Illegal tourist apartment - advice request

eMW

New member
Hi,

I would like to ask you for some advice.

I stayed in one of the tourist apartments in San Gimigninao this year.

I was sure that this apartment is a legal one as it was listed on Booking.com.

After emails from the apartment's owner which were left without a reply and emails received from Booking.com, I have reasons to think that I stayed in an illegal tourist apartment.

I live in Dublin where this kind of apartments have had a huge, unfortunately mainly negative, impact on the economy and local communities.
It makes me very sad and I would not like to contribute to it.

Also when we arrived to the apartment with a host from the agency we met a neighbour and she said something to the host but as we don't understand Italian we haven't a clue what was it. Their conversation didn't sound nice one and later anytime we saw that neighbour she always gave us a look as we are intruders in this apartment complex.

When we tried to put ourselves in that lady's shoes we understood why she would feel worried about tourists coming and going to the complex any time of the day and night, not knowing who they are and what their intensions are, if they behave well or cause a damage,making noise etc etc etc or maybe they will be just angels but at the end she is the person who was forced to take that risk.

We both love tourism, we absolutely fell in love with Tuscany and San Gimigniano and we would like to come back there at some point but we wouldn’t like to contribute the the problem by having unknowingly stayed in an illegal apartment.

All that experience we had, made us feel very unpleasant and disappointed.

Could you please tell me where we could file a formal complaint or inquiry regarding that apartment?

I will be grateful for any advice.

Thank you in advance.
Margaret
 
I am sorry you had such an experience, Margaret, I completely understand how it would have made you feel uncomfortable, especially if it seemed the neighbors were not welcoming and wary of your presence. I would have had the same impression, that they were not happy with the apartment in their complex being rented to strangers. I believe that all apartments used in this manner need to have the permission of the condominium so it does sound like the owners were not being completely honest in their dealings with the rest of the condominium.

I suggest you write to the ProLoco office in San Gimignano, as they are the ones that manage tourism, events and complaints/suggestions. They can pass on your details to the local city offices that likely deal with these types of situations directly.

You can find the email here: http://www.sangimignano.com/en/information/comments-complaints.asp
 
Hi Lourdes,

Thank you very much for your reply.
We will send an inquiry to ProLoco office in San Gimignano.
Once we receive a reply, I will post it here.

Wishing you a good day!
Kind regards,
Margaret
 
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