Cinqueterre Residence Riomaggiore

Loved it

Located in the Mediterean Town of Riomaggiore located in the Cinque Terre of northern Italy. This hotel is absolutely wonderful. Very Very Very spacious with a wonderful patio for all rooms. The Residence is very new which explains its great ammenities. A great buy for anyone wishing to stay there. The town is lovely with a feel of something other than Italy. The staff is also very helpful and ready to meet all of your needs.

Wonderful, even for those on a budget

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the region and the Cinqueterre Residence was great for us as we were looking for convenience, cleanliness, and a nice view, all on a cautious budget. While the views do not reach to the ocean, our view over the town and into the star studded night sky were very illuminating. If we wanted a view of the ocean we just walked down to the harbour and sat out on the rocks or went hiking during the day. The restaurants in town were not any great shakes, and cost a bit because of the location, but one night we picked up food from the local baker and veggies from the grocer and enjoyed the view from our private table outside our room. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The fresh made cappucino and hot chocolate every morning was nice, but I felt the breakfast could have benefitted from some fresh fruit. But all in all a good value.

Delightful!

Our only complaint about our stay at Cinqueterre Residence is that we should have stayed longer. We were only there one night, after spending two nights in Monterosso.

This hotel is absolutely fabulous. Our room was large, modern and spotless. We had a small private balcony overlooking the end of town. This is a very peaceful and quiet location. The staff was friendly and spoke a little English. The hotel provides directions for both walking up, as well as taking the bus. We walked, but anyone with any physical limitations should take the bus option. It's definitely not for the faint of heart.

My only other caution is to be sure you arrive during normal office hours. We got in a little early and as it turns out arrived when the office was closed for lunch (2 hours). In fact, we passed the manager as we were trying to find the front entrance ... she cheerfully pointed down the walkway to verify we were heading in the right direction ... but she never told us the office would be closed once we got there. Fortunately, we found the maid who checked us in. In addition, we met a young man later that evening who arrived late after the office was closed, and although he called the after hours phone number for 2 hours ... he never got in.

So, be on-time, revel in the beautiful scenery on the way up ... and enjoy this lovely hotel!

We long to return

We arrived at the end of September and found the Cinque Terre Residence an absolutely beautiful place to stay in Riomaggiore. We (two couples) had found and booked it over the internet via e-mails with Carla. Everything worked out perfectly. We each had huge rooms with large, clean bathrooms and a deck that we enjoyed every evening - drinking vino and enjoying the hummingbird hawk-moth that visited us nightly. The view was wonderful as was the whole atmosphere of the place. We had driven to the town and found it easily accessible from the road - they supplied us with pay parking as well. We didn't use the bus at all and had no problem finding our way down to the village via the stairs.

The included breakfast had the best cappuchino! We all agreed that we would return and stay again if we ever had the opportunity to travel to Italy again. All the staff were friendly and helpful. It was a true pleasure to stay here.

Loved Our Stay!

Carla and her staff are just wonderful! Our stay was blissfully relaxing!

This location is lovely, and while it is a little hike to get to it since the town is on a hill, (take the bus mentioned in her directions if you're not backpacking!) it is a secluded haven for the weary traveller.

The room was enormous and well appointed, not to mention sparkling clean. Right off of the room was a charming semi-private deck with large, comfy chairs and lush lime trees- perfect for sunbathing.

We loved our stay, and our close proximity and easy access to the other Cinque Terre towns! We would go back in a heartbeat!

Fabulous place to stay

Another five star rating. My husband and I have just returned from travelling through Italy. Cinqueterre Residence was one of our favourite places to stay. Our room, Cornialia, was large and the bathroom was huge. Everything was sparkling clean. Each room has french doors leading to a patio that is separated from the next room by lemon trees or other greenery. We enjoyed sitting out on the patio at night with a glass of wine. It was wonderful!

Of all the places we stayed, the breakfast at Cinque Terre Residence were the best. The chocolate and custard filled croissants were heavenly. The cappucino's were yummy. They certainly set a standard for breakfast that no other place we stayed at even compared.

Beyond the great room, the yummy breakfast, the people running the place were terrific. They went out of their way to go on-line to print bus and train schedules for us and then they helped us figure out the best way to get on to Siena.

Riomaggiore is a lovely place to stay. We walked the trail to all the other towns and were very glad that we had chosen to stay there. It was so peaceful at night. We loved this place and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Bellisimo

We had a wonderful 3 days at the Cinque Terre Residence. We stayed in the small room with bunk beds- it suited us perfectly as we got the benefits of a great hotel/location at a lower price! (about 80 euro/night).

Great pros:

Terrace for relaxing after a days walking

Clean room and bathroom (very powerfull massage showers)

Riomaggorie is beautiful with some good restaraunts - the walk along the coast between the Cinque Terre is tip top.

Staff were friendly and helpful

Minor con:

Theres a fair few steps to climb - great for your fitness, although the "green bus" runs hourly until 7:30 ish (we never caught this however).

Highly Recommended.

A lovely place to stay

This small inn is amazingly luxurious for the little village of Riomaggiore, and we found it charming. Everything was super clean and beautifully designed in an open, breezy way.

Our sun-drenched terrace was large and we could have sat there for hours, drinking in the view (and, um, the local wines, oh, yes...). We liked having a fridge and cooktop, but we rarely cooked in our room because the nearby restaurants are very good and the breakfast here was excellent and plentiful.

The staff is extra nice, very helpful. When I wanted to mail a package home, they gave me tape for the box and info about mailing. (The nice lady at the local post office, close to our inn, didn't speak English but we easily mailed a large package. It arrived before any of our expensively shipped DHL/FedEx packages, for much less $.)

We got our room reservations by e-mail, via their web site, and it all worked very smoothly. I loved this place and daydream about going back.

Riomaggiore's Relaxing Retreat

The Cinque Terre Residence is a jewel hidden above a hillside neighborhood. We were very lucky to find it because most travellers grab whatever place they can when they arrive.

After climbing many steps you'll come upon a newly developed arrangement of colorful, clean, stylish apartments. You can still smell the pine of the new wood. I was surprised to see just how modern this place is without intruding on the landscape. This place retains its traditional values because of the hosts and their staff. I would guess that they have ties to the Cinque Terre and wish to keep it a special place, so it's not run by folks who just want to make a buck. They are warm, welcoming, and friendly, and really beautiful.

From the balconies the guests will see a terraced hillside with a church, and the ocean to their left. It's high enough so that there is no noise from the train, but the melodious church bells are within earshot during the day.

The commenter above noted that there is a "tram" which takes guests close to the inn, but it's really a large green bus that says Parco Nazionale on the side. I think it runs maybe until 11pm. I stayed in the apartment called "The Monterosso" which had two twins and a pull-out couch on the second level.

I think the whole place is designed very well. It's got all the creature comforts of the States, but it's still uniquely Italian. There is also lavender and other flowers growing everywhere.

Riomaggiore is the best terre out of the Cinque Terre. Come here instead of the others. It's the best for people in their twenties because of the beach and one bar everyone went to. There are many Italians on the streets, so it doesn't feel as touristy as, say, Monterosso. The beach is stony, but pleasant and perfect. You can lie on a big flat stone and soak some rays. AND it's really close to another nice town called Manarola, connected by the Via d'Amore.

Let me emphasize just how nice everyone is. They really value the family, but not just their own. YOU are family too here.

Fantastico!!

We LOVED this place and highly recommend it. It was far less expensive than the other places we considered-Hotels Pasquale, Steno, Argentina, and others-but it was extraordinarily wonderful. The three of us had a large suite with second floor that was a large sleeping loft with a double/queen bed. On the ground floor, we had two twin beds, a desk, a little kitchen alcove with refrigerator, small freezer, sink and two burners, flatware, dishes, pots and pans. The bathroom was the biggest we had in Italy, and it was state of the art -- wonderful modern shower with hydromassage and loads of hot water. And the inevitable bidet. Beautifully tiled floors throughout. Table and lounge chairs on each terrace. The breakfast was plentiful and delicious--pastries, rolls, focaccia, butter, jams, two fresh juices, coffees including capuccino, chocolate, milk, several choices of cold cereal, fruit, spreadable cheese, pound cake, etc. HOWEVER, it is a hike and a half to get there. Near the Orario, not San Giovanni Battisti, and I think no hotel has more steps to get there except Hotel Argentina. You can look at the rooms at their web site and the rooms are every bit as nice as the pictures indicate. I was hesitant to try it because there were no reviews anywhere on the net -- turns out the place is brand new. Our suite had a private terrace. Some rooms have a terrace that adjoins the next room's terrace. The view is not of the sea, but we were so saturated with the glorious ocean views all day that our terrace view of the colorful houses and vineyard hillside was wonderful and we never felt any lack of view. Carla is the proprietess, and Lorenza was also helpful. There is a green Parc Nationale tram that will get you close to the hotel until about 7:30 at night. Ignore the map they have on line, it is worthless, but they will meet you in front of the church and help you to the hotel. Via de Batte is not a street or even an alley, it is a stone pathway and stairway to the right of the church. Lorenza can get you reservations at the highly regarded La Lanterna -- the owner is her cousin Mauro. He loves to tease everyone, and he insisted I eat the last bite of my grilled fish, which was delicious. Of all the places we stayed in Rome, Florence, etc., this was Sam's favorite. We especially recommend Riomaggiore--it is big enough to have great restaurants and food shops, but small enough to have a fabulous Italian-village flavor. Most of the tourists are Italian rather than American. And the Cinque Terre Residence has internet service in the breakfast room for only 2.5 Euros for 30 minutes. You will LOVE Riomaggiore and Cinque Terre Residence. Email Carla at the address in the website and you won't regret it for a minute.