The Apple House Varenna

Beautiful property in quiet area. The apartment is well appointed and plenty of space for 2-4 people. We especially enjoyed the large patio and beautiful views. For those that don’t rent a car, the walk into Varenna is almost two miles and had some stairs. The walk itself has many sights but would be difficult for anyone with mobility issues. Cabs are available but you need to call first. They are not readily available in town. The office staff is very welcoming and accommodating- they helped us out with more coffee and reservations. Overall, a wonderful stay!

Great view from the balcony and lovely walk to Varenna from Pino (and a great 6 km morning run back and forth). Varenna is really beautiful from that direction. Really nice to be able to access the Green Way dei Patriarchi right from the apartment! Things we enjoyed in the area: - the garden of Villa Monastero, - hiking up to the castello de Vezio with the kids - great views from up there too, - walking the Green Way dei Patriarchi from Varenna Port towards the town. - the promenade by the waterline in Menaggio, from the piazza and further down - having lunch at the bar restaurant at Grand Hotell Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio - beautiful building and great view from there, and not as expensive as the regular reataurant. - taking the ferry to Como, great way to see the whole lake and more nice towns (and then we took the speed boat home, as the other was 2-3 hours), although Como was not that special, just a regular bigger town in our view. There was also a nice market (crafts, clothes etc) on the piazza of Varenna on Monday. We really liked Varenna, thought it was the nicest of all the towns we visited. Beautiful houses and very authentic, not full of souvenir shops like Bellagio. Some things that can be improved: - more kitchen stuff would be nice, like more big plates and bowls for eating at home (like a tapas style dinner), small bowls (for morning yoghurt etc), nicer small glassess (made of glass, not just plastic) - more candles for late dinners outside (and we did not find matches either) - fix the access to the beach below the house, for the quick evening swim. It’s inaccessible at the moment because there are thorn bushes in the way, and ”private road” signs too it seems. There was even a drone in the air when we tried to find the way so our guess is that some neighbours were unappreciative about that access way. But the beach below was not that impressive anyway, there are nicer places for swimming a bit further away, like in Fiumelatte, a 10-12 mins walk. - Would have been nice with a 4 person table at the balcony too. - the outdoor plants at the property were quite poorly maintained, but perhaps there is a watering restriction due to the draught? 15 August is a holiday in Italy and stores are closed then (e.g in Como), good to know if you are there then. Bring mosquito repellant for outdoor dinners at th property!

Super ausgestattete Wohnung. Es fehlte uns an nichts. Die Aussicht auf den See ist phantastisch, die Abendsonne auf der Terrasse super! Küche top ausgestattet, Grill vorhanden. Fast alle Fenster sind mit Fliegengittern ausgestattet,leider eins der Schlafzimmer nicht. Eventuell wären 2 Sonnenliegen mehr praktisch, uns haben die 2 vorhandenen ausgereicht. Leider war der viel-beschriebene Weg zum Strand nicht begehbar, weil sich jemand sehr viel Mühe gegeben hat, ihn abzusperren und zuwuchern zu lassen. Das sollte unbedingt behoben werden. Denn so kommt man nur über die vielbefahrene Straße zum Wasser, was mit Kinder und Gepäck sehr gefährlich ist. Toller Service vor Ort, Kleinigkeiten wurden sofort behoben. Gerne wieder! 2 Sonnenliegen zusätzlich bereitstellen, Fliegengitter überprüfen und auch am letzten Fenster anbringen. Dafür sorgen, dass der Zugang zu Strand freigeräumt wird

The view is the best quality of the apartment. The location is far from Varenna you really need a car, parking is provided. Not having AC is a set back because the apartment bakes in the sun in the afternoon. When asked they brought a 3rd fan to us. My biggest complaint is they only provided 1 1/2 rolls of toilet paper for 5 of us for 3 days and told us to buy some from the store. Seriously ?!?! The refrigerator never cooled either but by that point we were done dealing with the mgmt company