Hotel Gran Paradiso

This is a lovely old-fashioned spa hotel. Its best feature is its terrace, with views over the bay and the port. It is five minutes walk uphill from the ferry port. The service was friendly and the maitre-d was no doubt the hardest working man in hospitality, always there overseeing every meal and guest's needs. We had a double room with balcony overlooking the mountain, which was lovely. There is a road below, so it's not entirely quiet, but the double doors shut the noise out at night. On the first night, there was a youth party on the main square in the town, which was really loud and went on till after midnight, but after that it was very quiet. The facilities are great - thermal pool indoors with a sauna (you have to book the latter); cold mineral pool outside, and 2 jacuzzis. It was never too busy. Lots of loungers on the terrace. The food was good: an all day bar that did lunch, great selection at breakfast, and full-course Italian meals each evening. We arrived on 'party night', where they sat guests outside on the terrace for pizza and entertainment. So quite old-style holiday, but the formula obviously works for them. We were placed with a German couple, which was fine as we speak a little German. Most of the other guests are Italian. Note men are expected to wear trousers for dinner, though some did wear shorts.

Where to start… Efficient and friendly check in from Simone, bag made its own way to my room whilst I recovered from the walk up the hill on the wonderful terrace. I had a small double for solo use, with a very small balcony but an amazing view over the port. Room was super clean and done out in a traditional Italian style. The bed was hard but that’s usual in Italy. Air conditioning was quiet and very effective. First night was a gala night, the hotel’s massive pizza oven was producing lovely pizzas, whilst I sat on a lovely table of 8 on the terrace, very thoughtfully placed by the maitre d. It was a lovely evening with fun food, enough wine, live music and superb views along with conversation with new friends in various languages. Perfect first evening. Settling in, meals are served inside the restaurant which has big doors so is always cool. I was on half board, so had the same table every day which I liked. You also get to chose your evening meal at breakfast which I also liked very much. Chef is a very talented pastry master, and the sweet things for breakfast are off the scale gorgeous. If you are looking for a full English this won’t be for you although they do cook eggs to order. Fabulous coffee, and a glass of Prosecco, all together styled to the Italian market and I loved it. Lunch, if you are staying in to enjoy the stunning jacuzzis, thermal pool, sauna and outdoor pool and terrace is a simple affair focusing on seafood to a great extent, not much alternative for non shellfish eaters like me. But the sandwiches and pasta pomodoro were excellent. Not a big concern as I lunched out most days but I think this is an area to improve. Dinner, was a nod to old school traditional service. Food was varied and of a good quality although for me portions were too large, anti pasti, pasta, meat/fish courses and then dessert was too much . The service was incredibly fast and perhaps almost felt rushed. But for a half board option it worked fine for me. I did feel guilty about not being able to eat everything though . The staff made this place personal and special and respected my wish to be spoken to only in Italian… they suffered my Italian very well over the week and were so helpful in correcting my mistakes, all of them just superb. Note they all speak English too ! All in all a wonderful week of thermal waters, jacuzzis, views, nice food and perfecto spritz and a feel at home Italian stay . Thank you all so much for making me so welcome. For my next visit I need to build my fitness to get up that hill ….

From the time we checked in until the day we left, the staff was outstanding and helpful. Simon the concierge was THE best! We were walking distance from the port and bus stops which was ideal for excursions and touring the island. Highly recommend!