns it as well). When I arrived the wine store to store my luggage, the wine store staff looked very surprised (not in a good way) and refused to store my bags. I explained that the owner sent me an email and finally and reluctantly they said "I'm not sure where you can leave your luggage since the store is very small." After that luggage drama, I was finally free and went sightseeing. Sabrina carried the luggage from the store to the BNB (which was super nice since there were a lot of stairs). But.. the owner forgot to charge me and I had to send money via Paypal after my trip. Since it is through Paypal, the conversion rate was higher and I ended up paying more in USD. I've traveled every summer and winter for last 7 years (about 15 different countries) and it was by far the first time paying that way. Sabrina was nice enough and did everything she could have done. Overall decent. Suggestion for Orvieto trip: Prior to staying here, I stayed at wine resort for two days. It was nice to enjoy spa and jogging. If you like mountain biking, you can do that as well. However the taxi costs you 20~25 euro one way. I would suggest to stay at the wine resort (mine was Altarocca Wine Resort) one night and stay at the city center for one night. I stayed two night at the wine resort and it was...

Made a reservation to stay during the December Umbria Jazz Fest. The location of the room, comfort and unanticipated daily cleaning were all excellent for the price! Really appreciated the small stove & wine fridge our room came with, as well as the balcony. Rita, who met us, was welcoming and the restaurant they own next door, as well as their wine store, are both great places to have lunch and dinner. We would give our stay five stars! But we had a HUGE problem. Someone accessed their email account and used their "required deposit" email to scam me out 360euros. They normally send an email stating that the room deposit needs to be paid via their provided link within 24 hours of receiving the email. I received that email BUT, I then received another email immediately after, the fraud one, asking that the deposit be paid via PayPal, instead of the link, and asking that I pay more. Granted, I thought the request to pay via PayPal was unusual but it was jazz week and I didn't want to lose the room. Turns out the "pay via PayPal" was a spoofed email -- I couldn't tell since it contained all the text from the prior emails they had sent me. In case you think I'm just an idiot, I was cautious and called and spoke to Sabrina but she didn't understand that I was asking to confirm whether the PayPal request was valid. She thought I was asking if someone would meet us since we were arriving on a late train. That lack of clear communication resulted in me paying a scam artist 360euros. So BE WARNED - when paying deposits and/or final bills, make sure you are dealing with Sabrina and her team instead of getting scammed!!!! Beyond that - enjoy the comfort of the room and...

Casa Vera was beautiful. The picture doesn't capture how big and nice the place is. The loft room was spacious and the living room was large! It was easy to accommodate 4 people. The kitchen is big and well equipped. There is no dishwasher, but that was not an issue for us since we ate out every day. The flat is located in a quiet corner away from the touristic areas, but only a short 8-minute walk from the Duomo where the bus drops you up from the train station and only 5-10 away from all the main attractions and restaurants. There is a courtyard in the front of the flat which was perfect for our coffee or tea. My favorite part about the flat is the view of the wine seller every morning, guests don't have direct access, but you can see the wine seller directly from the kitchen it's a nice treat for the eyes :-). The host Sabrina was fantastic! She is well known by the locals and owns the restaurant next door to the flat (breakfast was only €4) she also owns a Bottega nearby that offers great wine. I would highly recommend visiting both establishments and I will certainly come back...