Best Western Hotel El Chico

Several reviewers seem confused about the difference between historic old European family hotels and modern new airport hotels. This one is the former. If they update everything, the cost will skyrocket. Many of us who travel through old Europe appreciate that we can stay at luxury LOCATIONS without paying the price for new TVs, bedding, room jacuzzis, etc. If you are an experienced European traveler who is looking for a wonderful location, affordable stay, and can approach "rustic" without a ten foot pole, this place will delight you, as it did us. I give it four stars because it's not a Marriott style bed and TV, but if it had those, I'm sure I could not have afforded it and delighted in the gardens, pools, and riviera views. It ain't the Hilton. When I'm vacationing in Italy, I'm not looking for the Hilton. It was an incredible stay, and if I'm again in the Genoa area, and it's not too crowded (we were there last day of August/1st September, so really enjoyed having a lot of the pool to ourselves), I'd definitely return. And hopefully won't run into people taking pictures of the bedsprings (which were just fine btw).

The place itself could be great - a beautiful location on the blue sea and idyllic garden with olive trees and flowers, and a nice pool overlooking the Mediterranean. Except that this place is managed horribly! I've never seen a less customer-oriented behaviour in a hotel. The owners at reception would not say hi to you, would fight in front of you and wouldn't care at all about your actual stay. Staff was acting the same. Breakfast was really poor and I had to ask for water 3 times (and i felt like i was really annoying the waiter!). Overall, we really felt during the whole stay that the staff was annoyed by the customers and was "making us a favour" letting us stay in their structure. Nothing to do with a 4 stars.

The view from the room is wow!!! Definitely not a ****! Bed is inappropriate, bathroom even worse. Breakfast is poor. I personally felt quite cheated once in my room, what you expect from a 4 stars in terms of quality and impact is far different from this small family managed old hotel.