Il Sogno di Manarola by The First

this location and the room were incredible! the balcony and tempurpedic bed and pillows were so comfortable and the bathoom and amenities were very good. jacuzzi tub was wonderful too.

we were not aware how far of a walk the stay is from the train station and a vast amount of stairs and hills. thankfully the hotel sent us the whatsapp for a luggage service to help us out, but if I had not asked ahead of time i would have been struggling to hike up the mountain with my suitcases. despite that, the view and room were so worth the effort.

The view is incredible. Yes there are a lot of stairs but it is worth the effort to get that view. The bed was also extremely comfortable.

Would be great to have a bit more fridge space or larger fridge. Other than that we thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

It was clean

Currently the location is under construction and it feels like a cavern when you finally arrive and walk up to your room. Also how far up it was without a view not worth the climb to get there and there is not a terrace at this location for every guest to use. The only room that would have a view would be the upgraded room on the water side. There are many places to stay in town that have an actual terrace for all the guests to use that is overlooking the water.

The view over Manarola is breathtaking and one that you would not want to miss. We were fortunate enough to stay when there was a concert in the main square which after watching a spectacular sunset we were able to observe from the comfort of the balcony. Although there are no staff on site, they are easily contactable via whats app providing helpful information and check in/ check out ran smoothly. They responded to our messages immediately and answered/ solved all of our questions. The Manarola luggage company they suggested also offered excellent service and given our luggage definitely made our arrival at the apartment much more enjoyable (we were able to enjoy the views on the walk up). We didn't use the items in the minibar as we used the machine to refill our bottles just outside the train station but it was reasonably priced and similar to the charges when in a restaurant down in the village. This apartment has been designed with luxury in mind. Impressive lighting throughout and a very comfortable mattress and pillows. The glass dividing the bedroom and the bathroom being able to access the balcony from both areas - you can really see that thought has gone into making this an ibcredible, romatic and truly breathtaking space to stay.

However, the up keep lets it down. The bathroom is in general need of some repair with some mould on the ceilings, cracking in areas of the plaster, fraying on the blind to cover the glass toilet door, a missing cushion on the outdoor furniture and generally looking like it needs some care and attention to get this back to the standards it would have been when it first opened. It is also a little on the small side for a family of 4 and with the aircon being on one side of the room it was difficult to get the temperature right for all of our guest.