Hotel berhampiran Galleria Rizzi, Sestri Levante

******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 alternated between sweltering hot due to it being the attic and freezing due to the AC blasting cold air into 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. All of these options, they insisted were going to cost us almost double the already OVERPRICED COST we had already paid through Booking. ThIS WAS NOT THE CRAZIEST PART. THE CRAZIEST PART was that the front desk clerk, Martino, kept saying that there was nothing he could do, that it was up to the manager. ALL THE WHILE, Andreoli, the manager, was sitting 5 feet behind him, refusing the speak to us. REFUSING! I kept asking if I could please speak with him directly, and he continued to refuse to talk with us, and Martino just kept saying that we should be interacting with him, but then claiming he, Martino, had no control, ‘because he is just a desk clerk.’ This was not a language issue, as I speak Italian and I heard Andreoli speaking perfect English. I have literally never encountering something like this in my life, where the manager is right there and refused to speak with us. IT WAS INCREDIBLY OFFENSIVE. When I raised the issue that the price they wanted to charge us for changing rooms was way over the standard price for the region, he said that Americans are wealthy and always willing to pay this cost because we earn so much more than Italians. If it were just a sub-par room, so be it. But I have never been treated this way while traveling, or been gaslighted in this way, Martino claiming that the desk clerk from last night who had offered us a room was wrong. Lastly, when we parked the car in their lot, they gave us a ride back to the hotel IN ANOTHER GUEST’S CAR! They lost our key in that car and now we are waiting for the hotel to take responsibility and get us our keys back. I REPEAT, DO NOT STAY HERE. We are still in a battle trying to get refunded from the rest of our stay, as after this crazy strange encounter and the way we were treated, WE DID NOT FEEL SAFE STAYING HERE.

The word that kept occurring to me about this hotel is ”adequate”. By that I mean that it provided us with what we wanted but without any flair at all. The reception staff were polite but distant and the hotel was clean and functional but somewhat dated. Our room was perfect, with a balcony and side sea view, and the staff at breakfast were wonderful, probably the best asset of the hotel. However, the dinner menu at the restaurant was limited and not very adventurous. We ate there just once. I had two experiences that disappointed and set the tone for our stay. On the night we arrived, after a somewhat unappetising meal, I ordered a beer at the bar and was told to sit and it would be brought to me. When the waiter came, I gave him €10 and waited for him to return with some change. He never arrived. A very expensive beer. Needless to say, I never went to the bar again. Later in the stay, we decided we would like to have a swim in the rooftop pool. We were informed that there was a €5 charge to hire a towel. This may be common practice in Italy, but I have never found it to be the case in any other hotel I have ever stayed in. I declined, bought a cheap towel in a nearby shop and enjoyed my swim. It may be common practice in Italy to charge for access to the beach, but I had hoped there might be a reduction or some other concession for hotel guests. Again, another facility we never tried, preferring instead to visit beaches with no charge. Overall, as already mentioned, I found the hotel to be adequate, without being wonderful. I'm not sure it deserves all 4 of its stars.

Cosy, functionally furnished attic studio apartment with everything you need to live. The bed is comfortable, the kitchen is adequate for normal needs. The air conditioning is worth its weight in gold -).

Es war für uns perfekt, so nahe am Strand und gleichzeitig so nahe am Bahnhof und der Altstadt zu wohnen. Die 2 Badezimmer und drei Schlafzimmer waren für unsere 5köpfige Familie ebenfalls ideal. Die Züge haben wir in der ersten Nacht zwar gut gehört, uns