Hotel Barone

The location was a plus. Our room looked onto an internal yard, and it was so loud and hot that we couldn’t open the window. With it shut, we were left sweating and trying to sleep; with it open, the noise made sleep impossible. The listing says “PRIVATE” bath, but it was really a glass bath in the corner of the room, visible to everyone there, and right beside the bed. There was no toilet in the room either, only shared toilets. Booking websites show it under private-bath results, so you wouldn’t know the toilet was shared when filtering that way. I’m surprised by the rating on Booking.com, and by the owner’s response to complaints and negative reviews here on Google Maps. Attacking customers’ opinions instead of appreciating them or improving the place doesn’t help the business.

Pretty awful. We were passing through and needed a room quickly for one night. The staff were nice, but I’d rather sleep somewhere else. The hotel is meant to be smoke-free, yet it smelled of smoke. After my shower, the towel smelled so strongly of it that I let myself air-dry instead of smelling like smoke right after bathing.

The staff were especially welcoming, even letting us in after midnight when our train ran late. Our room was tidy and clean, and the hotel sits in a historic building right in the city centre. Brignole station is only a few minutes away on foot, handy if you’re planning a trip to Cinque Terre.

The staff were kind and did what they could to help, but the room had no toilet. Noise was another problem: the doors are so thin that you hear everything outside, including neighbours burping and talking loudly late into the night.