Hotel Mirò — Hotel in Rapallo

Our group of 4 very much enjoyed our stay at the Miro Hotel. We found the location perfect. The owners very nice and always willing to be helpful. That said, for those who want a modern style upscale hotel there are some caveats to consider. It is an older building, so no elevator. It does not have a pool to lounge by. No valet parking (or any hotel parking for that matter). Like many older hotels in Europe, modern bathrooms facilities are added on in any space available. In our room part of the quaintness was the imaginative use of space to create a sizable bathroom (showers are still small though). Some reviews have made comments about the A/C. We did not have a problem, but our traveling partners had a warm first night because they could not understand how the controls worked. However, if a moderate priced hotel with more of a feel of a large B&B with an excellent location and gracious hosts is in your wheel house, then we highly recommend the Miro Hotel. |Details: Rapallo was not a town I had heard of until I started to plan our vacation. On the map it looked like a perfect location between all of our planned activities and prices and range of hotel choices seemed better than surrounding towns. I read a few articles that were not very kind to Rapallo and one which went on and on about how lovely the town really is. After driving it on Google I decided to pick it as our base. The Miro had the best price of comparable hotels in the area and is directly on the main sea front promenade. It is a good location whether traveling by car or train since it is a short distance off of the Autostrada and has its own small train station. The train station provides links to the Cinque Terra and just about anywhere else in Italy (but not Portofino). Parking can be problematic, but since we were there just before high season spaces were always easy to find. As for the town itself my wife and her friends had read some of the not so flattering articles about the town and had some trepidations about my pick, but as we began to enter the central area the ooohs and aaahs began. After several walks, they decided it was a “sweet little town”. If you are planning on several days and seeing the surrounding areas the Miro has a perfect location. The train station is about a 5 minute walk. If you are driving, there is paid parking in several areas around the hotel including directly in front (but most will be occupied already). There is a main local bus hub at the same location of the train station. If you are willing to pay the price, you will find many taxis waiting there also. Just across the street and a few minutes’ walk is where you can find ferries that will take you to multiple locations along the coast. You can find brochures in the hotel lobby or the tourist office next door that have all of the options for ferry and hired boat excursions. As for restaurants there are dozens along the main promenade and many many more down the interior side streets. |Back to the Miro itself. The entrance is in a cute alcove just off of the main promenade. The lobby area/breakfast areas are small and quaint. It may seem too small to accommodate a full hotel and it is, however they just expand seating into a connected restaurant. The breakfast itself is an excellent value. The couple that run the hotel speak English and several other languages and are very helpful and pleasant. (as other reviews have mentioned the night clerk does not speak any English) The hotel and rooms were clean, the #1 priority of my wife. The rooms are not overly large, but a little larger than many European hotels we have stayed in. Beds were comfortable. Bathrooms are not opulent, but were one of the nicer ones we encountered in our long line of budget hotels. In all reality if someone could not enjoy their stay at the Miro, they should have probably booked a 5 star hotel in Portofino at 5 times...

The hotel has no lift/elevator, but the very friendly staff offered to carry our bags up the one flight of stairs (and back down at checkout).||Our room was large enough with air conditioning that worked extremely well. The large bed was comfortable and had all non-feather pillows--great for allergy sufferers. Unfortunately, there was only a power outlet on one side of the bed--not good for two people needing to charge phones and devices at bedside. A simple power hub on each nightstand would solve this problem. Our room had a mini-fridge.||The bathroom was small & narrow, and had a shower (no tub) with slight mold. The shower water pressure was good and the hot water stayed hot.||The free WiFi was strong. The hotel has no parking, but there is metered parking on the street, and an open-air parking lot at the next block, just €10 for 24 hours. We found parking in front to offload our bags, then moved our car to the lot.||I would stay here again if I'm in the area. We really enjoyed Rapallo--lovely town...

The hotel is just across the waters with distant views of the harbour. We had a direct sea view room. You could just sit endlessly at the windows and enjoy the hustle and bustle and a charming carnival like atmosphere going into the late night hours. A leisurely walk just across the hotel was enough to heighten and brighten our otherwise tired spirits. ||Our room was on the first floor reached through climbing a narrow staircase. It was a clean room with all the expected amenities. ||The morning walk was extremely pleasant, quiet and calming quite the opposite of the previous evening's atmosphere. ||There are plenty of eateries and excellent restaurants nearby although we did not have the time to visit any since we were on our way to reach Portofino as early as possible to beat the crowds and the developing...