Antiche Terre Hotel & Relax

We used the hotel as a base for Cinque Terre, but the drive was about 35 minutes each way, even though the site described it as a few miles away. Some amenities shown in the photos weren’t there. The restaurant had good food and great service, and the views were beautiful. Our room was clean, and the pool sits on the mountainside. In summer, make sure to ask for air conditioning. Vanessa and Julio were amazing, always greeting us warmly and looking after us. Thanks for the great service!

The view is just great, and we barely heard the neighboring rooms or the rooster, in case that matters. The room is a bit old, but still good. There’s no air conditioning, though the ceiling fan helps. I’d read a lot of comments about the staff, but our experience was that they were welcoming, polite, and friendly. The food was good, as was the wine. It’s classic Italian food, pasta followed by meat.

We were actually amused by the unprofessionalism, and gave it one star for an unforgettable stay. We spent three nights here during our three-week summer holiday in July-August 2023, and it was easily the worst part of the trip. The positive reviews of Antiche Terre Hotel & Relax are a mystery to us. We felt misled and never welcome, as if our presence bothered the staff. We wondered whether they were working against their will and didn’t really want guests. The place is in the middle of nowhere and badly needs renovation. The rooms and bathrooms are very basic, with dated interiors, no air conditioning, and paper-thin walls. You can hear exactly what’s happening in other rooms, so their alarms will wake you before yours needs to. The roosters outside are probably already putting on their long morning show, and if you somehow sleep through that, loud music from reception will finish the job. We arrived in time for dinner, unfortunately. The dining room felt more like a school cafeteria than a restaurant, and there was only one option: a full three-course meal with two main course choices. We asked to share one menu between two people and were told that wasn’t possible. It was the full menu or nothing. The fish was dry and tasteless, and the meat was like rubber. We complained politely but weren’t taken seriously. This “restaurant” is a disgrace to wonderful Italian cooking. The restaurant staff wore security-style radio earpieces straight out of a nineties spy movie, so it was hard to tell whether they were talking to us or each other. The unfriendly, tattooed wannabe security guard in charge made the uncomfortable atmosphere worse. We expected breakfast to be better than dinner, but it wasn’t. There was a very limited selection of cheap toppings and bread, and eggs cost extra. Industrial juice was self-served in disposable plastic cups, which says a lot about the quality here. At least we didn’t have to use dirty glasses like at dinner. We strongly advise against spending time or money here. There are so many nicer hotels around with polite staff.

The family running this place is wonderful, and we were glad to have some time to swim and relax during our busy trip around Italy. We booked three rooms because we wanted to be closer to cinque terre, and the value price made it a gamble. Inez, the owner, greeted us warmly, speaks perfect English, and explained the layout and how to get to Cinque Terre the next day. We spent the afternoon enjoying the grounds, sipping drinks by the pool and taking in the sweeping mountain views. Our rooms were clean, sparse, and just right for the stay, with suitable attached bathrooms. Dinner had mixed results for our group. The service was excellent, but some of us were only satisfied with our meals while others thought theirs were perfectly suitable. It was a little warm while sleeping, though the ceiling fan helped. The next morning’s breakfast buffet was delicious, with fruit, meat, yogurt, pastries, and more. The coffee was excellent.