The Hotel Marina Piccola and its restaurant have been favorites since our very first stay: http://www.hotelmarinapiccola.com/hotel/en/

I recommend that you read reviews to see if it appeals to you. All rooms have air conditioning.

The hotel is well managed. We have rented apartments on more recent, longer stays. When staying at the Marina Picola, if we needed assistance, we could always find one of the owners or a staff member in the restaurant. There wasn't any sort of concierge service or manager on duty all day long.

The Hotel Marina Piccola is in Manarola, which doesn't have a beach but it does have a swimming area and a place where people sunbathe and little children can go into a shallow area. There is also a walkway along the side of an outcropping with a stainless steel ladder attached which you can use to get in and out of the water. There is a public outdoor shower where you can rinse off and look up and down the coastline - heavenly!

Even if you don't stay there, I recommend reserving a table by the rail for dinner. Delicious food and lovely views. It's also fun to watch the little fishing boats being hoisted up from the small harbor below.

If you are just looking in the CT towns themselves you might have better luck if you expand your search to neighboring towns like Camogli and Rapallo. Last time I was there I stayed in Camogli and found it to be a very cute little town in and of itself plus the train to the CT was not long. I am going again this coming summer and am staying in Rapallo. I can't recommend anyplace there as I have not yet actually stayed there but I'm excited about the one I did book - it looks good and gets good reviews. I used booking.com, they had a decent selection. I did find things are already starting to fill up.

I thorougly enjoyed La Toretta in Manarola:

http://www.torrettas.com/

http://www.villasteno.com/en/index.php

stayed here in 2002..rates have gone up, but seemingly competitive..excellent location, very accomodating family-run..large rooms (#5 has it's own terrace). Great views and easy walk downhill to the sandy beach and starting points for village walks... train station right there.

Thanks all, we have decided to stay in Genoa...and take a boat out to see the villages.

Hope you don't run into winds which get the seas very high and the boats don't go. Can you do the train from Levanto? It is a hop on hop off deal that allows for time in all the villages.They run very frequently.

I definitely dont want to go on scary seas, that's for sure! We are coming from Florence, are there lockers at La Spezia? if so we could leave our carry on size luggage there and spend time in the two easternmost villages, returning to pickup luggage and continue to Genoa toward the end of day. The reason I was leaning toward staying in Genoa was partly because of weather concerns...there just would not be much of anything to do in the CT if it were raining...and especially not pleasant in most of the hotels which do not seem too appealing.

Santa Margherita Ligure is a nice little harbor town with an easy train trip to CT. Also you can take a bus to Portofino from SML. We stayed at a charming B&B called the Hotel Nuova in SML.

Correction: Hotel Nuova Riviera

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187827-d530086-Reviews-Nuova_Riviera-Santa_Margherita_Ligure_Italian_Riviera_Liguria.html

According to previous reports, there is left-luggage storage at La Spezia station.

You needn't worry about being on scary seas (the boats don't run if it isn't safe), but the boat ride from Genoa to le CInque Terre is really very, very long.

There are several places you could stay mid-point between Genoa and le Cinque Terre that would make it easy to get into Genova if it was raining, but also easy to go for a hike, either in le Cinque Terre or around the Portofino area, if the weather was very nice.

In addition to Santa Margherita Ligure, there is also the more village-y Camogli, and Rapall (slightly bigger than Santa Margherita Ligure).

If you use booking.com, you can look at hotels for these towns and read reviews.

Sorry for my typo:

The name of the town is Rapallo

> there just would not be much of anything to do in the CT if it were raining

You might not be able to hike between the villages (and probably shouldn't if its raining, as the trails can become quite dangerous), but those who choose to can certainly walk around the towns, using the train to go from one to another. When you are ready to dry off, there are some wonderful restaurants where you can linger over a cup of soup or glass of wine, even if you aren't ready for a full meal. And when you are ready for a meal, you can eat some truly delicious things in these villages!

Having been caught in the rain in the Cinque Terre, I can say with confidence that it may have curtailed my hiking plans, but did not keep me from enjoying the area.

Can't say if that would be true for you or not....

Can anyone tell me how long a boat ride from Genoa to Portofino is? I also was thinking about training to SML and then a shorter boat ride to Portofino. I think the shorter walks around Portofino, and maybe Nervi may satisfy the nature urge. And maybe couple that with a few hours from La Spezia.

I'm not sure the boats run in May except on weekends. I would estimate the boat ride to Portofino takes about 2 hours, but you might want to ask on TripAdvisor to see if you can get a more precise answer.

I concur with your overall feeling that there is nothing to do in le Cinque Terre if it rains. The villages are extremely small. The food is better in Genova. If you go to Nervi, eating foccacia col formaggio at La Marinella, which is right on the seaside near the train station, is a treat. The museums in Nervi are interesting.

There are only a few short walks around the Portofino area. Some people who walk from Portofino to San Fruttuoso don't understand what a huge hike it is.

treble,

just in case my post wasn't clear, I'm guessing it is 2 hours by boat from Genova to Portofino. If you take a train to Santa Margherita Ligure, the boat from there to Portofino is about 10 minutes.

Ha ha, true, goldenautumn, after reading here about so many people doing the Camogli to San Fruttuoso walk, I was not too concerned, but WOW! I much preferred the walk from Portofino to SF because I did not dig the chains too much (once was enough). The walk above the Camogli-SF path was my favorite. You can do some less strenuous walks, but they lack the great views of the coastal paths.
treble, I visited the area in May twice, and I hope you have weather as nice as I did. I looked up a lot about the neighboring towns, just in case we had bad weather or exhausted our urge for nature, but we never did.

Thanks, all. I did not realize Portofino Genoa boat ride would be two hours! Unless it is a very pleasant/pretty one I am not too sure about that. Would it make us seasick? We are not boaters nor cruisers...though we do fine on harbor cruises. HAs anyone taken the Genoa harbor cruise?

Also, about the boats not running in May? We will be there mid week. And how long is a boat ride from one village to the next in CT? What about the whole length of the boat from Genoa to the easternmost CT? On the boat site with the cute lttle boat graphic it looked short...

Hi treble,

This is the schedule for boats Genoa>Portofino in April and May:

http://www.golfoparadiso.it/public/index.htm

At that time of year, the operators can't fill the boats except on weekends. Everybody is at work during the week and not many tourists want to take that long of a boat ride.

This is the schedule of boats running from La Spezia and between the five villages of le Cinque Terre. The boats will not run if winds make the water too choppy for the boats to dock safely in the tiny harbors of the towns:

http://www.navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it/

How much you can tolerate when it comes to motion sickness is hard to predict. My personal max is about 20 minutes on a day that isn't calm. I could never make it from Genova to Portofino, probably not even on a calm day -- but I'm a notoriously poor "sailor."

In le Cinque Terre, if you don't feel well from the time the boat leaves La Spezia to when it docks in the first towns, just get off and use the trains. Rather than take the boat all the way from Genova to Portofino, take the train to Santa Margherita Ligure. The ride is so short, it is hard to believe you would feel ill.

I've not taken the harbor cruise of the Port of Genova, but you might ask on TripAdvisor about it. I doubt it goes out into open water, but I could be wrong. I also think if you felt ill, they could just drop you off at a the nearest pier. But you should ask some locals, and a few post on TripAdvisor

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/liguria/genoa.html

hi yorkshire,

Great mild winter, and now it feels like spring. Looks like it too with lots of beautiful flowers. Neighbors bought a herd of goats and tied bells around their necks, so now the hills are full of tinkling as well as braying asses and roosters crowing.

treble,

I forgot to give you this one too. It is the website for the boat that goes from Santa Margherita Ligure to Rapallo. It is a separate company. They haven't put up their schedule for March-Oct, so you will need to look again at the end of the month:

http://www.traghettiportofino.it/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=2&Itemid=18&lang=en

Thanks, all. I'm planning to go Florence to La Spezia, leave luggage in train station, train to RioMaggiore, investigate/walk to Manarole and Corniglia, possible boat to Vernazza and train back to La Spezia, pick up bags and continue by train to Genoa for overnight. If it is raining we would skip all that and just train to Genoa, with the possibility of approaching from the opposite side on a different day. And since DH really wants to see Portofino, take the train to SML and the short boat ride. An dof course Nervi and other cultural city stuff..

If there aren't frequent boats in May,there is a regular bus service from SML to Portofino.

My husband and I stayed at the Hotel "Cinque Terre" at Monterosso. We loved it and would go back in a heartbeat. It was quiet but close to the boardwalk (1/2 a block). Breakfast was great...and significant.

Well Yolaleao may have a bit of a valid point in that any service a business has will have that cost passed along in the form of higher rates. The same is true of every single thing you pay for with a credit card. But the reality is that in most cases it's not just the person using the credit card, or the booking.com site that pays higher rates, it's everyone. So for YOU - the individual - you are going to pay that higher price regardless so you might as well take advantage of the service.

Unless a hotel or B&B or whatever specifically says to me, "we will give you a lower rate if you book with us directly, or pay cash" then I would be stupid not to make use of the ease and safety and convenience of using the booking service or credit card.

Both Yolaleao and annablock have only one posting - this one. Sure sounds like advertising (and being sneaky about it too pretending to be a satisfied customer). I would be very careful about this place.

Yolaleao has another post now with the same link. I've reported both.

On a totally separate note, a great book to read while in the CT is "Beautiful Ruins". It is a novel set in a small town between the CT and Portovenere. I just finished it a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it.

Be careful to Guvano beach.

Guvano beach (between Corniglia and Vernazza) is really beautiful, but unfortunately it is frequented by disreputable people.

I have observed that every year there are drunken brawls and police arrested some drug dealers.

To get there you have to walk an old disused railway tunnel, completely in the dark, a mile long ... and it is not very recommendable.

Guvano beach is beautiful but dangerous, remember ...

When we stayed at Santa Margherita Ligure in May '06, we took the bus to Portofino, and after exploring there, we took a boat north and then back down to SML. If you are interested in short boat rides, these are nice ones:

"we decided to take a ferry boat further up the coast to the next stop, which was a teeny and ancient monastery at Fruttuosa. The ferry made a short 30-minute stop there, so we could see the little place. There were actually monks chanting in the monastery, which was a lucky happenstance. 

The ferry took us back to Portofino for a quick stop, and we continued on the ferry back to Santa Margherita. It was a very nice boat, and lots of fun to sit and watch the coastline glide by. "

Thanks PeaceOut that boat ride sounds just right if the weather cooperates. In mid May do you think we will need light jackets sweatjacket, leatherjacket or maybe no jacket?

I live here from some years.
Jacket or not depends on the weather: if it rains, if there is wind from the north is always better to bring a raincoat.

Other ideas?

I know these:
Alla Porta Rosa in Manarola http://www.mareterra.it/
The heart of Cinque Terre on the blue path: http://www.theheartofcinqueterre.com/
Il Parco in Monterosso http://www.ilparco.com/

And some private owner rent their beautiful home.
But you don't may book.

treble, we were there in early May and needed a light jacket, especially on the boats. We had great weather. It rained one day, but by the time we got from SML to Monterossa, the rain had cleared.

saving for me

I know it sounds weird, but being from Florid, we don't actually own raincoats...and I only have a sweatjacket and a leather jacket. Very rarely use them....mostly on vacay!

Nothing that is water resistant? A windbreaker? A fleece jacket would be better than nothing.