Raffaello Apartment - Affitti Brevi italia

This property is located right on lake como. It is spacious and with a fully equipped kitchen and nice view of the mountains (not a lake view). Very clear entry instructions and we met nice staff members when collecting our key. We also had an issue working the ceiling fan but the staff were very responsive and helped us fix it promptly.

The ceiling fan did not provide great airflow or cool air the room got very hot during the day however we found leaving the windows open overnight with the shutters mostly down resolved this and allowed some cool air in.

The apartment is well located in the center, within a larger building sharing the entrance with a local museum. It served as a convenient starting point for our daily excursions. Eventually, we felt at home after a painfully rough start.

Making a good first impression isn't their forte. We almost cancelled our stay, but because it was already paid in full, that wasn't an option. Our train arrived in Lecco on a Sunday morning, when the hosting agency's office is closed. The phone number provided on Booking.com was unresponsive, so we communicated through an automated chat assistant. We simply wanted to know whether an early check-in was possible or if we could drop off our luggage. At 12:30 pm, they notified us in the chat that we could pick up the key from a lockbox, which we did. At 1:00 pm, they messaged us saying the cleaner needed the key back in the box, so we returned it. Then, at 3:30 pm, they informed us that cleaning wouldn't actually happen until the next day. The apartment was of course a total mess—dirty dishes, stains and used bedsheets on the beds. When I confronted them, their response was to simply copy and paste the entire bilingual text of our rental contract into the chat. We ended up booking a room for the night at Lecco Hostel and Rooms, which would have been the perfect choice for our entire vacation, thanks to their helpful, empathetic staff, and flawless service. The next morning, after being asked, as if nothing had happened, the agency messaged to say the apartment was cleaned and ready. We swallowed our pride and returned. The bottom line is that chat messages sometimes read different than intended and in communication with travellers it is important to have a real human on the other end of the line. Sometimes a guest arrives at the wrong moment and it shows if the operation is ill-designed.