Villa Ruza is a lovely heritage property located in Donja Lastva, a small village just outside of Tivat and an ideal base for exploring Montenegro’s Bay of Kotor. The owners recently completed an extensive renovation preserving the exterior and completely re-doing the interior, bringing it up to modern standards with air conditioning and tasteful décor reflecting its seaside location. The house is charming and comfortable, with a large, well-equipped kitchen and dining area, three bedrooms with excellent beds, and spotlessly clean and contemporary bathrooms with good hot water and shower pressure. There is also an outdoor seating area and patio making it easy to enjoy the sun or shade, whatever you prefer. You have a lovely view of the bay and the spectacular sunsets and there is a small beach around the corner where locals swim every evening (and you can too). Down the road, you can access a waterfront promenade that takes you to Porto Montenegro, an exclusive shopping, hotel, condo and marina complex within a 15 minute walk. The complex has several restaurants and designer shopping and is the mooring station for many super yachts which make for interesting sight-seeing! There are two grocery stores a 10 minute walk away making it easy to stock up on essentials when you arrive. The owner provides extensive information on how to manage the house, as well as suggestions for day trips and activities in the area, restaurant recommendations, transportation options and the best way to ask the owner of the small restaurant next door to prepare fish he caught earlier in the day for your dinner. The villa management team on the ground is responsive and helpful, and booked taxis for us to tour the area as we did not have a rental car (and really didn’t need one). One item to note is the village church next to the villa and the church bells that ring on the hour (and sometimes on the half hour) between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. This is not an issue unless you’re a late riser or take long afternoon naps and is really part of the charm of village life. The pictures on the web site provide an accurate description of the house and a comprehensive overview of the exterior and interior. If you’re looking for a vacation property that’s comfortable as well as interesting, then Villa Ruza is an excellent choice. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay.