Hotel Settimo Cielo — Hotel in Sorrento

The view, location and cost makes up for the extremely basic hotel, room and amenities. I was hesitant about staying at the hotel but knew the location would make up for the outdated/simple accommodations mentioned in previous reviews.

My teenage sons and I stayed for 6 nights this month.

PROS - The views from the hotel are spectacular and absolutely breathtaking. Our room had a balcony that was enjoyed every morning and night which made the hotel tolerable. The pool area views were equally amazing. The hotel is also within walking distance to the main centre - not difficult and filled with amazing views along the way. Some areas of the walk are narrow and a bit concerning but never an issue.

CONS - the hotel is extremely dated which I can tolerate for the price, view and location BUT providing quality service is critical.

During the first night of our stay, the AC completely stopped working. I went to the front desk, was handed a remote for the AC (which was not provided at check in - nor were we provided a key for the safe nor provided instructions that we needed to leave our room key w the front desk everyday which we were later reprimanded for not doing). The AC still would not work, I walked back to the front desk bc the phone in the room did not work to tell them it still did not work. We opened the balcony door that evening and luckily the temperature was tolerable. And actually very nice and peaceful! The next morning we nicely informed the staff again of the AC issue and they blankly looked at me. I requested that they please look into the situation while we were gone for the day.

After a long and wonderful day, we returned to the hotel. AC still did not work and it was HOT in the room. The front desk attendant came to the room, flipped the breakers several times, left and returned w a fan and no explanation. It was obvious that the hotel did not make an effort that day to resolve this issue. The next morning we requested again for the AC to be checked. We returned again that evening and still no AC and again - it was extremely hot. And, obviously nobody checked on the issue during the day. I went back to the front desk who told us that they would need to call a technician the next day as it was too late for that night. Finally, it was fixed the next day. But, with zero apologies from the hotel. Super frustrating! To be honest, I was at the point of checking out and relocating hotels had the AC not been fixed that day. I can understand things breaking but in no way should we have gone 3 nights without an AC in the summer.

The shower and sink did not drain properly. The towels were terrible and like cheap tablecloths! Super thin and not soft. We ended up buying beach towels to use — a few days of cheap towels would be fine but for 6 days, no thank you.

The beds were super hard and uncomfortable - the linens were as cheap as the bathroom towels.

Also, we arrived on the first day after a long international flight and well before check in. We told the front desk that we knew it was super early for check in but requested to leave our luggage until the room was ready. The front desk person was absolutely annoyed. Told us the room was not ready (which was fine) but immediately showed us to the room & said we could just leave our luggage in the room until it was cleaned. This was completely ok with us but when we walked into the room / it was clean & ready! Perfect! But, the front desk attendant in her annoyed state did not provide any basic information about the hotel which we later heard them provide to others guests who were checking in throughout our 6 days. We just did not feel welcomed at the hotel. But then again, this is not a 3 or 4 star hotel. However, many reviews mentioning the friendly & welcoming staff confused me!

The rooms were clean and tidy. The cleaning staff did a perfect job everyday. We definitely appreciated that aspect of the hotel.

As mentioned, stay here for the location and views. But, have zero expectations...

If you, like me, are a frugal traveler and always book the cheapest hotel in town thinking "It's a great value! I'm sure it'll be fine..." then this review is for you!

Yes, this hotel is cheap, but I quickly learned that it is not a good value, because that would imply you're getting better quality than the money should bring.

This hotel has some pros, certainly, but they come with cons and other things to be aware of before you book.

PROS:

1. The view is incredible!
2. The front desk staff is friendly and helpful, especially a newer gentleman who was working during our stay.
3. It's convenient to get into the center of town.
4. The hotel is clean.
5. There is a pool.
6. The rooms have balconies.

CONS:

1. The mini-fridge in the room takes about 24 hours to cool anything.
2. The AC takes ~12 hours to kick in.
3. The toiletries given are hand soap and a 2-in-1 body/hair soap, and only enough for 2 days or so. If you want body wash, shampoo, conditioner, or lotion, you will need to buy/bring it.
4. They don't provide pool towels, so you need to use your towel from the shower. Depending on the timing of your day, your towel might still be wet from the pool when you shower or vice versa. The pool also doesn't have umbrellas, which isn't a big deal but would be an easy/obvious improvement.
5. The breakfast isn't great - mostly stale croissants / coffee cakes and bruised fruit. The yogurt and cereal are fine, but if you're lactose intolerant you're probably out of luck.
6. The hotel has an iron that you can borrow but no ironing board, so you have to iron on the bed or floor, which is quite difficult. When I plugged the iron in, our room lost power, and then lost power again 3-4 times while I was using the iron even though nothing extra was plugged in.
7. The hair dryer in our room didn't work, but the front desk had one to borrow.
8. We didn't get a remote for the TV, but they have it at the desk if you ask.
9. There's no "Do Not Disturb" sign, which means the default implication is "Disturb Anytime!" A couple of times while my husband and I were sleeping, the cleaning staff knocked loudly on our door and then started coming into the room. Luckily my husband scrambled out of bed and said no thank you. Also, the cleaning staff left a bag of trash on the desk in our room and failed to replace visibly dirty towels (they replaced some, but not all which was odd).
10. Noise from the hall. If someone down the hall so much as sneezes, you will hear it!
11. The toilet takes 3-4 attempts to flush.

Things to be aware of:

1. The reason the view is so good is that the hotel is quite far up on a cliff. To get to/from town, it's a 10-ish minute walk along a winding hill, which is worth noting if you're traveling with small children, anyone elderly, etc.
2. The beds are hard. This isn't my preference but it may be yours! They sort of feel like a big piece of industrial styrofoam.
3. The "double bed" is two twin beds pushed together, but without any connecting piece. So, if you move at all in your sleep, the beds scoot apart creating a crack a few inches wide. (This is also not super conducive to any other bedroom activities...)
4. There is no restaurant/bar. They don't advertise having one, so this isn't a surprise, but helpful to be aware of as it means you'll need to leave the hotel for all lunches, dinners, snacks, and drinks.

In summary, if you're looking to actively enjoy your hotel while on vacation, this isn't the place. But if all you need is a clean place to sleep with a nice view, this hotel will...

It’s called “Seventh Heaven” but it should be called the Seventh layer of Hell! Stay anywhere other than this hotel!!! You are warned. I read reviews on all of the issues with this place and still decided to stay here. Don’t do it! The only perks of this hotel is 1) an amazing sea view from your balcony if you get a sea view room and 2) a caring and hospitable staff. However, neither is enough reason to stay here. Even with an amazing sea view and balcony, the balconies are NOT private. You can see into your neighbors area and basically even into their room.

It’s also incredibly far from the city center (25 min) and on a busy highway with a narrow sidewalk so while the view is nice the walk is treacherous and borderline dangerous. It sits on a cliff so it’s a long walk to the beaches, restaurants, and the port. So not be fooled - it looks geographically close to many things on the map but it is literally on top of a cliff with no way to get to town except to walk the long way down and around. It is NOT close to Delfino (amazing restaurant you should go to). After a day it was really annoying to continue making the walk into town and back. If you like convenience and easy access to the city, again, do not stay here!

This hotel seems like it was beautiful and glamorous 30 years ago. The owners (Joseph I hope you are reading this) have not invested in upkeep since. When I brought up concerns with the staff, they were embarrassed because they know this hotel is being run on a bare bones budget and it seems they field these complaints often. Twice when walking through the lobby, I witnessed others complaining about their rooms. It has beautiful open areas (that are totally unused), and stunning painted tiling everywhere. There haven’t been any updates in this millennium. Rooms are outdated to say the least, with the exception of a small AC that barely gets the job done (but ours did work!) Our room was small (not terribly) and there was mold in the shower and on the AC vent, even spots of black mold on the ceiling. The door to the terrace had a broken lock and was not secure. The beds are very cheap and are less comfortable than a summer camp cot. They did not give fresh towels unless you specifically ask for them, and the towels themselves are the cheapest, thinnest towels that are not absorbent. The free breakfast is basically hard boiled eggs, bread, fruit, and cereal. The coffee machine is very old and the coffee was TERRIBLE. It’s was a crime to Italian coffee culture. The pool and the pool chairs were incredibly dirty and are reminiscent of what you might find at the Bates motel. They stained my swimsuit and my feet were black after walking around the pool deck...