Italianway Apartments - Bergognone

We signed a four-month lease, then learned there would be construction that went on for over two months. Scaffolding outside the bedroom windows took away our privacy, and the noise made studying difficult. Management kept sending rent bills while repeatedly ignoring our emails. I wouldn’t recommend it.

The beds were very comfortable, and the apartment stayed warm with hot water. It’s in a quiet area near public transport and a supermarket. The place itself is spacious, with four bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms and a veranda with a sofa. Arriving at night made check-in difficult. The keys were in a lockbox on a nearby street, and we had to look for it outside in the dark. There was no coffee or tea, and six mugs weren’t enough for our group of eight. The bathrooms could use a refresh: the toilet wasn’t properly clean, there was a lot of limescale, and there was no soap. A hairdryer was provided.

The booking and online check-in went smoothly, and the man who handed over the keys was very kind. The apartment at Via Bergognone 31 is about 700 meters behind Porta Genova, on a street parallel to Via Tortona. It has two bathrooms and very nice bedrooms, and the apartment itself is in a pleasant, quiet family building. The price wasn’t especially high, but staying there involved a lot of hassle. We were ten 35-year-olds, all with wives and children, not criminals. Still, the concierge from Bari threatened to call the police if we complained and said decent people lived in the building. When we went in just to leave our bags, a neighbor rang the bell and warned that she’d call the police if we made a mess. Two threats within five minutes, before we’d done anything. She turned out to have a point about the noise: the wall between the apartments is so thin that you can hear everything. The place needs soundproofing. The kitchen was almost completely bare, even lacking toilet paper, and the apartment wasn’t very clean. It might suit ten very quiet people, but groups of friends should look elsewhere.

The service was awful and didn’t account for travelers’ needs, though the property could have been great. I rented a place in October and couldn’t find anyone to check me in. They made me collect the keys about 8 km away, so I had to pay for a taxi myself.