Grand Hotel Miramare in Santa Margherita Ligure

We booked Hotel Miramare for our honeymoon and made sure to inform the staff of this twice in writing ahead of our arrival. Unfortunately, this was not once acknowledged on arrival or during our stay. My husband had arranged for roses and champagne to be placed in the room, but there was no recognition or special touch from the staff, which was disappointing. We paid over €1000 a night for a suite, only to find it located next to the lift and a cleaners’ cupboard, resulting in a noisy environment that made it hard to relax. The building itself is an historic, well refurbished property with charm, but the service from staff do not reflect five-star standards, in our opinion and experience. In terms of example - we chose a £200 bottle of champagne in the bar on our first evening, but it was always poured for my husband first and without a napkin, which led to drips on our clothing every time we were topped up — an unfortunate oversight. Breakfast felt chaotic; no one at the desk to greet us on arrival but were shouted back, as we walked through the dining room, for our room number as though we were trespassing. The breakfast staff laughed and joked loudly among themselves and service was inconsistent. One morning we received toast but no coffee, the next we received the coffee but no toast. They announced that the buffet was closing five minutes before the stated end time, urging everyone to finish quickly instead of just clearing the buffet at the end of the shared opening hours. It felt rather like last orders at a pub! The noise from trolleys being pushed around and the location right on a busy main road made the dining experience less relaxing. We were not thoroughly checked on to see if everything was ok, if we needed anything such as more coffee etc. When we asked for our car upon departure, the staff thoughtfully asked which direction we were heading in —but then parked the car facing the opposite way, which is not a huge problem, but not sure why they asked the question in the first place!! After two days, we checked out six days earlier than planned. Upon departure, instead of asking us why, the receptionist felt it more important to immediately state we would have to pay a 100% penalty fee. We were fully aware of this and still decided we wanted to relocate and had rebooked alternative accommodation. The lack of curiosity or desire to try and rectify things was extremely surprising to us. When my husband volunteered that we were leaving early as it hadn’t felt special enough for a honeymoon stay, the response was simply “I am sorry for that. I hope you are able to fix this in the near future.” Ultimately you have to see the funny side. In comparison, we booked the Belmond Splendido just up the road in Portofino for the remainder of our stay. Before we had even entered the building, we were greeted from our car by three staff with a warm “Happy Birthday.” They gave us two celebratory cakes—one for my birthday, which was the day w

The hotel is well located and with beautiful and well curated gardens but, to me, is totally missing of charm and style. It is not a grand dame and neither a contemporary decor. A sort of hybrid that did not bring anywhere. The dark brown corridor are really not matching the seaside aestehtic: The service at the breakfast was excellent and very friendly, we enjoyed. Swimmingpool is nice and well mantained