Grand Hotel Alassio Resort & Spa

“A memorable vacation”

We had a great stay here. Overall it is a luxurious experience in a prime location. From here you can really get the best of your stay in Alassio. The staff were exceptional… Monica and Alex I must personally mention because they were two of the most passionate hotel staff I have ever met. They rea… more

We had a great stay here. Overall it is a luxurious experience in a prime location. From here you can really get the best of your stay in Alassio. The staff were exceptional… Monica and Alex I must personally mention because they were two of the most passionate hotel staff I have ever met. They really went the extra mile. Thanks to everyone at Grand Hotel Alassio… you are doing a fantastic job! I hope to be back soon!

less

“Fabulous Views and Breakfast”

We loved the view from our room. We loved our terrace. The breakfast buffet was the very best we have encountered on this trip (and we have stayed at high-end hotels). There was a huge selection of delicious foods, beautifully displayed, with attentive service for coffee orders. We enjoyed the “Med… more

We loved the view from our room. We loved our terrace. The breakfast buffet was the very best we have encountered on this trip (and we have stayed at high-end hotels). There was a huge selection of delicious foods, beautifully displayed, with attentive service for coffee orders. We enjoyed the “Medical Spa,” The fitness room was well-equipped. Our room was small, but the layout makes good use of the space (with built-in shelves and drawers). There was no electrical outlet near the bed, so we had to live with a long extension cord (cheerfully provided and taped in place by the bellman) in order to have power for a CPAP machine. Go for a terrace room if you can! Our terrace was our outdoor living room.

less

“Grand Hotel Alassio: A Beautiful Historic Hotel with Excellent Service, but several areas for Improvement”

This was my first stay at Grand Hotel Alassio, and my initial impression was very positive. The hotel is housed in a stunning historic building dating back to the 19th century, full of charm and elegance. Here are my impressions after the stay: Special thanks A special thank you to Alex, the Hea… more

This was my first stay at Grand Hotel Alassio, and my initial impression was very positive. The hotel is housed in a stunning historic building dating back to the 19th century, full of charm and elegance. Here are my impressions after the stay: Special thanks A special thank you to Alex, the Head Concierge, and Alessandro. They were exceptionally professional, friendly, and always happy to recommend places to visit and things to do. Their service was outstanding. Pros * Friendly and attentive beach staff. * Beautiful sea-view room. * The sun loungers on the beach were lightweight and easy to move throughout the day to stay in the sun or under the umbrella. * The beach showers were clean, although one shower cabin was missing shower gel. * Convenient valet parking service. Lorenzo and Giuseppe were very helpful and professional. Cons * Drinks at the hotel bar were very expensive. * The room had a significant mosquito problem. It would be helpful if the hotel provided electric mosquito repellent devices in the rooms. * The room (22 m²) felt quite small. * Our room was located next to the staff service elevator. From around 8:00 a.m. every morning, there was considerable noise from staff activities, including moving bottles, housekeeping operations, and service deliveries. * There were many families with young children staying at the hotel. During breakfast, children were frequently running around, playing, or crying, which made the atmosphere quite noisy. * The breakfast room was relatively small, and the outdoor seating area became very hot (28–30°C) at the end of June. The same issue existed on the beach, where there were many families with young children. One suggestion for the management would be to consider dividing the beach into separate areas—one primarily for families with children and another for guests seeking a quieter environment. Since the beach is spacious and naturally divided into two sections, this could improve the experience for both groups of guests.

less

“Great people, disappointing rooms”

My thoughts as a traveller who spends up to 5 months a year in hotels. We spent eight nights at the only five-star hotel in Alassio, a calm and charming seaside resort on the Ligurian coast. The average room rate was around €600 per night including breakfast, with valet parking at an additional €… more

My thoughts as a traveller who spends up to 5 months a year in hotels. We spent eight nights at the only five-star hotel in Alassio, a calm and charming seaside resort on the Ligurian coast. The average room rate was around €600 per night including breakfast, with valet parking at an additional €30. We received an upgrade to a full sea-view room, a generous gesture, though the room itself was compact. At 22 square metres, it felt noticeably cramped over eight nights for two adults. The room also attracted mosquitoes, which prompted a trip to the pharmacy for repellent spray, one that proved only partially effective. A simple plug-in deterrent from management would have resolved the issue entirely. What Worked Well The concierge team was a genuine highlight. Head Concierge Alex and his colleague Alessandro were consistently warm, engaged and resourceful, full of well-considered recommendations and ready to secure restaurant bookings at a moment’s notice. They set a high bar for the rest of the stay. Beach staff were equally impressive: attentive, professional and quietly efficient. Loungers and sunshades were managed with care, and the beach was kept immaculately clean throughout. The bar and restaurant, visited twice for drinks and once for dinner, delivered friendly, knowledgeable service and food and drinks of a good standard. The prices, however, were steep enough to dissuade us from returning more often. A modest reduction of around 25% would make the offering genuinely compelling. The bell and valet team, Giuseppe and Lorenzo in particular, were consistently warm and helpful. The fitness centre was well-equipped, thoughtfully positioned on the ground floor, and benefited from excellent natural light. Where There Is Room to Improve Breakfast was underwhelming for a hotel positioning of this calibre. The breakfast room felt crowded for a property of just 60 rooms, and the absence of any meaningful separation between families with young children and other guests made for a less-than-tranquil start to the day on more than one occasion. The selection was reasonably broad but entirely unchanged across all eight mornings, to the point where we opted to skip it towards the end of the stay. At a five-star hotel, variety and curation matter as much as volume. Charging separately for eggs benedict, in this context, is simply not appropriate. The rooms communicate sufficiency rather than luxury. A 22-square-metre room is manageable for a short stay; for anything beyond three or four nights, it becomes a limitation. A single washbasin, a direct consequence of the room’s dimensions, and pillows that were firmer than comfortable further dilute the five-star promise. We would caution guests planning a stay of a week or more to consider this carefully beforehand. The front desk was mixed. There was no sense of ill intent, but language barriers occasionally led to miscommunication and unnecessary friction. Senior management visibility was notably absent, and for a hotel of this size, that is a missed opportunity. With only 60 rooms, a General Manager and their leadership team have every means to know each guest personally and to make at least one meaningful point of contact during a stay. This is standard practice at comparable properties: the St. Regis in Venice and Florence, the Conrad Dubai, the Ritz-Carlton in Vienna and Perth among them. Proactive senior presence is not a luxury add-on; it is part of what defines the five-star experience. Appearing only when something goes wrong is too late. In Summary The overall experience lands solidly in the middle. The price-to-experience ratio is stretched, and on-site amenities are priced beyond what the quality consistently justifies. What offsets this is the quality of the people: genuinely hospitable, authentic and often excellent. Remove them, and the hotel is average. The goal, one would hope, is for the product to match the people who represent it.

less