Giovanni Rooms Manarola

We made reservations to stay at Giovanni Rooms based on recommendations from a travel agent. While most of his previous suggestions were good, this one was completely off. We made reservations for two rooms over two months prior to our trip. A few days before getting to the site (and while we were already in Italy), we received an odd email saying we had been given a room upgrade. When we arrived late (due to a train mishap), there was no one onsite and only a single room marked with a note for the other couple (my brother and his spouse) in our party. Apparently, they had overbooked and decided to sub-rent a dirty, broken apartment in which we were supposed to stay. Repeated calls to Giovanni Rooms were never returned. After the first night, we went directly to the apartment company (who had only received the request for a room two days before our arrival, and told us the owner doesn't live in town). They were understanding and able to move us to a nicer apartment, but this still put us in a different location than my brother who was traveling with us. Perhaps it was for the best, as the next morning my brother (who never saw the owner of Giovanni Rooms) was required to pay the full amount for his stay in cash to the maid. I wouldn't chance making a reservation here. There are other better options where a reservation still counts and cash only isn't the policy.

I had a room overlooking the village and a magnificent view of the village and the ocean.The room was spacious, clean and air conditioned, with a lovely modern bathroom. Checking in was simple and well organised. This accommodation would not suit anyone who is not able to walk up a steep hill in the heat, but well worth it if you can. There is also a steep flight of stairs to all of the apartments, and these could be troublesome for some people. We were on the first level I think, and there were levels above my room, all with steep stairs. There is not a lift in the building. I couldn’t fault the room or the service when my key became stuck in the door, and Giovanni arrived 20 minutes later to look at it. If you are mobile and fit, this is a beautiful place to stay, and I would certainly return.

Clean, quite, only a few minutes walk from anything. If driving, have to park up the hill at the pay public lot and pull your luggage down the hill (and back up when you leave) but it’s much closer than it looks. You may never see the manager (thus the neutral service rating) but really no need to. We’d stay here again.

The room is in a converted home , more like an apartment. Very new and modern. The stairs are an issue as they are steep (not up to US code) and narrow which makes it difficult to haul a heavy suitcase up them (no elevator in the place). There is no receptionist and you contact the owner by email or phone. The "hotel" is at the top of a hill and it is a steep climb to get there. About 200 meters up hill. Great view!. Close to restaurants.

Excellent place to stay and beautiful location. The room was very clean and spacious and the staff were very nice and helpful.

Giovanni rooms was a little tricky to find as it is on a quaint narrow street at the top of a steep hill. However, once we arrived we were welcomed by the hosts and shown to our lovely room. The room was modern inside with all necessary amenities and good air conditioning. It was quite small but perfect for what we were looking for in an ideal location to explore Manarola. As the room was situated right next to the street, there was a small amount of noise when people walked past but this didn’t affect our stay. Overall, a pleasant base in the beautiful village of Manarola.

this room contributed a lot as to why we had a great stay in Manarola, the location is convenient, close to restaurants, close to Volastra trail, Bella Amore trail and the coastal trail, Ristorante dal Billy is delicious and it's really close to the apartment. They had amazing homemade pasta and creamy balsalmic which we bought a bottle of. We felt like locals living in Italy on our stay here. The train station is close and you can hop from one village to another, as well as go to another city if you like. The owner was very trusting, we told him we were arriving late and he gave us all the information we need to get in the apartment. He trusted us completely with leaving payment in the drop box at the end of the trip. The room was clean, the cleaning lady also came everyday. The bathroom is new and we loved the water pressure on the new shower. The view was spectacular. We could see the water and the apartments lined up in a curve in Manarola towards the water. By the way, you have to take a lot of stairs if you are on top floor like we were but we were completely fine with it. We had breakfast at a nearby coffee shop, near the church everyday. Overall an awesome experience.

Giovanni's room was recently renovated with immaculate shower and small room with marble flooring (very clean). The negative comment is we were charged for double bed with city view and received double bed with no window and next to Main Street. No soundproofing. Giovanni not on site and left door lock code for entrance. Also left letter to deposit cash for room upon arrival. After emailing Giovanni about noisy room, reluctance to pay in cash, and non view city room (we felt we had received the much less expensive "budget room"), he replied that we could pay with credit card, that the room wasn't noisy, and that we ordered room without city view. All a little frustrating for us. Upon departure there was no luggage area to leave our suitcases, though Giovanni recommended a place down the street that charged for luggage storage. I wouldn't stay at Giovanni's room because of the above multiple frustrations which we don't need on our anniversary weekend. I do say, the room/shower was immaculately clean, but felt claustrophobic without window and street near sealed door and nicely boarded up window. Maybe would have happy if not so expensive. This was definitely a budget (less than $100) room. We felt we were swindled! Positive note: he responds quickly to emails.

Giovanni rooms themselves are at least adequate for a short stay here but Manarola is only for those who enjoy trailing around a very busy resort and picking their way through guided tour parties (watch the umbrellas - 'you could put someone's eye out with that.....'). It is a highly picturesque spot and you can join the crowd of photographers in the obvious places and the views are rewarding. Giovanni Rooms are about half way down the main street, between the public car park and the harbour, and are accessed off a narrow cut-through that links back from the church square downhill to the main thoroughfare. Our room was compact and weird, being on the ground floor and separated only from the alleyway outside by a thin door that also served as a window. That said, the aircon was great, the shower and loo were clean and fine and the bed was extremely comfortable. When people were walking past during the day you could more or less join in their conversations and we expected to be awake all night. However, as soon as nightfall came, silence descended and we slept well with no problems whatsoever - but I get the feeling that we were lucky in this respect. Not sure what that particular room would be like in July or August (room 4). The room was reasonably good value for money and the instructions sent were very valuable - essential even. If you travel by car, finding a place to park can be difficult but provided you don't mind lurking until a place becomes available in a non restricted zone you will be OK. We managed this with Giovanni's helpful advice and didn't have to pay the expensive public car park fee. We found getting our bags down to the rooms not to be a problem - but word of warning, you may have to do that yourself, depending on what time you arrive. Giovanni was very helpful over parking and what I thought was going to be a hassle turned out to be easy (mind you, it was September). Three nights were plenty in this spot. It's Italian - obviously, doh! - but in the way that Polperro is Cornish (the Brits will get it). Some of the key coastal hiking trails were closed but you can still nip up and down the coast by train or boat (not especially expensive). Our best moment was a delicious fish meal in the Trattoria dal Billy, signposted from the square by the church and well worth a visit. Service and food excellent and some good local wine - a robust white that I've not seen anywhere else (will review it elsewhere). Enjoyed a short swim in the harbour - ladders for access. Everyone friendly but I can't comment on the 'posh' restaurants which looked rammed and off-putting. So, in summary, Giovanni rooms did the job for us, glad it was only 3 nights - that's not seriously to diss the rooms, but off the beaten track it isn't.

Easy to book, great service for roadtrip tourists who are travelling on a whim. The room we got was really great, private, nice and clean. Interesting glass door to the bathroom though. A bit tricky because it does not seem to fit the frame any more so using the bathroom quietly during the night is out of the question.We loved the trust the owner gave his customers, by allowing us to pay cash in a paybox in the room. Comfortable bed, and quite.