Vera | Apartment in Gonte, Piedmont

Positive: Great apartment and so close to the lake. Immediate access to the pool and tennis courts (there is two). Very clean and the hosts were very friendly. The rooftop terrace is a gem, offering magnificent views of the lake and the surrounding landscape.

Negative: TV with only local channels.

Positive: We have not expected to get a de facto "villa at the beach" for that price. The apartment is large and just about 80 meters away from a private beach/peer there. It is within a nice and a huge park - in May it was practically just for the two us, you really understand why the residence is call "of a pasha". We learned later that it really belonged to a Turkish (Egyptian?) pasha. With the park which is in fact more like a botanical garden and with all the stuff like 2 pools, playground for children and tennis courts, all for free (the pool was still closed at the time of our visit) you do not feel like leaving the residence. As for the apartment, yes, most of the apartments in the area claim having the "magnificent lake view", but the one which we had from the apartment is really so: you see kilometers of the lake with the mountains behind (there was still some snow on the top of them!) and you see it all from the terrace, from the dining room, from the bedroom you see... well, not from the bathrooms, admitted. The style of the apartment and of the whole (fenced) residence is from the last century - we liked that.

Negative: Getting into and especially out of the residence by car requires (a) a lot of attention, and (b) understanding for the often challenging traffic conditions in Italy. For driving and maneuvering within the roads (all of them private and some narrow!) within the residence be sure to check for all the small walls and fences. The 2 large full-size bathrooms in the apartment could benefit from some renovation in the near future. They are OK, but "old Italian style".