el13207

Trying to decide between Hotel Laurin or Hotel Villa Anita in Santa Margherita Ligure for a 4 night stay in early October: can you advise? Hotel Laurin seems to have a great beachside location, while Hotel Villa Anita (which gets awesome TA reviews) appears to be hillside and a bit of a climb. We are mid 60's, fit but with occasional knee and hip glitches, so hiking up and down gets tedious. Have you been and can you advise?

tdk320n

I am a senior solo traveler and I stayed at Hotel Laurin in 2015 for 5 nights.
I found it a great hotel for my purposes. The staff was most gracious, breakfasts were great, the location was fabulous. An easy walk to the train station, if you have luggage when arriving you might want to take a taxi since there are stairs but it is a short walk if you are using the train to do day trips.
The roof top pool was a nice place to relax.
Also very close to the boats for daytime cruises and all the restaurants
I have no experience with Hotel Villa Anita.
This was my second trip to SML and I love the town.

Dayle

Our group of three friends stayed at the Hotel Lauren. Way back in 2000 and loved it. We had a lovely sea view room with a huge private terrace. Great location. We also took a taxi from the station with our luggage, but walked at departure once we realized how close it was. sML is a wonderful town and I would love to return.

DebbieDoesDulles

We chose Locanda con Giardino (now called the MA Hotel) ...because it was half the price of the Laurin... and we couldn't have been happier with our $500 savings. Perfect location for walking around and everything was spotless. No pool though.

I think you're paying for the location at the Laurin, it's right across the road from the water.

I can't remember how steep the hills were around the Villa Anita but it was a bit off the beaten path as far as walking around.

el13207

Thanks for your feedback, tdk320n, Dayle and DebbieDoesDulles. Sounds like the Laurin may be just the ticket for us - and that my concerns about the Villa Anita may be well founded (despite its excellent TA rating). Since we won't have a car on this trip a beachside location which is still handy to the train station is appealing.
Any restaurant recommendations since you've got experience there?

Dayle

Just to clarify - the Hotel Lauren is across the street from the marina, not a beach. I didn't see any beaches around. People were sunbathing on the flat rocks by the docks. There is a lovely seaside park however! You can take a boat over to Portofino in 15 minutes which is a scenic ride. Train down to Riomaggiore is about 1 hour through mostly tunnels.