Grand Hotel Excelsior

We stayed at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Amalfi 9 years ago and had a fabulous stay so when we decided to visit Amalfi again after our Puglia Road Trip, we had high expectations. On arrival, once we had checked in, we were told that our room had been upgraded from the original Economy Double Room I had booked through bookings.com and it was ready for us to check in early at 11am, this was a bonus after a drive along the growling roads below and we were so grateful. We got to our room and it was really awful and outdated, granted, the upstairs balcony was a view to die for but we had paid the best part of £360 per night to stay here and the bedroom was not even up to a 4 star hotel standard so I complained back at Reception and she was a little argumentative with me given that we were upgraded, it’s never the best thing to do, argue back with a paying customer, I have 15 years’ experience in Hotel management and have run many Reception desks, also in 4 star and above establishments. Salvatore, one of the Hotel Managers stepped in, and he was great, he was very understanding and accommodating to my point with the issues I had with the bedroom (given how much it had cost per night) and moved us to a recently renovated room which was lovely, problem solved and the rest of our stay went wonderfully. The Hotel hadn’t changed much in the 9 years and does have an old-fashioned theme that takes you back to the 1940’s, the pool has been renovated and we used it a few times, it was very quiet in this area during our stay which was nice to, it has a feel of a beach and seashore, very nice. The Hotel also has views to die for, because the Hotel is situated right up in the hills, and overlooking Amalfi, it’s a view you can never get tired of however, I do question the 4 star standard of the Hotel and feel the Amalfi area has become so commercialised since we last stayed, the rates of the Hotels in this area are simply no longer worth the cost (in my opinion). A really nice touch is the way they have upgraded the in-room service, this is on a small tablet and is really easy to use, the guest minibus is still active and all the drivers are great, this is booked using either your phone or the in-room tablet and we never had a problem getting a space for our desired times during our stay. Overall, we enjoyed our stay but the cost to stay in Amalfi is just not worth it anymore, too many coach tours and cruises docking all at once which has ruined the area for me, this was definitely our last time in Amalfi, overpriced and now overly commercial.

Location was stellar. Staff was outstanding. Especially breakfast crew. 5 out 5 for them. Maid staff was outstanding. Pool was very nice. One major complaint. The beds!!! Room 309 was nothing but a slab of concrete. Worst thing mattress I have ever slept on in hundreds of hotels. Not even a 1 out of 5 would describe the bed. Asked for a topper and the put on a thin mattress protector. Not sure how a highly rated hotel can use such cheap horrible beds. Get it together and put nice deep soft beds for what you charge a night. As I said before… everything was excellent except… not sleeping for 4 nights straight and aching every morning from a slate bed.

Brilliant views from every part of the hotel. Excellent shuttle services to the private beach and Amalfi centre. Staff very good who spoke English especially Rebecca on the front desk who was extremely helpful and always had a smile to greet you