Il Convento

The location made getting around really easy. Restaurants along the main promenade are a couple of minutes away, the station is a seven or eight minute walk, and Carrefour is on the way there for snacks and drinks. The beaches are close too: the tiny free beach in Rapallo is just across the road, and the train makes it easy to reach free public beaches in towns on either side. There are private beaches nearby as well. Our room had lovely bay views and a little kitchen, which was handy for taking a night off from eating out during our week-long stay. The hotel itself is a fantastic little place, about 30 metres from the sea. Staff were friendly, very helpful, and spoke excellent English, which I appreciated since my Italian isn't great. We had a car, and parking had me a bit worried. Tanja explained that white marked spaces are free, blue ones require payment, and yellow ones are for residents. We found a free spot without much trouble. The hotel also has guest parking permits, so we could have used one if needed.

The room with the staircase shown on the website was spacious, and the place was clean and in good shape. The basic utilities were there, and anything we needed beyond that was available at a supermarket about a five minute walk away. One thing to keep in mind in summer is that the upstairs bedroom gets warm. Sound also carries through the large central staircase in this old building, so we could hear guests coming and going. It bothered us less upstairs than on the ground floor, but light sleepers might want earplugs. We stayed for a week in July 2021. The staff were friendly and helpful, and the location worked really well: close to the waterfront but away from the main tourist stretch on the lungomare. There's an ice cream place, a little public beach, good restaurants, and a bakery right next door. If you're driving, booking the garage is a good idea. It costs extra and isn't refundable, but public parking nearby is scarce. The garage is spacious enough for estate cars and vans.

Vittorio was a huge help, and we had a good stay. The place was clean and spacious.

We stayed with my wife and our one-year-old son, and we'd happily come back. The staff were very friendly, and the hotel is well placed for walking to the pier and centro. There's a bakery a few steps away, and we could park for free nearby. We also enjoyed being able to use the terrace with its sea view at no charge and eat dinner there. The Wi-Fi was fast and worked flawlessly.