Royal Hotel Sanremo

We had a first class four night stay here. This is a beautifully renovated first class hotel situated in an ideal place to explore lovely Sanremo. From our lovely welcome when we arrived to our sad departure at the end of the stay we enjoyed a great experience provided by first class members of staff. Our room - a junior suite - excelled our expectations; it had the most comfortable bed and all the facilities you could wish for - including both a bathroom and a shower room. We enjoyed all the facilities offered at the hotel, including the spa, the pool and the restaurant. What more can se say? It was the perfect ending to our French/Italian trip and we would love to return one day.

Royal Hotel Sanremo is the kind of hotel where the word “historic” is doing an incredible amount of heavy lifting. The property is old, tired and badly needs renovation. But after eight nights, we realised the building isn’t even the biggest problem. The bigger problem is that nobody seems to be managing the hotel. Our stay gradually became less of a holiday and more of a documentary. Let’s start with Enrico, the restaurant manager. Enrico has created an extraordinary system for dinner tables. The best tables with a view are reserved for certain guests for their entire stay. Staying seven nights? Congratulations. You now own property in Sanremo. And if those guests don’t come to dinner? The table stays empty. Nobody else can sit there. It’s not a table anymore. It’s a memorial. You can sit nearby and look at it, though. Which, coincidentally, is also how our sea-view room worked. We specifically paid for a sea-view room for a special occasion. Unfortunately, there was an enormous pine tree directly in front of it. Was there a sea? Absolutely. Could we see it? That’s apparently a different product. For eight nights management couldn’t offer us another suitable room even for one day. We paid for the Mediterranean and received a very committed tree. Enrico reappeared at breakfast. I arrived at 10:15. Breakfast officially finishes at 10:30. No “Good morning.” No “Please take a seat.” Enrico’s opening line was: “You have five minutes.” I looked at my watch. 10:15. At this point I wasn’t even offended. I was intrigued. Where did the other ten minutes go? Maybe Enrico had reserved them for another couple for the duration of their stay. Then there is the beach. You’re staying at a five-star hotel on the Italian Riviera, so you naturally think you can go to the beach. Very sweet. First, you need to obtain one of a limited number of vouchers from reception. If they’re gone, you may discover there is no place for you at the affiliated beach club. So every morning begins with a relaxing five-star tradition: The Hunger Games: Sanremo Edition. May the vouchers be ever in your favour. Reception provided another highlight when we booked an E-Class Mercedes for a special evening in Monaco. A van arrived. So there we were, dressed for Monaco, bouncing down the Riviera like sacks of potatoes being delivered to a restaurant. Mistakes happen. The important part at a five-star hotel is what happens next: somebody takes ownership and fixes the problem. Here, taking ownership appears to be reserved exclusively for dinner tables. Breakfast has its own entertainment: pigeons. We actually watched restaurant staff feed them leftovers. This is an interesting strategy because pigeons are extremely sophisticated creatures capable of remembering two things: 1. Where food is. 2. That’s it. So naturally they come back and help themselves to guests’ breakfasts whenever someone leaves the table. The fascinating part is that the pigeons may actually be the best-run department in the hotel. They know where to go. They arrive on time. They understand the system. And unlike reception, they consistently deliver what you expect. Unfortunately, the food intended for humans was consistently poor. And that brings us to the real problem. The hotel doesn’t feel managed. Reception, restaurant and beach services operate like three small countries that happen to share a building. Nobody seems to know what anybody else is doing. Ask a simple question and suddenly you’re negotiating an international treaty. There wasn’t even a proper introduction or hotel tour when we arrived. You discover everything yourself through trial and error. It’s basically an escape room where the prize is finding out how your hotel works. The property itself badly needs renovation. There is a point where “historic charm” ends and “we haven’t renovated this” begins, and Royal Hotel Sanremo appears very comfortable with that boundary. The frustrating thing is that none of this should be difficult. Give guests the rooms they paid for. Don’t permanently reserve empty restaurant tables. Don’t feed pigeons next to people eating breakfast. If breakfast ends at 10:30, learn what 10:15 means. And if somebody books a Mercedes, perhaps don’t send a van. This isn’t advanced hospitality. It’s mostly counting and nouns. Royal Hotel Sanremo charges five-star prices, but our experience was of an ageing property with poor food, bizarre systems and departments seemingly left to invent their own rules. After eight days, we finally understood how Royal Hotel Sanremo works: The tables are reserved. The beach is not. The sea view belongs to a pine tree. The breakfast belongs to the pigeons. And the five stars, apparently, belong to history.

Really nice hotel, old school luxury but not to pricy. Great service and especially from Paolo in the bar who is extraordinary. Elegant and service minded in just the right way!

I have stayed in many 5 star hotels, The Kempinski Seychelles, The Grand Palazzo - Livorno , The Grand - Rimini ( which I loved ) and The Kulm Hotel - St. Moritz ( a lifelong guest ) But !! by a whisker……my new favourite The Royal ……loved everything about it - 5 stars indeed !

It's my second visit to the Royal at San Remo and I absolutely loved it!! From the moment of arrival I was relaxed and ready to soak up the vibe! One point I would make is there was no account for a returning visitor not even fruit or a food platter in the room and certainly no upgrade. I had to remind then I had returned since last year!! The reception team not on the ball! I was given the same room as last year which was lovely with sea view. The most wonderful aspect is the pool and the pool team who looked after me daily and kept a sunbed for me in my favourite space!! The breakfast room was another favourite each day and a great team there!! I love San Remo and love this hotel but would have been nice to be recognised as a returning guest!!