The Best Surprise of Our Trip

We've just returned from a wonderful two week vacation in Italy, one week was based at La Panin. It was a beautiful apartment with amazing views. The apartment was clean, well equipt with items youd need for cooking or relaxing (nice DVD collection even), with modern cabinetry, a washing maching, dishwasher and nicely decorated. The owner Steve was extremely communicative during the whole process, even when we were a bit lost on the way finding the place and went out of his way to secure items for our 9 month old we were travelling with! There was a nice assortment of reference materials on the apartment and the area.

The only downfall for us was it was a little warm for our comfort and without screens on the windows it was hard for us to cool the place down at night since mosquitos could come in and my son and I are highly allegeric to bug bits. However we recognize we have a lower threshold for heat as we are Americans living in the Middle East where we have air conditioning year round set at 19C (68F). There is a ceiling fan, but another above the bed would have made it perfect. Or if you dont mind the windows open it wouldnt have been a problem either.

Definitely need a car to get around in the area though as the winding mountain roads are not meant for pedestrians. Bellagio though is only a couple minutes by car and even a drive to Lugano Switzerland is only about 40 minutes away which is a nice day trip. Como is a nice urban city on the lake, Varenna has a train into Milan, and recommend the Bellagio Water Taxi tours too.

I would definitely recommend La Panin to friends and go back to stay there once again.

We're a middle-aged couple of university lecturers, who spent a week in June at la Pinin. We flew to Bergamo and drove to Limonta in under an hour. The flat has easy-access, safe, private parking. We found the flat itself perfect for our needs, everything as stated in the description. The kitchen has everything you need. The owner provided efficient, friendly customer service. The flat was clean and wel-maintained. The balcony has splendid views across the lake in both directions. Magnificent in the morning to have breakfast watching the red kites swooping across the water as the sun comes up over the hills opposite. In the evening to relax with a bottle of wine and a book as the sun goes down behind and the lights of the villages on the other side come on. We definitely recommend a car. The village itself is almost nothing - no shop, a bar at weekends only (although there is a trattoria down below on the lake road). Which is what we loved most, the absolute peace and quiet. You need a car to go to Bellagio to get supplies and to visit the surrounding area. There are some fascinating small villages tucked away in the surrounding mountains if you don't mind narrow, winding roads. It's also easy and cheap to put your car on the numerous lake ferries and visit all the villages around the lake, together with the hinterland on the other side. We were there in June and the weather was perfect for us, coming as we do from very hot Andalucia - sunny with a few showers. There were also few people around. We got the impression from some of the big closed-up houses around that August might bring in more "beautiful people" from Milan and other parts of Italy (even in June the odd Ferrari), so things might be considerably livelier if that's what you like. We ate very well in various restaurants in Bellagio and in villages and the hills on the western shore of the lake (not too much to the east), including a memorable visit by ferry to an island and restaurant called Isola Comacina (the restaurant a bit kitsch and also with a photo of Michael Winner on the wall, but worth a visit). There are various gardens to visit for those of a botanical bent. The flat at la Pinin is an ideal place to return to at night and sit on the terrace to relax. Altogether a good base for visiting the whole area and in itself quiet and peaceful. But you do need a car. We recommend it wholeheartedly.

We stayed at the apartment for our honeymoon in July 2009 and it was a delightful place to stay. The apartment is nicely furnished in a relaxed style but has everything you need.

The views from the balcony are breath taking and we enjoyed many a lazy breakfast out there.

Its also a great spot to watch the thunderstaorms roll down the lake.

Only down side for us was the lack of restaurants or bars within walking distance. Restaurant Anna , the only one nearby was closed from the 1st July for a week.

My only criticism of the place was the slightly mad Italian drivers whizzing round the very narrow bends! It made driving a somewhat daunting experience at times as the roads are not always two cars wide - so be careful!

We travelled to La Pinnin from Bergamo - a very easy trip even for those like us that had never driven in Italy before. The appartment itself is compact but contains all that is necessary for a very comfortable break. The living area gives a feeling of airiness with the balcony and the high ceilings. The terrace / front porch under the sail was a very cosy spot to relax in the afternoon sun in privacy. We appreciated the abundance of outdoor chairs / loungers and tables supplied. The view form the balcony as others have said is superb by night or day with views of snow covered alps one way, contrasting with the opposite bank and the lake itself. The standard of cleanliness was second to none in our experience, and anything your could expect was provided.

The village itself was quiet, but there were a number of interesting walks from the house up into the village square or down to the lake. The visiting maket vans in the square at lunchtime on Thursday (I think) were very interesting with some mighty powerful cheese on sale. All the details were in the extensive brochure in the appartment.

For evening eating, Bellagio has some wonderful restaurants - we especially liked the Trattoria San Giacomo at the top of one of the steep step streets on the left. We also had a very amusing evening at the pizzeria on the left as you enter Bellagio (before the hairpins), the owner was very friendly and went to great trouble to introduce us to everyone in the restaurant - the pizza was great too!

The lake is a great place to explore - the only downside was that in early May the boat services were much more limited than in the high season - despite this we had a fantastic day at the Villa Carlotta - amazing gardens. We also liked the villa approaching Bellagio which had a 1km gouge cut across the peninsula to allow a view of both legs of the lake! - magical - would love to get inside it.

All in all a great week away - made by having a good CLEAN apparment.

Very nice place to stay, near Bellagio. It was very clean. It had a fabulous 180 degree view from the balcony. There was a book containing lots of information, area attractions, restaurants, how to use the facilities. It was very handy. We ate at one of the restaurants suggested in their book right at the bottom of the hill on the main road, it was wonderful. Great place -D' Anna's. The driveway was a little hard to manuver, very steep and sharp turn at the bottom but that is the only derogative comment -everything else was great.

Spent a wonderful week over New Year's at this comfortable apartment, tastefully furnished and offering all things necessary for a nice stay in this beautiful area. Enjoyed the quiet neighbourhood and the wonderful view. Appreciated that we were allowed to bring along our canine friend.

This is a beautiful, well equipped and tastefully decorated apartment - the owners have thought of many homely touches that raised it for us above many other rentals we have tried eg the dvd/cd player and the quality of the furnishings. It was very clean and fresh with a much appreciated mid stay linen change/cleaning service. My two children slept very comfortably on the sofa bed - a real bonus for them to wake up to the glorious views of Lake Como! Evenings spent on the balcony were also a delight - watching the pipistrelles swooping! The visitors' guide was really helpful - especially the restaurant reviews. The only thing we struggled to find for a couple of days was a supermarket - there is one - badly signed - turn by the police station!
Bellagio is truly wonderful - we did not tire of exploring the cobbled streets, the waterfront cafes and, of course, the ice cream shops. Varenna was also stunning - do make the effort to climb to the castle as the view of Varenna and the lake is second to none. We would also recommend away from the lake itself Bergamo old town ( a real gem) and, of course Milan. We drove to Como via Erba (much safer roads!!) and caught the train to Milan which was very stress free. If you plan to see The Last Supper we would say prebooking via the internet is essential. If travelling with children, we would also recommend the beach at San Giovanni - there is a boat jetty that the restaurant owner is very happy to let the children (and any suitably crazy adult) jump off!
To sum up, we loved our stay at this great apartment in a truly stunning region and would not hesitate to recommend it to friends. The owners, Steve and Francine, were extremely helpful and friendly in all of our communications with them and did everything to ensure that our holiday experience went smoothly. Many thanks to them!

The appartment in Limonta, near to Bellagio was clean, well appointed and supplied with basic needs. The customer service with the owner was excellent.
I would recommend this property for active tourists that need a car.
The activities and sightseeing trips, especially by boat, are the best on the lake, but not very suitable for driving around the lake.
One small comment would be to show the availability of food shops or supermarkets, which were very limited for the self-caterer.