Val

I have been trying for 3 weeks now to get a room in the Porta Roca. They're ignoring me at this point. Can anyone recommend another hotel that is comparable to it in any of the CT towns (or right outside)? Thanks very much

Gina

Val, try the hotel Villa Steno or hotel Pasquale in Monterosso. Both owned by the same people. www.pasini.com. Do a search on this board for cinque Terre and monterossa and you will find others.

Larry

Val - you may want to do a search for "Edi's" - numerous posts have said how great it was. It is in our favorite village, Riomaggiore as I recall.

Brian in Atlanta

Val, the Porto Roca is closed until late March - probably why you haven't gotten a responce. Villa Steno is closed until May 7. Pasquale should be open (at least it will be by March 5 when we'll be there).

Paule

Consider Portovenere, on the tip of the peninsula at the end of the eastern riviera. Although not in the Cinque Terre, you can take a ferry to get there . And I found that the C.T. was much more crowded (filled with tourists) than Portovenere. In fact, Portovenere was the highlight of our trip; it's beautifully sited, and not overwhelmed with tourists. I found it wonderfully relaxing to stroll, and though I enjoyed visiting the Cinque Terre for the day, I was grateful to get back to Portovenere. It's more popular with Europeans, and it had a wonderful family flavor. Many Italian families out for a stroll in the evening.....we stayed in the Hotel Royal Sporting and had a balcony overlooking the water. It was gorgeous!! The hotel also has a saltwater pool and we spent half our time there.

Larry

Val, another thought if you are not totally committed to staying in the CT. We stayed in Santa Margherita Ligure which is north of the CT near Portofino for three nights and loved it - about 45 min to the CT by train. It had the same feeling as Paule said about Portovenere.

mj

We stayed in Levanto, right outside the Cinque Terre, in October -- a lovely bed and breakfast called Villa Margherita. The owner and his cousin are delightful and helpful and speak English. There are gardens and it's wonderful and extremely reasonable. It took five minutes to get to the Cinque Terre towns (well, to the closest one) by train. I'll never stay anywhere else when I go back.