SPECTACULAR VIEWS OF LAKE MAGGIORE AND THE ALPS

“Marias home is perfectly located to enjoy both Lago Maggiore and the wilderness behind. We had a lovely stay, Maria was extremely helpful and as it was her primary residence we had everything you could possibly require. Whilst we are not cat lovers the cats were no trouble at all and everything worked out just fine, Charlie was sociable and unobtrusive and we never saw Cookie. We had no need for the aircon as we had a cooling breeze at night, and enjoyed our glass of wine looking across the lake to Isola Bella from the terrace.”

“Wonderful stay.”

“Many things about this property were very nice. The view. The spaciousness. The area. However, in the end, this was not a good experience on either end. Maria treated us more like house sitters than home swappers. We had a quite a list of things to do...including a fairly complicated cat feeding schedule. Not until a week before arrival did Maria inform us about her treacherous driveway...which even she called horrible. It was also quite hot during our stay, and the remote for the air conditioner had been locked away, so we could not turn it on. Meantime, unbeknownst to me, Maria and her husband spent no more than 2 nights in my home...leaving it exposed to potential break-ins as the mail piled up. She also, without checking with me first, put over 1000 miles on my new BMW, taking it from SF to Yosemite, Death Valley (!), Carmel. Frankly, this swap made me cancel my membership. I now work exclusively with Airbnb and am much happier. **********Host's response********** We have been home exchanging since 2002, been all over the world and made so many friends. This was the exception, it was *HELL*! Why would anyone swap a brand new car that was a long term rental with limited mileage without even telling the other party? We thought we were free to go anywhere we pleased, until she started stalking us via the GPS device in the car, threatening to block the car at any second, even in the middle of the desert. To appease her I offered to pay the difference in mileage and she took my car to a garage in Milan, telling me she wouldn’t tell me its location until I sent her $200 via Pay Pal. We did not ask her where she was going with our car, only Milan was out of bounds, and she left us with €1,200 damages. We have automated heating and A/C throughout the house, so no point in hiding the remote in the only room that requires one – it was in the drawer by the bed. She had the A/C on so low that the heating came on in the bedroom and instead of using the remote to switch it off, she yanked the domotic control panel off the radiator – another €180 damage! A condition of exchanging with us is that you like cats and the only “routine” we ask is to give Charlie a pouch mornings and evenings and some treats and, that if you go away for a few days, fill the food and water dispensers. To put an end to the nightmare we found alternative accommodation for the last week. She told us not to touch her alarm system and failed to put ours on. She says we abandoned her home but her ex husband lives upstairs, has a key and was well informed of our movements. It is a blessing that she has not renewed her subscription ”

“We had a great stay at Maria’s house, it is very well located to enjoy the Lake Maggiore and the surroundings like Stresa, lake Mergozzo. The house is very comfortable and has a beautiful view. Maria has been very helpful every time we needed some indications. The only thing to watch out is not to have a too big car, the parking spot is rather tight and difficult to park.”