Grande Albergo

Once she must have been magnificent. She looks shabby and tired now. Almost everything beyond the lovely entrance lobby needs updating and cleaning up. Carpets worn and stained, Air con noisy and malfunctioning. The location is splendid as is the entrance and the staff are friendly and efficient. Breakfast is disappointing. Plastic cups for water and juice. More plastic for the tiny honey sachets. Dull pastries and a limit to one cup of coffee only. A downscale experience in an upscale building.

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.

A very expensive hotel with nothing to offer. Rooms are so sad, cheapest furniture, smallest room in history, plastic furniture in bathroom, no welcome water or anything in minibar, coffee machine, poor breakfast. They charge parking 20€ per day, their own sunbeds for their guests 40€ per day and even rent of beach towels 5€ peace plus 5€ for every swap! So disrespectful to their guests. They should visit other hotels in other countries and learn how to treat and please their customers. Price for 5*, rooms and service barely 3* (more 2* than 3*)

We stayed at Grande Albergo with our 11 month old son for 5 nights in July 2023. The beach town of Sestri Levante is truly a hidden gem and Grande Albergo was the perfect place to stay. The hotel’s location is ideal, just across from the beach and close to everything, including great restaurants. Rooms were very well-cleaned. But what really makes Grande Albergo great is its staff - everyone from the front desk, restaurant and beach staff to the cleaning staff went above and beyond to make our stay wonderful. Our son got sick during our trip, and the front desk was very quick to help us get a doctor appointment. Further, on the day we had to leave for the airport, there was a 24-hour train strike across Italy, and again the staff was quick to arrange a driver for us. In addition to being very service-minded, the staff at Grande Albergo are all very kind and made us feel very welcome. Recommend to book beach chairs in advance, as the beach (for good reason) is very popular. We will definitely be back!