Excelsior Palace Hotel

We arrived the day before our bicycle tour began and stayed at this wonderful hotel (this is the Hotel our Bike trip starts with. The service, amenities, food and staff were way above average. I recommend this Hotel if you are in Rapallo!

This is a beautiful old hotel but only go there if you are relatively young and fit! The only way to enter and exit the hotel by foot is either by walking up a long drive or by climbing or descending a number of steps! Getting from the hotel bedrooms to the lovely pool area is also by walking along corridors and taking 2 lifts! The restaurant by the pools is extremely good as is the service there! The breakfast was also excellent as were the rooms. But if you want somewhere that is easily accessible to The local restaurants and amenities without involving extra walking and stair climbing this is not the place!

Just completed a 3 week tour of Italy and Excelsior Palace/Rapallo area was the best find during the trip. Spent two nights and in hindsight should have added an additional day or two to actually enjoy the hotel facilities. The full day in Rapallo was spent walking to Portifino via the red carpet trail along the coast (approx 12K hike). The hike was quite memorable despite being considered 'odd' by other guests. One gets to see the towns along the coast from Rapallo to Portifino and various restaurants and shops. The hotel had a private beach and lovely pool overlooking the coast. Overall the place was decorated in old world style and quite grand. The carpeting in the hallways leading to the rooms did seem a few years old but only a slight distraction in the overall scheme of things. Breakfast facility was the best on our trip (total of 5 hotels over 3 weeks).

We had a stunning room with a balcony with a fabulous sea view. Large room with settee and writing desk. Lovely bathroom but only downside, probably because it's an old style hotel, was that instead of a walk in shower it had a shower in the bathtub with a curtain. Glorious infinity pool and poolside bar. Great dinner in the Lord Byron Restaurant. We made use of the voucher for 10% off first meal in the restaurant from the hotel. We had the smoked aubergine ravioli with lamb ragu and pecorino and had to stop ourselves from going back and having the same meal every night it was so good! The buffet breakfast was also in the Lord Byron restaurant and was very good. We had our first breakfast on the balcony drinking in the wonderful view but unfortunately the next two mornings were very windy so they didn't serve breakfast outside then. We also had some meals in the hotel bar which were very good and we also tried a very enjoyable Portofino white wine. The gym is very small and only has 3 treadmills, 2 bikes, 1 cross trainer and some weights and mats. There is also an indoor pool which felt rather cold so we just used the outside one. To reach the gym, pool and Eden Roc restaurant you can either take your life in your hands crossing the road as it is on the opposite side to the main hotel or there is an elevated walkway, which is the safer option! Had a fun trip to Portofino on the ferry. We were advised to follow the red carpet to find the ferry! It apparently is in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest red carpet. There was a display case showing pet bowls on the way to the gym and we were very keen to buy our cat a bowl with Excelsior Palace on it but they weren't for sale, only for the lucky pets staying there!

Rapallo may not be your first choice location in this area, but this is a gem with a wonderful pool, and easy walk to both bus and ferry. Needs a few remodel tweaks, but generally quite a nice hotel. Do beware of the ridiculous prices for a taxi, but that is due to taxi price gauging. Nothing to do with the the hotel.