Having never been to Italy we asked around friends and family for views, Lake Garda constantly came up as a top destination and Piantelle was named by a couple of people as a great site.
The trip advisor reviews also backed this up and therefore I happily booked 2 weeks there in a mobile home this august (6th-20th).
My wife and I drove from the UK along with our kids and my daughters friend (9yrs, 14 & 14yrs).
The area is lovely and the site is in a great spot on the lake, we were greeted by friendly and professional staff and given our instructions and asked to pay a 50 euro deposit for loss of the key, we were also told that there was a cleaning fee should the chalet / mobile home be left in a mess - which is fair enough.
Our mobile home was basic (we've stayed in plenty over the yrs) but perfectly adequate for us and we were more than happy.
We had a great 2 weeks and enjoyed all aspects of the site - great location, plenty to see & do, great (cheap) restaurant, great pool, kids clubs and access to the lake itself.
When we required advice the staff were ever helpful and nothing was too much trouble, basically we had a faultless stay at Piantelle and would recommend it and give 5 stars normally, BUT..........
Come yesterday our last day, we had a 1200km drive back to Calais and had packed the car up the night before leaving us time to get up sat morning, feed the kids, pack the last bits and clean / tidy the mobile home.
All pots washed, dried and put away, all surfaces cleaned, all pillows and bedding left stacked on the beds, bathroom and toilet left clean and tidy, bin emptied and finally all the floors swept up. Now as far as i'm concerned that constitutes leaving the home in an acceptable state, my daughter even commented that it looked better than we found it.
However the cynic in me decided to go round the home and take photo's of how we left it - boy was i glad i did!
We checked out at 0900hrs and staff asked if we had enjoyed our stay, we said we had loved it, which we had. The lady on reception then spoke in a radio to someone (in Italian) and mentioned our home number - therefore I assumed she was asking a cleaner to check the home prior to handing our deposit back - again i have no issue with this.
My wife popped to the toilet while I waited and after a minute or so the lady beckoned me over a said that the cleaner has checked the home and found it in a 'filthy' and 'dirty' state and it would require extensive cleaning, therefore we would have to pay the 40 euro cleaning fee.
I was amazed and embarrassed as a dutch family were also present at the time being served by the other receptionist and they could clearly hear the fact that we were being accused of being 'filthy' and 'dirty'.
I asked the lady what was the issue and was told that the home was left in a filthy state, all the surfaces were dirty and the home would require extensive cleaning. I then explained that this was not the case and i stated that i was aware we had a responsibility to leave the home in a decent state and due to this fact we had gone to some length to get up early and ensure the home was left clean and tidy - i myself had cleaned all the kitchen and table surfaces so i knew this was rubbish. The lady apologized and said there was nothing she could do as the cleaner was telling her what she had found, it was at this point I pulled out my phone and informed her that I had actually photographed all the home after we had cleaned it - to say her face dropped was an understatement!!
I made a point of scrolling through the numerous shots of cleaned and stacked crockery in cupboards, clean and tidy bathroom and toilets, bedrooms with neatly stacked bedding and spotless work surfaces! Not to mention a fully swept floor!
The lady still maintained there was nothing she could do, i then pointed out we had better wait for my wife to return as she would go ballistic. Then suddenly the atmosphere changed, the other receptionist said a couple of words to the lady (in Italian) and then the lady simply slapped our 50 euro deposit on the desk and said it doesn't matter, here is you money. Not another word, no apology, no 'sorry it was a misunderstanding', no have a safe journey home, nothing.
I left without saying anything, but furious as i felt they had tried to fleece us out of our money with a cheap trick - which without my camera evidence i wouldn't have had an answer to!
I feel sure that if I had said 'please let me take you to the home' the lady would have simply said 'it is too late, the cleaner has cleaned up', leaving me without any evidence.
What was more annoying was the fact that the home was basic and not itself perfect - there were pieces of torn lino flooring, a broken clothes hanger, stiff pantry doors that didn't shut properly - but we never complained about these because we are reasonable people who realize these things happen and ultimately weren't not paying thousands of pounds and staying in the Hilton hotel - its basic accommodation on a campsite. Perhaps i'm wrong and should be expected to mop and scrub the floors and windows etc, but this raises the issue then of why employ cleaners? Obviously if a campsite has cleaners then this does not allow you to leave the place deliberately dirty, but where do we draw the line? I feel we had been more than reasonable in our actions.
I met my wife walking back to the car and told her what had happened and she was incredulous, as was our daughter who again stated we left it better than when we arrived.
This has soured the experience for us and it goes without saying we will not return and will advise all our friends and family the same.
It is a shame as the site and staff were great right up to that point.
If you do stay at Piantelle (as many will) i would advise you to take photo's before and after of any of the accommodation you stay in - to prevent the same happening to you.
