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Camogli as a base ?

Dave123

10+ Posts
The enthusiasm for Camogli has been noted, e.g.:

Article - 10 most romantic small towns in Italy
http://www.sloweurope.com/community...romantic-small-towns-in-italy.1212/#post-8004

I am therefore wondering about Camogli's suitability as a self-catering holiday base this summer (2 weeks) - no car, public transport only. The flight schedules between UK and Genoa seem reasonable.

The furthest north that we have stayed on the western coast is Lerici, and so it would give us a chance to explore a new locality - we are aware that Camogli has a railway service. We enjoy walking, especially where the traffic is light/non-existent, but it's more promenading for a few hours than hiking all day.

The main concern is whether Camogli is sufficiently large/varied enough if we wished to remain in the town for a few days, rather than venturing out ?

Any feedback would be welcome.
 
I have only visited Camogli on a day trip, but remember it as a very pretty town, with restaurants strung along the seaside. It is a small town, but well situated and well connected (pop 5400).

We spent two weeks using Levanto as a base (south of Camogli) and it is a similar sized town (pop 5500) - and we enjoyed spending some days in the town, so I think Camogli will be large enough for you. You are not far from the larger Santa Margherita Ligure, which many people use as a base for the area.

I have read about a footpath on the Portofino pennisula that sounded interesting. It goes from Portofino to San Fruttuoso - about two hours one way and then you can take a boat back. I think there will be other walks on that Portofino pennisula.

You've probably done the Cinque Terre walks, which add up to a full day's walk, but if taken in sections are short. Less popular and crowded is the walk from Levanto to the northern most Cinque Terre town, Monterosso. I remember it as being a 2 hour walk.

We also visited some of the inland towns and liked them.
 
Here are some photos from our brief visit in September 2003.

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Pauline - many thanks.

Does anyone know how to set the HomeAway filter settings so that the resultant listing closely relates to the locality sought ? My recollection is that the Homelidays' filters were more discriminating.

For instance, a search for 'Camogli Beach' generates a list of rentals which are predominantly outside that locality, see screenshot:

HomeAway - Camogli Beach Search Dec 2016.jpg
 
I find that too, I am shown listings far away from where I want. Use their map to zoom into Camogli and then you will see each listing they have.

You may find there are not many listings for Camogli since it is not a large town. Try looking on their tourist website (if they have one) to see if they have vacation rentals/holiday rentals/self catering listed. And try a specific Google search - but that usually just ends up listing the big listings sites.

I have a list of local agencies for Liguria - click here. Some of them might have properties in the area. You might also look at Summer in Italy - they are a very good agency with good prices and properties all over Italy.

Give AirBnB a try. Sometimes they have more places that are in towns.
 
Pauline - thanks again, and for reminding us about Summer in Italy, who we used a few years ago.

We've identified a suitable HomeAway rental in Camogli and have sent a reservation request.

One aspect that is curious, which I don't recall seeing before when we used Homelidays, is the request for a 100% deposit. From memory, 25% deposit was typical, with the balance due a month or two before arrival. Added: supplementary list for the past 10 years [+]

Also, HomeAway UK have an interesting Trustpilot record: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.homeaway.co.uk

[+]
Deposit - Agency
25% Homelidays 2006 France - La Rochelle
40% EasyReserve 2007 Italy - Lerici, Liguria
45% Holiday-rentals.co.uk 2008 France - Cassis
27% HomeAway 2009 France - Menton
26% Homelidays 2010 Italy - Ostuni, Puglia
21% HomeAway 2011 Italy - Alghero, Sardinia
21% Homelidays 2012 Italy - Senigallia, Le Marche
35% Homelidays 2013 France - Sete
25% Homelidays 2014 France - Collioure
41% HomeAway 2015 France - Bandol
30% HomeAway 2016 France - Ciboure/St. Jean de Luz
 
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I've never had a 100% deposit unless it was with one month of the date being booked. You are right that 25% is typical. I might question that with them.

Interesting reviews from owners. Things have changed recently with the HomeAway sites. They were bought out by a big company (Expedia?). Airbnb charges higher fees to owners I think.
 
The owner has been in touch and the deposit is 30%, which is fine.

However, the initial confirmation message from HomeAway implied a 100% deposit:

1st Payment Due 07-Dec-2016 € [total]

Renters using HomeAway might wish to be aware that, in spite of the full balance appearing to fall immediately due, the usual 'deposit/balance later' arrangements may be possible.
 
HomeAway have since cancelled my booking this afternoon:

"We're sorry, but XXX [owner] was unable to confirm your reservation request for YYY [apartment] for ZZZ [booking period] within 24 hours of your request, so it has now been cancelled. You have not been charged for this reservation. To provide the best experience, we require owners and property managers to respond within 24 hours. This ensures that holidaymakers such as yourself don't lose time waiting to see if the booking is confirmed."

They have invited me to "Check out these other great properties ..." [examples shown]

This is the first time that I recall any such problem with a rental booking and perhaps explains the glut of negative ratings on Trustpilot.

Update: I've written to Expedia requesting that the reservation be reinstated forthwith.
 
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But you have been in touch with the owner, so you have your booking? I think HomeAway now wants owners to use their booking system.

Today I was looking for holiday rentals in Switzerland for next summer and AirBnb had a lot more properties than HomeAway in the small town I was looking at. Usually HomeAway has more!
 
Yes, via the HomeAway messaging system, but after the cancellation it would not accept a direct message submission to the owner.

So I think that I've found the owner via their place of work, and sent a message saying that >24hrs was not a problem for us.

Interestingly, HomeAway were seeking a service fee from the holidaymaker (me) of €121.38 (around 6%), which I've not encountered previously. In view of the experience, 'dis-service fee' might be a more appropriate expression.

The new fee also colours my attitude towards the submission of property reviews - I have submitted several 'post-stay' reviews in recent years, but with a fee now tacked on, I feel less inclined to co-operate in future. It is appreciated that this is highly detrimental to the online booking/renting process, which depends to a significant extent on reviews based on others' direct experience.
 
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Expedia phoned this afternoon, and I later spoke to a member of the HA customer support team, who helped remedy a misunderstanding over the use of the HA messaging system.

I was then able to re-contact the property owner and the original booking seems to be back on track.

The issue has also been escalated within HA by Expedia.
 
Now we've seen Camogli, after fortnight's stay last month, here's a subjective summary (5* max):

Camogli *****
Surrounding area/towns *****
Camogli apartment *****
Camogli apartment owners *****
HomeAway service *

HomeAway rejected my initial property review ! "La tua recensione contiene recapiti personali o informazioni relative ad attività commerciali." - 'Your review contains personal contact information or business information.'

It was assumed that this referred to the inclusion of specific Camogli restaurants which we visited and enjoyed. However, nearly all of my previous reviews for other HomeAway/Homelidays properties that we have rented, mentioned local restaurants that we visited (to assist other prospective customers), and were accepted without a quibble.

The review was subsequently accepted after I had deleted the named restaurants:

- Cenobio Dei Dogi hotel ('La Terrazza di Giulia', Via Niccolo' Cuneo 34)
- La Bossa di Mario (Via della Repubblica 124)
- La Rotonda (Via Giuseppe Garibaldi 101)
- Ostaia da o Sigu (Via Giuseppe Garibaldi 82)
- Ristorante Da Paolo (Via San Fortunato 14)
- Vento Ariel (Calata Porto)
- Xodo (Via Giuseppe Garibaldi 164, for pizza)

We walked/hiked to San Rocco, then down to Punta Chiappa, and caught the ferry back to Camogli. The coastal path from Camogli to Portfino is understood to be hazardous - the inland route might be 'easier'.
 
Thanks for the update @Dave123 . We are collecting vacation rental recommendations on a special forum if you have time to post one there.

How long was the hike and how often do the ferries run?

HomeAway has been making changes to their system. The last review I posted had a separate section for local recommendations. You only saw it after you entered the review.
 
How long was the hike and how often do the ferries run?

About 25 mins up to San Rocco (the signpost says 40 mins), and about the same down to Punta Chiappa. The Ferry back to Camogli was hourly-ish ... with gaps, and weather dependent.

As suggested, I've added my slightly fuller 'rejected' review to the Italy collection of reviews.
 

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