Casa Montalto is a country house originally built in the 1930’s which has been sensitively restored by its present owners Thomas and Debbie Manz. It sits on a hillside below the historic town of Montalto delle Marche and has views of the sixteenth century Cathedral and old town above and across the hills to the Monti Sybillini in the west and the Adriatic in the east. We stayed with our children, Kitty 6 and Dominic 8, in the one-bedroom apartment which occupies half of the first floor and has views in three directions. The bedroom was huge with easily enough room for two single beds for the children as well as our double. The sitting room was spacious and comfortable and the kitchen light, airy and well equipped with a generous welcome pack including a bottle of delicious local wine. The welcome from Debbie, Thomas and their family was equally warm and generous.

Normally the apartment is self catering but they agreed to do B&B for us which we would heartily recommend. There was a huge choice of local produce including jams made from their own fruit (we took jars of apricot and fig jams home as well as Casa Montalto olive oil), eggs were cooked to order to go with fresh toast and prosciutto and a range of fresh fruit , yoghurt and cereal.

Casa Montalto was a great place to stay with children as Thomas and Debbie’s 3 youngster very much welcome new playmates. Their son Dominik and our Dominic were delighted to discover they were born only 1 day apart and became firm friends. (Warning – pack clothes you don’t mind the kids getting dirty in – ours had a wonderful time climbing trees and making mud pies!)

As we were there over Easter, Debbie and Thomas explained the Italian tradition of going out for a family meal at lunchtime on Easter Sunday and offered to arrange a booking for us at a local restaurant. Despite the late date and the fact that almost everywhere was fully booked, Thomas persevered – goodness knows how many calls he had to make – until he got us into a hotel in nearby Montedinove where we enjoyed an eight course lunch (it might have been more but we admitted defeat at that stage) and were treated with wonderful friendliness by the otherwise all-local clientele.

The trouble taken over this was typical – Thomas has a background of working in top class hotels and it shows. We thoroughly recommend Casa Montalto and will definitely be going back.

If you are looking for a base from which to explore Le Marche, look no further than Casa Montalto, in the southern part of the province. The setting is exactly what we’d hoped for - a large, beautifully converted 1930’s country house looking down over a valley of olive orchards, sunflower fields and villages perching on hilltops. You look up the vineyard covered slopes to Montalto delle Marche, the local town where you can get everything you need – and it’s walkable from the house.

On a clear day you can see the Adriatic. If you’re there at the right time, cherries, peaches fall off the trees, so you don’t need to worry about breakfast.

The best thing about Casa Montalto, however, is the family. Thomas and Debbie Manz and the 3 kids (Dominik, Issy and Lara) are incredibly welcoming. They give you as much or as little attention as you need. You feel as if you’re part of the family. The kids are enrolled in the local school, and Italian lessons are free, over a glass of wine in the sun by the plunge pool. If you ever need to know what ‘squirrel’ in in Italian, Dominik can tell you! If you need cherries, the kids will shin up the tree with their butterfly nets for you.

We stayed (for the second time in less than a year) in the apartment. It is fully kitted out with a great kitchen, good bathroom, tv, DVD and CD player. You get a welcome pack of locally pressed olive oil, bread, a carafe of Marche wine and maybe some of Debbie’s homemade jam. The attention to detail is superb. The apartment is full of books, guides and maps. Often you’ll find a basket of fruit or veg from the garden outside your door in the morning.

There are 2 double ensuite rooms as well, so you can hire the whole floor. They’re also very reasonably priced.

It’s easy to get to - 1½ hours by car from Pescara or Ancona, or 3 hours by car from Rome – and an easy and very picturesque drive through the mountains.

It’s perfectly located - ½ hour from the beach and about the same to the beautiful Sibillini Mountains. So potentially both a summer and winter skiing base.

The place is MAGIC!

Our second trip to the Marche and our second visit to CASA MONTALTO in the past 9 months. You arrive at Casa Montalto with all the baggage of big city living and it magically disappears within minutes of arrival.
Our first trip was a great introduction to the Marche and a great help in understanding the process of buying a property in Italy from Thomas & Debbie, the owners of Casa Montalto.

The second visit this June was like returning home, or revisitng very good friends. We stayed in the apartment both times which is very well appointed, and stocked with a hamper of goodies on arrival - usually from there own back garden - juicy cherries, seasonal veg; ripe & full of flavour tomatoes. Maybe if the harvest was good some home made olive oil - Debbie is just brilliant with a thousand & one things to do - with fresh tomatoes and how best to preserve them.
Opening your shutters in the morning is just beautiful - looking out over the rolling hills, down into the gorge and over to hillside villages - you can even see the Adriatic shimmering in the distance. The location is also very good for walking into Montalto itself (10mins) walking through Thomas & Debbies olives trees or stopping to load up on the tastiest reddest cherries I have ever eaten. And if you want some Italian lessons then speak to Dominik, the oldest of three kids.
There are two other double ensuite bedrooms on the same floor as the apartment, so could hire the whole floor very reasonably, and be completely self contained.
We will see you again soon, best wishes Nigel & Gary

We stayed for ten days in the apartment at Casa Montalto, with our two children aged four and two. Debbie and Thomas were great hosts, and thought of everything to make our stay relaxing, providing any equipment needed for young children, and with helpful touches like a selection of groceries and a bottle of their own olive oil and delicious jams to see us through to our first food shopping trip. We had packed books, DVDs and toys for the children - we needn't have bothered as the aparrtment had all of these to hand!

The children had a fantastic time in their garden and play area, and enjoyed playing with Debbie and Thomas' three lovely children. We were happy to sit back and drink in the views - which are fantastic in every direction. Our children were intrigued by being in bright sunshine but seeing "snowy mountains" in the distance.

Debbie and Thomas answered all of our questions about the area, provided maps and suggestions for places to eat and visit. If they didn't know something we asked, they took the trouble to find the answer for us.

It was great to talk to our hosts about their experience of moving to Italy, and restoring a house, and all the pitfalls you can come up against. We joined in composting all our veggie peelings at Casa Montalto and now feel slightly guilty not doing it back here in London!

The apartment was beautifully furnished, with great picture windows in every room. They had obviously taken great care to make it a really welcoming place to be. We would definitely visit again. Thank you!