My family and I have just returned from spending a week in Lake Como at the above property.
We booked this for my nieces wedding at Villa del Balbianello. To say we were disappointed is an understatement!
On our arrival the property we were greeted with an extremely dirty outside area - from lots of abandoned pool toys scattered around the pool area from previous occupants; to the pool itself not having been cleaned (we spent over an hour cleaning the pool before my very excited grandson could jump in). The patio area had not been swept and was absolutely disgraceful.
The outdoor furniture had seen better days some the wicker was all coming off and some had been stuck down with duct tape. The cushions were dirty ! No Sun loungers to sunbathe on … just very unstable chairs, which on several occasions tipped over!
Moving inside was no better the sink was filthy stained brown and in need of a good clean/bleach !
There were no instructions about the property, how anything worked etc or information about taxis, buses, hospitals, churches, supermarkets, what to do with rubbish and recycling. We always stay in Villas and this is always provided.
The whole downstairs needed dusting which we set about doing, as my daughter has asthma and is allergic to dust and began sneezing & wheezing within a couple of hours of our arrival.
(At this point I need to add there was no mop or bucket available for cleaning… we found a very dirty mop propped up on the outside wall of the Villa .. but no bucket !!)
Also the weather (which I know you have no control over) was poor with massive thunderstorms and rain for 3 days. We had to sit outside as it was impossible for 7 people to sit comfortably inside, on just one sofa !
Cooking was also difficult as the oven only had a grill pan no oven trays - so we had to cook pizzas etc one at a time!
On the lower ground floor.. or should I call it a cellar because it smelt of damp. Especially the room with the games/books in it so we could not use this room at all it was very unhealthy for anyone to have stayed in that!
Again this area very dusty and unloved. The dust on the surfaces including the lamps was visible so we then set about cleaning this area also. The family that stayed down there had to repack all their clothes as the drawers and wardrobes smelt of damp therefore making their clothes smell.
What can I say about the space on this level by the front door should it have been a hallway air some point ? but like the rest of the villa it was just unloved, damp and dirty.
Going upstairs again the property had not been dusted and the dust was visible, on top of the bed head and lamps. Also like downstairs I don’t think any of the beds had been pulled out and cleaned behind as there was piles of dust.
The quality of the linen and towels was extremely poor, not to mention the hard grubby yellow stained pillows !
The bathroom shelving was very dusty.
In one of the rooms the air conditioning was dripping water and we had to have a bowl underneath it … we did report this to George but he said he couldn’t get anyone to fix it !
He called once when we could not get it to work, but and we felt we had put him out.
The power went off several times we called George and he told us how to fix it .. which we had to do most nights (luckily my husband is an electrician). No concern was shown by George. My husband was concerned that the main electrical supply breaker was easily accessible to anyone passing the Villa, as the cabinet lock was broken. This we think was so the tenants in the Villa could fix it themselves as it must be a regular issue.
We had several functions to go to pre wedding drinks and the wedding itself. With never previously stayed in the Lake Como area .. and no information with regard to taxis at the Villa, I text George for advice, he text back straight away asking for a form to be submitted, which I did straight away and heard nothing, on the day of the pre wedding drinks at the Hotel Musa quite a distance away where the bride was staying, I text George again and got this reply
“Hi sorry I had emergency issues today - I asked all the taxi service I know around unfortunately everyone is busy I'm sorry”
None of the other wedding guests who were staying all around the area did not have any problems and received help from their various hotels/villas
So we missed the pre wedding party which he knew about. Eventually we managed with the help of information gathered from other wedding guests to get to the wedding.
This caused us lots of stress as you can imagine.
Having paid £5662.80 we were left feeling very let down by the misleading information on the website.
We sent this letter to lake Como Holidays and received this reply
We are sorry you didn't like the property.
You only contacted us for the AC leaking, which our colleague helped us address.
You also had other 3 different phone numbers to contact, and in the property, there is a welcome note with all service information (how to use appliances in the house with very explicative video tutorials, taxi numbers, boat rentals, restaurants, supermarkets, garbage rules etc.).
If you wanted to receive more information about churches or more specific tours, you were given our email address and also our concierge email address on top of the other 3 phone contacts.
We are really sorry but a refund is not possible.
I found this reply arrogant I never asked for a refund I was just offering constructive criticism to help future guests
