8/10 Bien
Russ U.
11 oct. 2022
Les points forts : Propreté
The Mystery House of Rappalo
You are renting the entire 2nd floor of a gigantic 4 story mansion which you will have entirely to yourself!
The Good:
The location is good. Turn right out the gate, and the road goes to Portofino, 20 min. away. Go left, and there’s Rappalo and the Strata to go anywhere.
The rooms are spacious, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, decent kitchen, laundry facilities, living room, huge dining room, big yard, nice view. The long, pretty driveway is gated, security is decent. A big garage to park your car below the house.
You can walk down to the bay easily, cafes aren’t too far away, but they’re not close either. It’s a pleasant walk once you get off the busy main road.
This was obviously the home of aristocracy decades ago…
The Not So Good:
Communication with the local property agents was frustrating. Driving 4 hrs to Rappalo we simply wanted to know how to get in the gate and house. We got several answers, even “the gate is always open”. It is not. Finally, we’re told someone would meet us there and open the gate.
The agent gave us the bare minimum tour of the house. We had to find the hidden washing machine ourselves. It was obvious few folks rent this property, the yard and house is somewhat neglected.
Typical for the area, there’s mosquitoes, do not open doors/windows! If sitting outside, buy some repellent.
The internet wasn’t working, requiring a service call. It is cell based, and decent when the owners refill the data tank, stream Netflix for 2 hrs the data is spent. We gave up, used our phones as hotspots for email/travel planning.
There are MANY stairs if you have a lot of luggage, difficult but doable.
Getting in the gate is difficult. Its a VERY busy road with trucks and tour buses. There is no “clicker” to open the motorized gate, only a key (?). There is no place to pull-in to use the key, 1/2 your car will be in traffic, I DO NOT recommend this. I dropped-off my wife a 1/2 block away, depending which direction we approached, she opened the gate and stood in front of the sensor so it wouldn’t close. I had to drive to turn around safely—not easy—then return and drive in. It’s a hassle.
Overall: We did enjoy or stay in this mysterious house. Once you come to grips with the indifferent management, the stressful entry/exit and the stairs. It’s a nice, safe, relatively quiet place to be. We stayed 4 nights, and ended up eating dinner outside overlooking the harbor on 3 nights.
Russ U.
Séjour de 4 nuits en septembre 2022