The holiday home Casa Helen & Charlie is in a good position with a view of Lake Como. It is a short drive from Menaggio town, which has many interesting shops, a supermarket, good restaurants and a ferry terminal. The holiday home however, we feel, could do with some upgrading. The sofa looked as if it needed a clean and possibly replacing, one of the kitchen lights was not working which meant you were cooking in half light. Four of the dining chairs possibly need a good Hoovering or replacing as when we used them my eyes were extremely irritated which forced us to use the less comfortable wooden chairs and risk our clothes being snagged on the uneven metal work. The lay-out of the upstairs was misleading as it was not clear from the website that one of the double beds was right next to the stairs. Also the upstairs bathroom was an en-suite in one of the bedrooms which means that if the bedroom is occupied no-one else can use the bathroom. It would be a real annoyance if the Holiday home had been occupied to it's full capacity. The outside space we felt was practically unusably. The decking needs an immediate replacement as it has many warped planks of wood which were very uneven and a hole in one part where a plant pot had been. Other parts were worryingly unstable and the rear gate was not secure. The garden furniture had seen better days and the BBQ needs throwing out as it is too rusty for use.

What should be an OK property is suffering from a number of significant maintenance issues. Dishwasher has no cover, not working and not repaired, despite several requests to the agents. Rear deck is warped, rotting and unsafe with small kids, making it a no-go zone. It also had a wasp nest, bull ants and a maggot-infested broken umbrella – which we spent the first couple of hours cleaning up. Inside, upstairs bedrooms have skylights with no covers or curtains on them, ensuring light shines in as soon as the sun rises (these also need to be propped open for any ventilation.) Window at top the stairs has no guard rail, ensuring a straight drop. This is not really a property for younger kids – however this is certainly not made apparent on the website. Fridge door doesn't close properly and freezer door fell off. TV was German satellite only – but then stopped completely, so no TV at all for the last two days of our stay. Hot water is luke warm at best. Top opening kitchen cupboards would not stay open properly making them unusable; kitchen bench only has one power socket – making food preparation ridiculously complicated and impractical. Aside from these numerous maintenance issues: Location is on a busy, noisy road and you certainly can't walk into town easily, something that needs to be taken into consideration with kids. Agents tried to be helpful and by way of an apology, made a nice gesture by buying us drinks at a local restaurant– but the problems with the property ultimately must lie with the owners. At €250 per night in July, this property is really not up to scratch.

This property is like a Tardis It has excellent facillities, is well situated and the view of the Lake is simply stunning. The accommodation is very comfortable and it is well equiped. There are 3 bedrooms and there is a double bed in the studio area of the landing which would be ideal for children. There are two bathrooms and the kitchen has all mod cons. We will certainly be returning to this property.

This house is lovely inside but unfortunately outside really lets it down. It is a stones throw away from the main road from Menaggio to Switzerland. The traffic never stops and the noise is constant 24 hours a day making it hard to sleep at night. Even with the windows shut and fans on you couldn't drown out the noise.It is described as being on a peaceful side road but the busy road is only 50 metres from the door. It has a decked terrace with great lake view to the left ,which can be seen in the advertised photos, but the rest of the outlook is of the road. There is absolutely no privacy as everyone can see in as they drive by. The decking on the terrace is uneven and our two year old tripped a few times on it. There is plastic, dirty outdoor furniture so not a great place to dine alfresco on an evening. The house is well furnished inside, apart from the door to the dishwasher missing, and is well equipped. The floors could do with a clean though, they leave your feet black! Also as we were staying two weeks we were suppose to get a change of bed linen and towels which didn't happen even though we had paid a service fee for this. The house is well located if you have a car but walking into Menaggio involves walking on the main road for a bit. Also the hospital is opposite and the air ambulance helicopter lands just across the road which is exciting to watch but scared our children when it arrived in middle of the night.