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4.0
#8 of 27 hotels in Rapallo
Location
Cleanliness
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Value
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Grand Hotel Bristol will reopen its doors on 10th March 2023 as a five-star lifestyle hotel, brand new member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, redesigning la Dolce Vita in a contemporary concept of hospitality and enhancing exclusive comfort and quality services. Awarded in 2022 as best Luxury Destination Hotel by World Luxury Awards, this elegant and charming Liberty-style property is located on the Portofino Coast with breath-taking views and offers bespoke and unscripted experiences designed by the brand new lifestyle Concierge. In addition Guests can enjoy the ultimate wellness retreat at the Erre Spa, the biggest hotel spa in Liguria. The F&B selection include a fine-dining restaurant Le Cupole, located on the rooftop, the Italian bistrot La Veranda, the vibrant Lounge bar and the 2023 new addition being a gourmet pizzeria by the pool. The building dates back to 1908 and was originally owned by the Costa Family who intended to create the most modern hotel at that time thanks to the presence of elevators and private bathrooms in each room. The hotel is surrounded by a flourishing Mediterranean nature where contemporary style of the interior design is perfectly integrated with the architectural facade of the Liberty era. Maintaining the tradition and the splendour of the hotel, the restyling focuses on providing guests with a redefined Dolce Vita concept that involves all senses, indulging the eyes with the best view of Portofino, nourishing body and mind with the most exclusive Esthederm treatments and satisfying the palate with the exceptional cuisine by Chef Graziano Duca.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Lagoon View
Luxury
Languages Spoken
English, French, Russian, Spanish and 2 more
Location
Via Aurelia Orientale, 369, 16035, Rapallo Italy
Name/address in local language
Grand Hotel Bristol Spa Resort
1,349 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
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Let us start with the positives: location & views, F&B staff attempt their best with limited mgmt support. Excellent SPA (we suspect managed separately). However outweighed by negatives, not enough space to write it all: 1/ we were 1x week in a suite (405) + room (408). no hot water for the shower during entire stay. At maximum heat, shower pressure was a bare trickle of lukewarm water; alternative being freezing water at normal pressure. We informed hotel 24hrs into our stay; we arrived Sat, we are leaving today (Fri) and it has not been solved. Hopefully the hotel will solve it for the next occupants. General manager claimed he had not been aware of the issue (..). We asked whether they would inform the next occupants, we didn’t get a clear answer. Unelegantly they offered money, which we refused. When asked what they would do to improve service, the answer was “90% of our clients are happy”. Shouldn’t anything short of 100% be a reason for action? 2/ 3 family members are coeliacs, we told the hotel 48hrs before arrival so F&B staff could be told. When we arrived pool restaurant staff didn’t know. They fixed it when we raised it. Yet it was disappointing they had not done it proactively. 3/ the gluten free bread was green mouldy. Issues happen with packaged goods but it is emblematic that food put out for clients is not systematically checked every day. 4/ one evening laundry was left in our room that wasn’t ours but some other client’s items. 5/ we ordered room service on at least two occasions and each time the order was delivered wrong or incomplete 6/ every morning at breakfast including as I write (!) I was offered other people’s orders. “Did you order a cappuccino?” Is now a family catchphrase. Yet our own orders had to be chased several times. 7/ equally we were often given other clients’ bills to sign. Yesterday at the pool I had to remark facetiously to the staff that while I was happy to only pay €46 for our family Linux we had more than a couple of coke zeros (we didn’t it was someone else’s check) 8/ if you have life threatening allergies (eg nuts) stay away — breakfasts foods of different types are handled with the same cutlery. List is longer and it seems to be known locally. A taxi driver told us last night unprompted “they are young managers and staff there, they don’t really know their trade, you should have tried some of the more established hotels”. Worse of it all when we told all of this to the hotel GM so that they could improve, he was defensive and in denial — more interested in his own (high) self-esteem than bona fide feedback. Potential for the hotel is there, with seasoned management it could be a real hit. As it is the beautiful Italian Riviera offers multiple better value for money in the higher range hotels.
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Date of stay: July 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riccardo Bortolotti, General Manager at Grand Hotel Bristol Spa Resort
Responded 6 Jul 2024
Dear Luigi R, Thank you for choosing our hotel and for sharing your detailed feedback. We are pleased to hear that you enjoyed our location, stunning views, our staff, and our SPA, which, for clarity, is under the same management 😊. We deeply regret the difficulties you encountered during your stay. Please rest assured that every issue you raised is taken very seriously to improve the quality of our service. Regarding the hot water, it was an exceptional situation that our technical team tried to resolve promptly. Unfortunately, we couldn't provide direct assistance as you denied access to your room. However, our team found that the water temperature was close to 50°C immediately after leaving your room, confirming the temporary nature of the problem. We apologize once again for the miscommunication regarding your dietary preferences. Unfortunately, our dining colleague was not aware that a fresh gluten-free dough had been specially prepared for you. We promptly addressed the issue and offered you lunch to express our regret. As you know, we are committed to providing safe and high-quality options for all our guests with specific dietary needs. Gluten-free options are available in all our restaurants, as you confirmed. The issue with the moldy bread was an isolated incident, and we are strengthening our checks to prevent recurrence. As you can imagine, we do not package the product ourselves, and there was probably an issue during packaging. Such cases are very rare, and we will report this to our supplier. Thank you for checking the expiration dates of all products and confirming that we are in line with safety standards. Any errors in room service and billing do not reflect our high standards of excellence. We are intensifying staff training to ensure these situations do not happen again. We are sorry that your experience did not meet your expectations and that the discussion with management was not as constructive as you had hoped. Your comments about management have been carefully noted, and we will use them as motivation to continue our work with dedication and commitment. Best regards, Riccardo Bortolotti General Manager
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Whilst imposing and enjoying amazing views the quality of the hotel and rooms doesn’t justify the price. Service was very good, we attended a wedding and all staff were very attentive and friendly. Rooms are quite plain and bathroom very small. Having paid over 260 Euro for a room to be charged 15 euro to park a moto cycle in an outside parking space is just being penny pinching as is charging 6 euro for a fried egg.
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Date of stay: June 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from SILVESTRO DE BOLFO, General Manager at Grand Hotel Bristol Spa Resort
Responded 10 Jul 2021
Dear John, thank for being our Guest and thank you for your compliments regarding amazing views and the good services. We will take into consideration your disappoint regarding the prices that you consider excessive. However maintaining the services entails large investments that cannot correspond to clearance prices. Very best regards Silvestro De Bolfo General Manager
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What an overpriced hotel! The price per night is disproportionate to the quality of the room, with still a shower in the bath. The prices of drinks and food are also way too high, plus an intrusive tip with everything you order. Not recommended. Many pretensions that are not fulfilled. For these prices, there is something much better to be had.
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Automatically translated
Date of stay: September 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Neem een ander hotel.
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First things first: staff at breakfast is nice, helpful, professional. Pool boy really polite & helpful. Rooms coean, nice view, expensive but ok. Then the downsize: listen: if you pay gor a hotel, you shouldn’t pay extra to have a sunbed. Period. Money doesn’t decide everything! Spa is extra, sunbed almost all taken by people that do not even show the entire day. So hotel: shame on you! You have customers that DO want to enjoy the pool, and booked your hotel for this reason. So you give them a place at the pool. If you don’t: put it in your advertisement: warning: this hotel serves only the ones that pay extra for everything that should be included. We are europeans: so behave like that: treat all customers as if they are welcome, and serve what they came for! And get more serving staff at lunch time too: the food is good, but the staff is understaffed.
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Date of stay: August 2021Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Rapallo is not nice. Too crowded and it lost its authenticity.
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Response from SILVESTRO DE BOLFO, General Manager at Grand Hotel Bristol Spa Resort
Responded 15 Aug 2021
Dear Sir, we have no reason to be ashamed. But you should think before you write lies. We are not an all inclusive hotel, are you able to understand this ? Due to health restrictions, the swimming pool has limited places and cannot provide sunbeds for 160 people. We saw you on arrival that the swimming pool is free but that it is necessary to reserve the sunbeds because there are not enough for everyone when the hotel is full. We offer a wellness center of almost 2000 square meters with excellent services that cannot be free. At lunch there are seven waiters every day for 40 guests. Since eight consecutive nights the hotel is 100% occupied with 160/180 guest, with restaurant, bars and SPA allways fully booked, with 98% satisfied Guests, Your criticism is inappropriate, it is not constructive and it does not help us improve like so many other intelligent criticisms we receive. Silvestro De Bolfo – General Manager
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Pleasantly surprised at the beauty and convenience of this 4 star hotel that has been refurbished and is now boasting 5 stars and is part of the Small Luxury Hotel Collection. With the majority of the rooms being seafront you can enjoy a sweeping seafront view from within the room or on your balcony. Considering all the hotel sin Rapallo, if you are looking for the best view, I would recommend this hotel as the views are spectacular from your room, the terrace, the breakfast room, the pool and the Michelin recommended rooftop restaurant Le Cupole which I have no doubt will soon earn a Michelin star. And if a good spa is on your list of musts when vacationing, make sure to visit the spa that offers spa treatments in addition to many spa facilities for your relaxation. Located by a 10 minute scenic walk to town or with the hotel complimentary shuttle (by appointment)
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Date of stay: March 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riccardo Bortolotti, General Manager at Grand Hotel Bristol Spa Resort
Responded 23 Mar 2023
Dear 387amalm, We'd like to extend a big thank you for choosing the Grand Hotel Bristol Resort&Spa, as well as for your amazing feedback! As we strive to provide memorable experiences for our guests, it is wonderful to hear that we succeeded with you! We are already looking forward to welcoming back! Best regards Riccardo Bortolotti General Manager
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This wonderful hotel is ideally situated in Rapallo which is part of Portofino Bay. Our room was first class on the first floor with an excellent view of the bay. Our bed was exceptionally comfortable and our bathroom was well equipped .. We received a regular daily supply of water and fruit juice. Breakfast was superb with a great choice of food including fresh cherries which was a real delight. A shuttle bus was a pleasant surprise which we used daily to Rapallo and to local restaurants . The staff were so very helpful throughout our entire stay. Overall a superb hotel, which ensued a delightful stay.
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Date of stay: June 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chiara Quirino, Servizi per gli ospiti/front office at Grand Hotel Bristol Spa Resort
Responded 21 Jun 2024
Dear Guest, We would like to thank you for taking the time to provide us with your valuable feedback. We read every single word with the pleasure of knowing that we gave you an experience that reach all your expectations. We will be delighted to welcome you again in the near future and do not hesitate to contact us before your arrival for any request, it will be a great pleasure for us to assist you. Cordially, Riccardo Bortolotti General Manager
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This hotel/resort scores a 8/10 for me. We spent 6 nights here occupying 2 rooms. There are so many positives to mention and only a few negatives. Positives include the beautiful pool area, the magnificent spa, the breakfast which literally has absolutely anything you could want including a fresh juice bar where you can choose your ingredients and then squeeze your own juice as you like it. The other thing that really stood out was the absolute cleanliness of the hotel from the rooms to the corridors to the public spaces. The reception and concierge were also super helpful at all times. The beds are very comfortable and the shower is strong. The cherry on the top was a bottle of Prosecco in an ice bucket with a hand written note for my husband on his birthday! The small list of negatives was just that the service was very slow in the restaurants , the shower is extremely tiny and temperature was very erratic giving us an ice cold to hot back to ice cold shower in a space of a few minutes or no hot water at all.... All in all this is a hotel that I will definitely return to. We also enjoyed the 20 minute walk each night into the town and back.
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Date of stay: August 2022
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:try choose a room with shower over bath as stand alone showers are extremely tiny
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riccardo Bortolotti, General Manager at Grand Hotel Bristol Spa Resort
Responded 30 Sept 2022
Dear guest, Many sincere thanks for your kind review and recommendation to the Grand Hotel Bristol Resort&Spa. I am very happy to hear that our services made such a positive impression and that you had a memorable experience. We take pride in taking care of our guests and are very pleased that your expectations were highly met. Thank you once again for choosing to stay with us and we look forward to welcoming you back very soon. Kind regards, Riccardo Bortolotti General Manager
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Wonderful hotel in Rapallo, Italy. The staff were all very friendly and helpful. We had a junior suite facing the sea and enjoyed the beautiful view. We are a family of 3 so we requested an extra bed for our daughter. The extra bed was a real comfortable bed. Breakfast buffet offered a good selection of food but the only downside was that it was the same everyday. Nice outdoor pool and indoor spa. Children under 16 are not allowed to visit the indoor spa though. The concierge desk was very helpful. They helped us buy train tickets, gave restaurant recommendations and we booked a lovely private half day boat tour (with skipper) thru the hotel. Had a wonderful time visiting Portofino and Cinque Terre from Rapallo. Matteo, one of the concierge, was especially helpful with our trip plan and shuttle/taxi reservation. We felt well taken care of during our stay. Tip: book hotel shuttle early since there’s only one car with 7 seats only.
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Date of stay: October 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chiara Quirino, Guest Services / Front Office at Grand Hotel Bristol Spa Resort
Responded 14 Oct 2023
Dear Mrs Jenny, We would like to thank you for taking the time to provide us with your valuable feedback. We read every single word with the pleasure of knowing that we gave you an experience that reach all your expectations. We will be delighted to welcome you again in the near future and do not hesitate to contact us before your arrival for any request, it will be a great pleasure for us to assist you. Cordially, Riccardo Bortolotti General Manager
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This is an excellent hotel and we enjoyed a lovely week’s stay. The facilities are first class . We stayed in a sea view Room which was a good size and had a wonderful view of the gulf. Breakfast has a very good selection and very friendly staff . The concierge service were great organising trips and restaurants and were very helpful. They were all good but special mention for Matteo and Paola . The bar staff were also super. The spa is free to use for guests and was wonderful Entertainment also good and one evening we were lucky to have a 7 person cello ensemble perform against the backdrop of the ocean. Fantastic Overall we had a wonderful holiday in beautiful surroundings with friendly and attentive staff. Definitely deserves to be called a small luxury hotel I would recommend to anyone and a big thanks to all the staff
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Book the shuttle bus service into town early as only 7 places
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chiara Quirino, Guest Services / Front Office at Grand Hotel Bristol Spa Resort
Responded 30 Sept 2023
Dear Guest , We'd like to extend a big thank you for choosing the Grand Hotel Bristol Resort&Spa, as well as for your amazing feedback! As we strive to provide memorable experiences for our guests, it is wonderful to hear that we succeeded with you! We are already looking forward to welcoming back! Best regards Riccardo Bortolotti General Manager
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We stopped spontaneously at the Bristol while we were passing through and asked if there were any free rooms. And without much effort we were given a room with a great sea view. We booked four nights and were very happy. The rooms were not very big, but absolutely adequate and cleaned every day. The rooms are a little noisy, but that didn't bother us too much. The hotel staff were all, without exception, very friendly and helpful to us and our little dog. Parking is free and you can always take the shuttle service to Rapallo, which almost always works. The breakfast was absolutely fine, more choice of bread rolls would have been good. We didn't use the spa area. The hotel is not on the beach but there are enough beaches that you can reach on foot. We didn't book anything, we just stopped spontaneously and it was the right decision. We will definitely be back.
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Date of stay: June 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Tinley Park, United States23 contributions6 helpful votes
I think the Riviera Suite has a romantic round tub as that is the suite I liked. Not sure if others have jacuzzi's. No private pool in room but the main pool is very nice.
Tinley Park, United States23 contributions6 helpful votes
It depends on what you say is near. I think anything within a 30 minute walk is near and the town entry is about 15 minutes and the train about 20 to 25 minutes as I walked it. The hotel also runs a shuttle for those that don't enjoy walking. But the walk is beautiful along the coast with the castle and areas to walk down to the sea for photos. So I think it's in a perfect location with the view opposite of Portofino and Santa Margherita.
There are more places to choose from in the Rapallo area.
PRICE RANGE
€228 - €468 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
grand hotel rapallo, nh hotels rapallo, grand hotel bristol rapallo
LOCATION
ItalyLiguriaItalian RivieraRapallo
NUMBER OF ROOMS
80
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect nightly room rates, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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