Chalet Teola

I had a very bad experience with Chalet Teola, Livigno. We booked our stay well in advance and had already paid the full amount, 2002 EU. We were due to arrive in March, during the first COVID outbreak. With the situation so uncertain, we decided not to risk travelling to Italy. The first lockdowns began around 21st February 2020. Communication with the hotel dragged on. They would go days without answering, and the messages were inconsistent. It was difficult to get a clear response across email, phone, and WhatsApp, and a different person handled each message or call. Chalet Teola refused a refund, voucher, or any other compensation we proposed. From 8th March 2020, much of northern Italy was put into lockdown. I’ve attached their last message so you can judge for yourself whether to stay at Chalet Teola: "Dear Nikolay the article you are referring to is The Prime Minister's decree, that was issued on Sunday 8, your arrival was scheduled for Saturday 7, when it was possible to reach Livigno without problems, but you decided not to come. For this reason, no refund is possible. Best regards Alberto" After numerous attempts, the European Consumer Centres Network could not reach Chalet Teola and considered the case closed. * * * Reply to Chalet Teola's response Dear Chalet Teola, I made my decision based on news of the coming world-scale Force majeure situation. I luckily foresaw the lockdown in Livigno. Imagine arriving on the 7th and being locked down on the 8th in a foreign country, with no clear rules about travel across Europe during the pandemic. That’s what happened. Would you have covered all our unexpected expenses just because we could have reached Livigno a day before the lockdown? I seriously doubt it. Please stop suggesting that I wanted a full refund at the last moment. I asked for a 50% refund, which I felt was fair to both sides. I wrote to you two weeks ahead to say our group had decided not to travel. Different websites showed different cancellation terms, and the terms and conditions you sent after booking had no cancellation policy. You also called me on the phone, so there was no written statement from you about compensation that I could use as evidence in court. You wanted me to email saying we were cancelling the reservation, so that you wouldn’t have to give me a full refund if Livigno closed before our scheduled arrival on the 7th. I understand this is difficult for everyone, but you took our money without providing any service, and chose to play with words. Deny that..."

The owner was nice and even picked up ski passes for us, but the place wasn’t very clean. Having to pay 10 euro for the towels was ridiculous.

The house manager was very talkative. It’s a great place for a family visit and a ski trip!

The rooms weren’t the cleanest...