Log cabins at Camp Darby in Italy will feature televisions, DVD/VCR players, microwave ovens and refrigerator/ freezers. They’re designed for a family of five to sleep comfortably. (U.S. Army)
Visitors won’t be exactly roughing it at new log cabins at Camp Darby.
Twelve cabins are replacing 20 trailers that have dotted the campground at the northern Italy base since 1993.
Seven of the cabins will have bathrooms. All of them will feature televisions, DVD/VCR players, microwave ovens and refrigerators. They’re designed for a family of five to sleep comfortably. Nightly prices are $60 for the “rustic” cabins (no plumbing) and $75 for the “deluxe” models.
Frank Fusco, manager of the Sea Pines Recreational Facility, said the cabins will be ready for occupancy some time in early June, but a specific date hasn’t been set.
The base — which has only a few hundred servicemembers permanently stationed there — hosts about 30,000 visitors annually, Fusco said. There are some dates during the summer where the hotel’s rooms are already booked, he said. He expects that to be the case with the cabins as well.
“People can already start calling now to make reservations for July,” he said.
The trailers had “passed their life expectancies,” Fusco said. They offered a midranged option between camping and staying in the Sea Pines’ rooms, which were renovated in 2003).
Fusco said the trailers used to cost $51 a night, but the rate dropped in recent years to $25 because they weren’t in good shape. The trailers offered electricity, but no plumbing. Visitors had to take a walk to the nearby shower/toilet facilities used by campers.
The summer season at Darby officially gets under way Memorial Day with the opening of the American Beach in Tirrenia. But Fusco said all Sea Pines facilities are open year-round.
