Grand Hotel Miramare

Continuing our Italian vacation, we stopped for a few days in this beautiful Italian Riviera City. The Grand Hotel Miramare served as our gateway to Cinque Terre and Portofino by cruise ferries. A Leading Hotels of the World member, the Grand Hotel Miramare is impeccably maintained considering the property is over 100 years old. As such the guest rooms are very small for a luxury hotel, averaging less than 200 square feet or so. The Restaurant staff was excellent, but the reception and room service staff were not as expected in a luxury property. The more recent pool area and amenities are tranquil and relaxing. The Hotel is walking distance to the center of town and its many restaurants and shops as you stroll through its waterfront promenade and of course its many and frequent ferries to nearby places. If you drive, the Hotel will valet your auto as parking is off the property at a charge of 30 Euros per night.

We requested a beautiful room with a balcony for a very special birthday celebration after staying here in 2018. The room we received in 2019 was a room half the size of the room in 2018 (which was a downgraded room).It was so cramped we had to put a suitcase in the bathroom in order to maneuver around the room. We immediately went to the front desk the evening we checked in, and told them the room was way too small, and cramped, and we needed to move into a more spacious room like the rooms we stayed in and had been shown in 2018. We were told that there was a large wedding party that arrived earlier and that they occupied the bigger rooms and that we would have assistance in moving to a larger more lux room the next morning. The next morning, we went to the front desk personally 5 different times, and called from our room numerous times to get this issue resolved. We were put off time after time in a very arrogant rude manner, and told that the General Manager, Mr. Sapia would be at the hotel to take care of our issue. Finally, the 5th time we went to the front desk we were told Mr. Sapia wasn’t coming and that he rarely makes appearances at the hotel, and we could move into a room that was the same size or smaller. At this time Ms. Monica Agus, the front desk manager stated she didn’t have authority to issue a credit, but that she would speak to the manager in charge of that and work to get us a credit on our behalf. We checked out of the hotel and moved to a beautiful suite (that was less than the room at Hotel Miramare) at the Imperial Palace. Hotel Miramare refused to refund for the 4 nights we paid upfront for, and charged us for the full 4 nights after we checked out staying only 1 night. This hotel should be downgraded to 3 stars, at best.