Tablinum

We stayed a few days in September 2022 at the place the provider advertised as an “apartment with a garden view.” Loppia is south of Bellagio’s old town, the Borgo. It’s quieter than Bellagio/Borgo and doesn’t have the same crowds, but there aren’t any bars or cafes nearby. That’s about where the good points stop. The listing’s description bears little resemblance to what we found. The “apartment” is basically one room packed with a very soft double bed, a stool used as a bedside table, a kitchenette with a sink, electric stove and refrigerator, two low IKEA shelves, a small table against the wall, and two plastic chairs. There’s no second bedside table for glasses or a book. The sink, right beside the bed with the trash can underneath, has to do as a shelf. It also means you hear the refrigerator compressor very clearly, which helped keep us from sleeping too long at night. The armchair and wardrobe mentioned in the description are in a narrow hall between the entrance and that room. The furniture looks cheap and extremely worn, like it’s already on at least its second life. The claimed garden view is wrong. The room has just one window, and it doesn’t face outside. The large opaque window above the bed opens onto an interior wall shared with other rooms that aren’t part of the accommodation. It’s possible the window is opaque only on one side. To see outside, you can open the opaque bathroom window, but all you get is the walls of neighboring houses, not a garden. You’d need to be at least 2.40 meters tall or climb onto the bathtub edge to see even that. The bathroom’s retro fixtures may be meant to impress, but there are no shelves at all and no shower curtain. What looks like marble on the walls and floor turns out to be industrial tiles. The listing says the whole place is 50 square meters, which seems about as unrealistic as the garden view. We didn’t measure, given all the odd angles. The claim that parking is free at Tablinum is misleading, too. There’s no parking at the accommodation, and the street has spaces only for residents with permits. The listing also says it’s on the beach, which isn’t true.