*stayed 4 nights*
meh. a 3 star hotel deservingly earns a 3 star rating. my wife refers to this place "Hotel Appalling." LOL it's a joke. it's not that the hotel was bad, it just wasn't great. it does everything adequately. the rooms were modern, pretty spacious for italy standards and for even western standards, and clean. the bathroom was nice and new, big and again, clean. but the whole place is just sterile and lacked character. from the decor, the paint scheme, the reception desk personnel, etc. again, the employees were nice and service was good but very different from the warmth and friendliness we experienced at the other 3 hotels we stayed at while in italy. (2 hotels in venice, Park Annia and Hotel Grande Canal, and one in rome, IQ Hotel.)
probably the worst part of the room was the lack of natural light. the one window that was sound proofed, was also small and covered up. not much of a view but the building across the street, even though we had a 4th floor room. but coming from the open, bright, and gorgeous views of the grand canal in venice, both from our room and from our private terrace, our hotel rapallo room felt very enclosed, congested and...sterile.
also, i got bit 4 times and my wife once on the face, by the numerous, annoying mosquitoes buzzing around in our room! my wife didn't get any sleep one night bc the little buggers were buzzing around her face all night long. this meant we had to swat them come waking hours and when we'd get back after a day out, there would be another one that got in (probably when the door was open during maid service.)
another gripe i had w/ the hotel is that on their website, it says under "services" that there are "gyms affiliated" w/ the hotel. for me, that was a big selling point as many of the hotels in italy (minus the big 5 star joints) do not have fitness centers. so, when we checked in, i asked where the nearest gym was and if it would be free. when i asked how much, the hotel staff said he did not know and that i would have to check w/ the gym. i mean, if you're "affiliated" w/ the gym, shouldn't you know? after about a 15 min walk, we found the gym. nope, not free. in fact be ready to shell out 30 euro/person to use the nearest gym "affiliated" w/ hotel rapallo, per day. i mean, why even advertise this then?
again, no hate for the hotel. it was OK. but we'll probably stick to our usual 4 star rated establishments from now on. read more