Gaeta 'Bella Gaeta' - Enjoy relaxing in a luxurious Lake front apartment!

The view is quite spectacular but the title: 'luxurious lake front apartment' is very misleading. We arrived late on a Sunday evening tired, but optimistic. However, first impressions were not good. As suggested in the Lake Como Homes Welcome Notes, "tomorrow it will all look different"! Well, no it didn't, because the toilet seat was still cracked in half, the shower hose was still leaking, the broken glass was still on the veranda, the dirt and crumbs on the settee, dangerous and unusable electrical socket, dust and hair from previous occupants and the filthy floors were all still there. So, quite frankly it was not worth the high rental charge (which included cleaning!!!) .

On the plus side, the property is in a quiet and well maintained complex and the swimming pool is a bonus and the kitchen has been replaced. However, its accessibility by two narrow and steep staircases is unsuitable for children and the elderly. The small garage was only for a Smart car!

The apartment is tired, tatty and in urgent need of TLC. The two bathrooms need renovation. The previous occupants' dirt was very evident and the shower curtain disgusting. The double mattress is badly stained and should be thrown away. The sofas had sheets thrown over them to hide the paint stains and general dirt, and are uncomfortable too. The table lamp was non existent, none of the floors have seen soap and water for some time, the rug was filthy and so too were the seat cushions on the kitchen chairs. Chinaware is either cracked or chipped with no complete sets. The venetian blind was broken and caked in dirt. The walls need repainting and the first thing we glimpsed in the morning was not the view but all the weeds growing in the garden flower boxes.

So, for goodness sake make sure something gets done about this so called 'Luxurious Apartment' because we felt that you took our hard earned cash and didn't give tuppence as to how this property should be presented. If you value your reputation, then you should insist that Bella Gaeta comes up to an acceptable standard quickly. We did complain on Monday morning and the Agency cleaners came but only did a superficial job. The toilet seat and shower hose were replaced but it should not have required us to mention this need.

The Agency seems very keen to market add-on additional services but perhaps they should make more frequent effort to inspect and check their properties, if ours is anything to go by.