Best Western Hotel Tigullio Royal

With its rather standard chain-hotel decor, the Best Western Tigullio Royal would be ho-hum were it located anywhere else but on a promenade overlooking the sea in the Italian Riviera. What's more, it's fairly priced for the location and delivers value by providing a solid, comfortable atmosphere. Sliding glass doors lead to its white and brightly lit lobby, where a curved wood reception desk and clusters of white tub chairs and tufted sofas are set before contemporary coffee tables and under giant drum-shaded lights. The lobby also has large windows with tied-back sheers and a view to the street. Guests can get a drink at a tiny paneled bar in the corner and linger a bit to watch the comings and goings on the promenade. Breakfast is served at contemporary, soft gray tables and chairs on one side of the lobby or in a charming, awninged terrace with white chairs and bright orange cushions -- it's here guests will find a lovely sea view. The hotel has a small wellness corner, with a dramatic interior staircase and long windows covered in sheers. Guests are mostly couples and travelers looking for a low-key home base from which to explore the coastal towns.

The Tigullio Royal is very centrally located for exploring the small town of Rapallo on foot or for taking day trips to other coastal towns. The Rapallo Railway Station is a five-minute walk from the hotel; access to the ferry is a 10-minute walk. A museum specializing in porcelain and jewelry, the Museum Attilio and Cleofe Gaffogli, is a seven-minute walk from the hotel. The 16th century Antico Castello sul mare is a five-minute walk. To reach Santa Margherita, a coastal town with impressive cliffside houses, it's a five- to 10-minute drive. The charming towns of Portofino and San Fruttuoso are around a 20-minute drive away. Cinque Terre, a town with small homes terraced into the mountains and overlooking the sea, is a 45-minute drive. The bustling port of Genoa is around a 50-minute drive. The hotel offers discounted rates for its guests to play at The Golf Club of Rapallo, a four-minute drive. It's a 35-minute car ride or a one-hour-and-40-minute train ride to the Christoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa. 

Rooms at the Tigullio Royal have a sparse and airy look, starting with the color palette recalling gray skies, driftwood, and soft blue waters. Walls and bed linens are white, and there are tied-back draperies and throws in shades of blue. The warm wood floors provide a point of contrast. There are some generic prints on the walls, but they can't begin to rival the view out the windows. Rooms are sunny, and those on floors five, six, and seven tend to have the best sea views. Throughout, rooms are decently sized, although the more expensive rooms are much more spacious and generally include terraces with tables and chairs. The bigger rooms have seating areas; in one room we saw, there was a cream leather sofa and a dining table with four chairs. All rooms have air-conditioning, minibars, electric kettles, pillow menus, and safes. The bathrooms are more modern in feel with rainfall showerheads in glass-door showers, and wide, contemporary porcelain sinks with good lighting. Each bathroom has a toilet and a bidet, along with free, Italian-made toiletries, and old-fashioned hairdryers. The hotel's suite has an enormous, jetted soaking tub and double sinks. Guests routinely list the cleanliness of the hotel, specifically the rooms, as one of its best features. 

Guests routinely rate the hotel's lavish breakfast as one of its star features. The breakfast spread has an array of traditional and regional specialties, and it's offered for a fee either in the dining room section of the lobby or on a sea-facing terrace. But note that there's no full restaurant on-site serving other meals. There's a tiny bar in the lobby offering two dainty barstools for seating, or guests can collect their drinks and move to seating by the street-facing windows.

Although the Italian Riviera isn't normally associated with corporate travel, the Best Western Tigulio Royal does have features to serve business travelers including one meeting room, complete with audio-visual technology, that accommodates a total of 60 people. Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel, which also maintains a small lending library for guests. There's a small wellness corner on-site at the hotel with traditional services such as massages and beauty treatments. 

The front desk is staffed 24-hours and offers concierge services. The hotel will also collect guests from the Rapallo Train Station and provide airport shuttle service for a fee. Guests can self-park for a fee. Pets are welcome at the hotel but with various restrictions, and a fee. And golfers can take advantage of discounted rates to the nearby Golf Club of Rapallo.