Bigger isn't always better and this micro boutique hotel is an all-time favorite stay. Domina Home…read morePiccolo is the quintessential coastal setting in an Italian hamlet, not just any borgo, but revered Portofino. The hotel is quite quaint and well-staffed even though it has something like 10 rooms. Depending on what you book, it can be quite spacious. Try for the position that faces the water with double door windows that when unlatched create a wonderful open-air experience. Breakfast is well put together and afterward a nice walk to the water down the hundred or so steps out the front will burn off 10-15 calories. Lolzsies! This area is amazing and home to the hotel's private cove and beach. Even more enjoyable is getting out and about. A stroll to the right out the front takes you to Portofino marina. A couple mile stroll to the left (yes, it's mostly safe to walk on the road) takes you past amazing homes built in to the rock faces along the road. If you walk far enough, you'll reach Santa Margherita Ligure - much more populated but a joy and quite active when the quieter Portofino has you yearning for a city of a few thousand. :) Can't recommend Domina Home Piccolo or Portofino enough.

This hotel is best for the views. Our room is very small. Like no room to put our bags anywhere…read more Bathroom is smaller than usual. Almost feels like a cruise bathroom. The views are what you want at this hotel. Right on the curve of a road to portofino. There is a direct walkway to portofino. There is also a small beach in a small bay. There is a terrace near the beach that is also a great view. Lunch was late so limited selections. Breakfast is nice with made to order omelette.

We absolutely adored our quick trip (2days) to Rapallo and this charming hotel. Beautiful views,…read moreexcellent service and perfectly located. Drove to Rapallo after spending 3 days at Lake Como (hotel reviewed separately). We arrived on Sunday afternoon (drove in from Como). Upon checking in, weather was perfect so we went out to the pool area for some fresh made Bellini's and to catch some rays. Very nice and large area to lay out. Walked down the steps for a dip in the Sea. The gym is also excellent. Fully stocked with machines and free weights/dumbbells, treadmills and elliptical. Plan was to drive to Portofino for dinner. Being that it was Sunday evening and Mother's Day, traffic was light and parking was easy. Took advice from Angelo at front desk and went to a fabulous restaurant in Portofino "Dai Gemilli". (Amazing! Highly recommend) The next day we caught the ferry and took a trip back to Portofino to see the sights and light shopping. Ferried to Santa Margherita for lunch and walking around and back to our hotel. Will definitely stay here again our next trip to the area.

If you have never stayed at a quality hotel then this will be a fine experience for you. They are…read moreclearly coasting on the beautiful location that they are lucky to have. The hotel is well past it's golden age and it shows. The Excelsior Palace Hotel is a joke and a disgrace to all 5 star hotels. I have been treated better at a truck stop gas station, the staff (aside from a select few) are all extremely unprofessional and unpleasant to be around. They do not listen and talk over you, have an attitude when you ask simple questions and punish you if you ask for help. If you are used to staying at 2-3 star hotels you will have a fine experience. But if you are looking for quality, you won't find it here. Your money will be better spent at a villa or literally anywhere else. I can't say I was satisfied after any meal and was shocked by the high price and dismal portions. I can't speak for the lord byron restaurant because it was closed while I was there. My review on the food is for the beach club restaurant. Additionally, they only offer a buffet style continental breakfast. If you don't care about sick children breathing on all your food before you eat it then enjoy! Whatever the case, I do not recommend this place to anyone and it's baffling to me that they are able to maintain a 5 state status.

I wish I could rave about this hotel... It was our first stop on our honeymoon and unfortunately,…read moreeverything was a little off. Our room was very tired. Weird linen bed sheets, old floors and decor, a dangerously old bathroom and a decent view. Service felt insincere form the moment we arrived and it was clear their priority was the guests that have been returning for decades. Rooms are all different but make sure you book a renovated room or you're sure to be greatly disappointed. Beds are uncomfortable and they use scratchy linen sheets. Wifi is terrible and barely worked in the room. The 'gym' was a room with a few cardio machines. The main public rooms of the hotel are so old and really deserve to be touched up. The best part of this hotel is the view from the restaurant and bar, which you do not need to be a guest to enjoy. This is more like a 3 star hotel than a 5 star hotel. I recommend staying at the Domino Piccolo Home for half the price.

The location is what you pay for, and the view does not disappoint. The linens are fretti,(the…read moreother reviewer doesn't understand what good linens are) and every detail is minded. We enjoyed dinner at both the la terrazza and splendid Mare, both had amazing pesto dishes which are local to Leguria. Great service all around and we had a blast at the bar with the piano singer. I would recommend this to any friend looking for a romantic location.

Wonderful Portofino. The Hotel Eden is a little gem. Literally 1 minutes walk to the Marina shops…read moreand Restaurants on the Waterfront. The Room was clean and very comfortable. Air conditioning and the best shower ever. Staff were polite and helpful. Whilst there is no associated parking the owner helped to put me in contact with a local secure garage to store the motorcycle and trailer for the night. Breakfast was very nice and the best freshly made donuts Mmm. The Hotel is a converted home and so a little dated but this only adds to the Italian charm. There is no lift and the access is off cobbled streets and up several steps so not best suited to people with disabilities.

I'm visiting Portofino for the 1st time. The season is about to end, but I must say it's a must…read morevisit! The Hotel Eden is a short walk to the Marina. The service and staff treated me like I was a member of their family.

******BUYER BEWARE--DO NOT STAY HERE******* Before you read on, I want you to know that this is an…read moreauthentic review from an authentic person. I thoroughly read the reviews for this place and noted the boilerplate responses from the hotel manager, Mr. A (who has been stalking my reviews and who I fully expect to write a rebuttal to this review). I ignored the adage "where there's smoke, there's fire" and spent so much money here under the assumption that the good reviews were legitimate and the bad reviews were illegitimate. Sestri Levante is a charming town and there are countless wonderful hotels that don't charge guests €300 for them to sleep in a windowless attic and call it a "Royal Suite" or a "Junior Suite" (we eventually stayed at the Hotel Balbi and the bathrooms were bigger than the "room" we stayed in for 25 percent less than a "suite" here). UNLESS YOU ARE COMFORTABLE PAYING WALDORF ASTORIA PRICES FOR A MOTEL SIX, DO. NOT. STAY. HERE. Words can't describe the experience we had here. I've travelled extensively and honestly NEVER ENCOUNTERED AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THIS. We were given an ATTIC ROOM WITH NO WINDOWS, a slanted roof that did not fit my 6 foot height and the entrance to which required a precarious walk along an unfinished walkway outside. None of this was disclosed when we booked this. They consider this a normal room in this hotel, it was not a discounted room, WE BELIEVED WE WERE BOOKING A NORMAL ROOM. The room was sweltering hot due to it being the attic in a tiny tiny room. When we checked in, we initially raised our concern with the front desk clerk and she apologized and assured us that they could move us rooms the following morning. The next morning, we came down to change rooms and were COMPLETELY GASLIGHTED BY THE STAFF. They first refused to change rooms, then they pivoted and wanted to shift us into a new room each morning so that we would have moved each day of our three night stay. If you do make the mistake of staying here, DO NOT LEAVE THEM WITH YOUR CAR. The parking is not on site and they are not at all careful with guests' cars. I left something in my rental so I asked to access it. A "valet" walked me about 6 blocks and offered to drive me back to the hotel with my bag, which I thought was nice. IT TURNED OUT THAT HE DROVE ME IN ANOTHER GUEST'S CAR!!! Want to know how I learned that? THE VALET LEFT MY CAR KEYS IN THAT GUEST'S CAR AND DROVE TO ANOTHER CITY!!

Good service and great location. Not a tourist trap. Don't come before 12 though :-)read more

I will say this refurbished hotel was pretty decent, clean but not plush. As an American, amenities…read moreare sought, but in Europe, you must be flexible or stay home. The room, which could accommodate four overlooked the water and was considered to be a suite with two separated areas. We looked forward to their continental breakfast which was better than some of those I've seen in the States. The staff was just ok, not overly helpful yet polite. We had a luggage problem and I thought they could have handled the matter better. 3.5 stars.

Our experience included a largely unhelpful check-in. If you do park there (30 euro/night), the…read moreparking lot is located off a tiny tiny alley that looks like a walkway to the train station just past the last palm tree. Breakfast was good, but please read the warning signs about the toaster! The mattress was pretty hard, the room had a weird layout, but a nice balcony and the a/c worked well. We were surprised about the lack of a safe and coffee maker in the room.

One of the most adorable cities I've seen on the western coast of northern Italy. Easily walkable…read moretown with an abundance of history and culture. The train in town can take you down the coast to other towns such as Vernazza which is part of Cinque Terre, the five towns. The whole area is beautiful and a must see for tourists.

So I couldn't check in on my way over as I seem to be monopolizing this part of Italy with my…read morereviews. This is a small little train station for a must-stop town that one can do in an entire day. I saw that water was for sale and I didn't look for a br, but not sure if I would have used it anyway. Then again, the train bathrooms can be a nightmare, and the worst I have seen are in fact in business class! It's a lot different from an airplane (or maybe not too different in the end). There are loads of stairs (well, two double flights) which would not be a problem if I hadn't packed enough clothes for a month on my two week hiatus. One could easily walk to their hotel from here in 5-15 minutes, but a cab is only 15 euros so it was just worth it to do that in the end. I was worried that I would not be able to get a seat with all of my stuff, but as this is one of three first stops I finally got a pick of the seats. The problem is that you have to hoist your luggage pretty high as the seats fill up. My shoulders are finally hurting from all of this but I am hoping it will help burn off my daily feast of pizza, pasta, croissants and of course gelato...but I digress. In the end, the station is at least a 3 as it was pretty clean and I was not hassled by beggars! Nor did I worry about the little money I still have left.

Excellent food, terrible service from our waiter…read more We came to this hotel restaurant as guests from outside the hotel and were really looking forward to it because we ate here two years ago and it was superb. Unfortunately, this visit was a huge letdown because of our waiter, Menor. On the positive side, the food was excellent. The chefs in the open kitchen were clearly working hard and turning out great dishes, and they deserve a lot of credit. The problem was not the kitchen. The problem was the service. We started with cocktails before dinner, and from that moment on we felt like we were an inconvenience rather than welcome guests. When I simply asked how the tuna was prepared, our waiter, Menor, responded with, "Do you want an introduction to the tuna?" It was sarcastic, disrespectful, and completely out of line. After that, no one offered us wine with our meal, and the food came out in about five minutes, which made the whole dinner feel rushed and dismissive instead of relaxed and enjoyable. It really felt like the restaurant staff didn't care about guests who weren't staying at the hotel, which is very disappointing given how great our experience was the first time.

The location is perfect, the views are stunning, the amenities are fabulous and the service…read moreimpeccable.