8/10
The house in Rakotule looks exactly like it does on the pictures. It is very spacious and quiet, and my partner and I were able to relax for a week and enjoy the sun. It also has AC in the bedrooms and the kitchen, which made things a lot more bearable for us (we're from Germany and not accustomed to the kind of heat to be expected in Istria in August).
If you decide to book a stay in this house, you should be aware that you cannot contact the owner directly through this website, instead you can only contact the agency (Novasol). When I did this, there were no more working days between my first message and our arrival at the house, so nobody at the agency read it and we ended up having to go there without having any contact details of the owner. This made things very stressful as we had no way of calling him during our journey to tell him that we would be very late (there was exetremely much traffic), but he very kindly waited for us at the house and received us in the late evening, where he showed us the house and we exchanged phone numbers. Long story short: you should contact the agency (via the contact form on this website) well in advance in order to be able to exchange contact details with the owner. However, the owner speaks very basic English, which means that conversations about complicated topics might not be possible. But it's definitely enough to coordinate check-in and check-out.
Another thing to be aware of is that in the summer, many insects find their way into the house. None of them are dangerous, but it is annoying to regularly have to escort them out (and, if you're squeamish like me, uncomfortable).
The inventory listing on the website is not 100% accurate: there was no stereo and no DVD player. However, there were two hair dryers, even though they were not listed. Also, the only pan that is available in the house is not the best (a bit difficult to clean and impossible to use for pancakes), so it might be smart to bring your own.
All these details might make it seem like we were unsatisified with the house, but that's not the case. I'm only mentioning them so future guests know exactly what to expect. Overall we were happy with our choice to go there, and found it very relaxing. If you have a car (which you should have because otherwise you really can't get around), there are many beaches only about a 30 minute drive away, as well as some nice towns (like Motovun, which is also a good place to go shopping).
David H.
أقام 6 ليالٍ في شهر أغسطس عام 2020