Eight Hotel Paraggi

We arrived to Eight hotel in Portofino after visiting several hotels in Italy on self-organised tour. First impressions were good, The reception looked beautiful and the lady went to get us a welcome drink. As we sat down she explained that we had booked the wrong dates and we should have checked in a day earlier and therefore could not stay at the hotel for the two nights confirmed to us when booking. She also explained we would not be getting a refund for the night we had apparently missed. We checked our details and realised it was all correct from our end. My partner had called up prior to the trip and enquired about moving the dates and had been told that it was not possible. However, we found out that the receptionist Silva had changed our dates without confirming with us! We had actually then extended our stay at another hotel because of this I explained that due to the lack of communication, this was entirely their fault and therefore they would have to sort out the situation. After a while they arrived at the conclusion that they would move our room halfway through our stay. Silva and the hotel took no accountability for her lack of communication and it all felt very hostile and unwelcoming, they even felt the need to tell us that we had inconvenienced them!! The next day we saw our moved room and it was absolutely tiny. We could not even fit our luggage in it! We had been downgraded despite paying full price! Again, no apologises or words as to why. The mix up of my partner asking if we could move dates was something we were now being penalised for. I went to the reception and spent a long time complaining and then eventually had us move hotels. This ruined our one and only full day in Portofino as we had only booked two nights. This was absolutely not the kind of hospitality we expected from a 5 star hotel with this price point. I would never stay here again, I cannot believe they couldn’t accept that we are not mind readers.

This is the best kept secret location of the Italian Riviera!! Away from the hustle of Portofino, but a lovely 20 minute hike or hotel shuttle will take you to the town. The Paraggi Bay is one of the best swimming holes in the world. Mattia was the BEST concierge we’ve ever had!! Someone give this man a raise. He was phenomenal, booking us a new restaurant every night for dinner. Noemi was our server on the beach most of the time and she was absolutely lovely. The restaurant manager was extremely helpful pairing wine with our meals. Worth every penny, we will be coming back here.