Hotel Miramare & Spa in Sestri Levante

This hotel does not deserve its rating. We had no hot water 2 days running. One restaurant was closed and the other fully booked so that we could not have dinner there, despite trying to reserve the previous day. The decoration needs a refresh (see photos of dining room and bar) and the corridor carpets are stained (see photo). The beach was over-crowded. Most of the staff were uncharming. The a/c was feeble. We were told to ask for a partial refund through ******* but this was then refused. Try the Villa Balbi nearby. It is infinitely better.

******BUYER BEWARE—DO NOT STAY HERE******* Before you read on, I want you to know that this is an authentic review from an authentic person. I thoroughly read the reviews for this place and noted the boilerplate responses from the hotel manager (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!!