Image
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Cuttings
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
    • Africa
      • South Africa
    • Asia
      • India
      • Indian Ocean
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Czech Republic
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Madeira
      • Russia
      • Spain
      • UK
    • North America
      • California
      • Canada
      • Caribbean
      • Chicago
      • Hawaii
      • Utah
      • Washington DC
    • South America
      • Argentina
  • Reviews
    • Art Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • Experience Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Spa Reviews
    • Store Reviews
    • Travel Gear Reviews
  • Gallery
  • Media
  • About
  • Copywriting
  • Contact
Olivia Greenway, travel journalist and copywriter

Excelsior Palace Hotel – Rapallo

September 25, 2012
By olivia

Along the coast from the better-known French Riviera, is the arguably more scenic Italian Riviera, and here, at Rapallo, perched on a cliff, is the Excelsior Palace Hotel, one of only two five-star hotels on the Portofino Coast.  45 minutes’ drive from the airport, it’s an ideal weekend getaway.

 

The Excelsior Palace Hotel first opened in 1901 as a casino, the first in Italy.  It continued to be patronised by the great and the good – Rita Heyworth, Ernest Hemingway, Wallis Simpson, and King Hussein of Jordan until the 1960s, when the area fell out of fashion.  Over the next twenty years, the hotel building fell into serious disrepair but was rescued by a Turin-based hotel group in 1995.  They took the opportunity to build more floors, but the basic structure was preserved.

 

In 2011, new owners took over and now it really is a showcase hotel, with more improvements in the pipeline.  One of the directors of the group is a keen art collector – especially of 15C and 16C Belgian and French pieces – and uses the hotel to display some of his acquisitions.  The elegant public rooms, high ceilings and large walls lend themselves to these original oil paintings and help to give it give it a ‘country house’ feel.

 

From the moment you enter through the old fashioned revolving wooden-framed door and step into the magnificent open plan lobby, you know you are somewhere special.  Large sofas group around coffee tables, placed on the renovated original polished parquet floor, beside towering marble columns.  To the rear is a panoramic view of the turquoise waters of the Portofino coast.

 

The hotel is not so large that it feels impersonal – with just 130 rooms – many of them with sea views and most with balconies.  The suites have a lounge area with a picture window overlooking the water.

 

Rooms are generously proportioned, with a seven-foot double bed or large twins and well-equipped bathroom.  Breakfast is included in the rate and Wi-Fi is free – something other hotels could learn from.

 

The spa offers a variety of treatments, especially those that use water therapy and across an enclosed road bridge is the pool and sunning area.  It’s rather small, so in busy periods, you may need to bag your spot.

 

Breakfast may be eaten inside or out – and out on the terrace, with sea views, is far preferable if the weather is sunny.  Almost everything you could possibly want is available from the buffet:  fresh fruit, cold meats, hot food, cheese, cereals, juices, a variety of breads and all sorts of spreads.  An egg chef will cook your omelette exactly as you like.

 

The Yachting Bar is worth a special mention.  Its walls are hung with a few aforementioned paintings and together with plush lemon silk covered sofas and views to the pretty terrace through the French doors, it’s a pleasant place to while away half an hour or so before dinner.  Over 20 whiskeys are on offer and a selection of suitably expensive Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta cigars.

 

Eden Roc is one of the two hotel’s restaurants, dramatically perched above the rocks.  Tables for two are arranged so you have your private view of the sea crashing below.  It’s probably one of the most expensive meals I’ve had for a long time, but also one of the best.  After a minestrone soup, drizzled with local olive oil and fresh pesto, I enjoyed an obviously home made parmigiano: the thinnest of char-grilled aubergine, layered with plump tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, lightly fried courgettes and topped with a creamy yogurt sauce.  Rich crème caramel is served with forest fruits – wild raspberries I had seen earlier for sale in a street market – to cut through the richness.  With a bold Ligurian red wine to accompany it, I couldn’t have asked for more.   Service is as impeccable as the food.

 

The hotel is only ten minutes from the centre – a short walk down through the gardens and then across a fairly busy road to the harbour.  It’s pretty and clean, with a semi-circular promenade backed by palm trees and lined with pavement cafes.  Here you will find very good simple restaurants, assuming Eden Roc is out of your budget every night.  In the alleyways and backstreets away from the harbour, you should find enough shops and bars to keep your interest piqued.

 

I took at half-day boat trip to more famous Portofino nearby.  It’s a picture postcard tourist trap, with prices to match; the £10m private yacht in the harbour should have given me a clue.   Have a meal if you must, but perhaps better to stick to an overpriced ice cream and dine in Rapallo later.

 

For an indulgent weekend, the Excelsior is hard to beat.  It’s exclusive and luxurious but not snooty.  Rapallo is delightfully unsung.  And I couldn’t find a fridge magnet anywhere, which perhaps says it all.

 

St Michele Di Pagana 8, Rapallo, Italy

Cost standard double room: ££££, suite: £££££

Services spa, swimming pool, fitness equipment, parking, hotel restaurant, hotel bar, room service, business services, internet access, concierge, air-conditioning

 

Categories : Hotel Reviews, Italy, Reviews, Spa Reviews
Tags:

Trips 2018/2019

2019

January: Zanzibar

March: Cape Town & Pretoria

May: Slovenia

October: South Africa (tbc)

November: Kenya (tbc)

 

Trips 2018

March:  New York, including Frick Gallery

May:  Vietnam including Halong Bay

June:  Giverny and Monet’s garden

June:  Majorca

December: Hyderabad and Chandigarh, India

Trips 2017

January: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
February: Bangalore
April: Lake District
May: Malaga
September: Mexico, Cancun
November: Delhi, Agra, Shimla
December: Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Venice

Trips 2016 (not clickable)

January: Oxford, Tenerife
February: Hampshire
March: Manchester
April: Sicily, Germany
October: Bangalore, New Delhi
November: Bangalore, New Delhi
December: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

List of trips 2015 (not clickable)

January: European ski resorts; Milan
February: Germany, Austria, Switzerland
March: Istanbul, Jersey, Vienna, Prague, Budapest
April: Road trip Ireland
May: Road trip France, Germany, Benelux and Copenhagen
June: UK luxury hotels
December: Cannes

List of trips 2014 (not clickable)

January Weimar, Vienna
February - Berlin, London
April - Chicago, Toronto, Montreal
May/June - Driving trip, Spain
July – Majorca
July - Paris
August - Southern UK
September – Northern Italy including Venice
October - South of France
October/November - Germany, Austria and Switzerland
December - Cape Town, Durban, driving along Garden Route South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda

List of trips 2013 (not clickable)

  • January - Tenerife
  • March - Istanbul
  • April - Italy luxury hotels - mid and southern Italy including Sicily
  • June - Las Vegas
  • June - Massive west coast road trip - Vancouver, BC
  • June - Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Diego
  • September - Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia
  • September - Carolinas, Georgia, northern Florida (Talahassee area)
  • September - New Orleans, Orlando, Miami; Vancouver
  • October - Puglia, Italy and Milan

List of trips 2012

  • January - Hawaii, USA
  • February - France - Le Touquet, Lens, Lille
  • March - Nelamangala, India
  • July - Milan, Italy
  • August - Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • August - Iguazu Falls, Brazil
  • August - Montevideo, Uruguay
  • September - Delhi, India
  • November - Dubai, UAE

List of trips 2011

  • January - Madeira, Portugal
  • February - Bangalore, India
  • April - British Virgin Islands, Caribbean
  • May - Sicily, Italy
  • May - San Francisco, USA
  • June - Bangalore and New Delhi, India
  • July - Prague, Czech Republic
  • July - Munich, Germany
  • July - Washington DC, USA
  • August - Lake District, UK
  • September - La Grande-Motte, France
  • Annapolis, USA
  • October - Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • December - Helsinki, Finland
  • December - St Petersburg, Russia

List of trips 2010

  • February - India - Kerala & Chennai
  • March - Manchester & the North West
  • March - Austria
  • April - Czech Republic
  • May - Lake District
  • June - Cologne
  • July - India - Bangalore and Delhi
  • August - Eastern Cape & KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
  • September - Grasse, south of France
  • September - Wick, Scotland
  • October - Utah, USA
  • December - Montreal, Canada
  • December - Madeira, Portugal
Olivia Greenway, travel journalist and copywriter
Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved
iThemes Builder by iThemes
Powered by WordPress