Excelsior Hotel

I would advise anybody not to waste money booking a holiday here. The food was very disappointing and the head waiter was awful. The room was very old fashioned and on one occasion we went back to our room to find workmen re decorating.

When going to amalfi I didn't expect that this hotel is going to be so bad. The location is horrible, the Excelsior hotel is situated not in amalfi but in Pogerola which means that to get to the beach you need to wait on the bus stop for the local bus (every thirty minutes) or to the free hotel bus which goes five times a day! the ride on the bus takes another 20 minutes... the other terrible thing is the room - the furniture is so ancient that can break while using (the same with bathroom).. the food was OK exept pasta every evening. the best thing about this hotel is staff but that not the reason for choosing it.

After reading some of the reviews we were a little worried our stay in Amalfi would be ruined. We arrived at the hotel at 10.30 pm and immediately thought it was a little dated, but we were in Italy, not UK and after travelling around saw the style was pretty much similar everywhere else. The manager informed us the restaurant was closed but organised a cold meal for us and brought it to the room himself. The room was basic but immaculately clean with large modern bathroom, no bath but that suited us fine and a mini bar, telephone, balcony and tv. The beds were just a metal frame an chipboard base but they did the job just fine. The views were stunning from every place in the hotel. The hotel ran a free bus to Amalfi and the private beach which was very useful as although it was easy to catch a bus from Amlfi square, we may have been waiting some time for one from outside the hotel. Breakfast was continental and plenty for us as we were up early to go on excursions every morning. Evening meals were on the whole very good, the starters are bigger then the main courses and so if you like to eat a lot I suggest you have pasta or noodles for starter to fill you up more. Drinks were not too expensive and there was a good choice of starters and main courses. A lady on a table near us told the waiter she didn't fancy anything on the menu and so they made her something else, which clearly impressed her. As for being resigned to one table the whole stay? Admittedly I went in with the intention of sitting outside whatever and asked to sit on the terrace which looked quite busy but there was a space available soon enough and we sat outside the whole week, at different tables. It would seem you have more chance of sitting outside if you go to dinner early (7.30pm) or later (8.45pm) as the busiest time seems to be in between. The only bad thing that irked me this holiday was that we had to check out at 11.00am but werenn't being picked up until 4.00pm and so faced a long wait. I asked if we could pay extra and have the room until we went but was told that was not possible as they needed the room at 3.00pm to which I asked if we could keep the room then until 2.00pm, but no we couldn't. This meant sitting around the hotel for 5 hours or going into Amalfi for a while and travelling in dirty clothes and being sweaty. When I voiced my concerns we were told we could use a guest room to have a shower and get changed and so fair enough. Although the lady in the next room to us could keep her room until she went by paying extra? I wouldn't recommend this resort for young children as the barriers are what I would class as quite flimsy to say the drop is so big and older people may have a problem with the amount of walking involved in being located on the side of a cliff, but we really enjoyed the holiday. The other holiday makers at this hotel seem a bit older than us (I am 22, my partner 33) but I would not let this put you off this quiet and romantic resort. The staff on the whole were friendly and nice, the girl in reception was a bit prickly but that could have been just my interpretation of her. Overall, a fantastic holiday, breathtaking scenery and good food. I would definately recommend although I don't think we would go back as once you have seen Amalfi and Positano etc, they are all beautiful but quite similar in scenery.

We planned the vacation of our dreams for our 10th Anniversary. We cruised over from New York to Southampton on the Queen Mary II and we spent 2 nights in Paris, 3 nights in Nice, 2nights Rome, and 2 nights Amalfi, First Class European Rail, before cruising on to Tunis and Malta for another 4 weeks in the Mediterranean. We loved every bit of it except for this hotel in Amalfi and their staff. Trust me, don't waste your time, money, and possibly ruin your vacation. 1. If you have a heart condition, pregnant, anything crucial to your health, don't want to deal with rude people, AVOID THIS HOTEL LIKE THE PLAGUE and avoid going to Amalfi by land, take a boat from Naples or where ever it is you are coming from or from another point.... the cliffs are terrifying and the way they drive is 100 x worse and the road is only one lane each way, look down and it's thousands of feet to the sea below. The hotel is not in town, not even within walking distance!!!! 2. This hotel's description said they have a hotel SHUTTLE/bus to take you to town and that it is an Easy Distance...and you assume that the shuttle service is frequent.....ARE YOU KIDDING????? When we finally got to Amalfi, after a 45 minute hell ride in a taxi from Salerno Train station that cost 100 EUROS, we got out in Amalfi town assuming the hotel was near by and we could finally walk. At that point we needed to touch the ground. We looked around and saw plenty of hotels within easy distance of the town, but not this one. I called the hotel, after I figured out how to operate one of their public phones and luckily I had a phone card from Rome. Everything is in Italian, and the Tourist Booth was closed (they only open a few hours a day). That's another thing, no one will sell you a phone card in Amalfi, they want you to use the hotel phone. Anyway, The receptionist said the bus would be there in 5 minutes and that if I look up, all the way up the mountain, I would see the hotel. When I told my husband he lost his sanity and asked me to remind him why we decided to come to Amalfi, instead of stay in Nice a couple more days. Ooops! All of a sudden it was my fault. You gals know how that is. As if the situation was not bad enough, everything put together, I was reduced to tears. 3. The minivan arrived, and low and behold he took us for another 10minute ride up a steep and winding mountain road, more cliffside terror. Drove like a maniac. I tried to concentrate on something else and looked at the road versus the cliffs and saw that there were no light posts. How do they drive at night? I did not dare point that out to my husband, but he's no dummy and pointed it out to me when we got to the hotel. We like to wine and dine and stay out late, so coming up here after dark posed a possible danger to our safety and would only keep us from enjoying the rest of our vacation. 4. Check In: My husband refused to stay at this hotel seeing how far from town it was and in looking at the shuttle schedule it wasn't even an hourly service, no street lights, and kind of out in the boonies. I asked the hotel reception if we could cancel and suffer just the one night penalty as is the case with most hotels. The manager would not hear of it...he was some Korean guy that did not even speak English!?!?! So, I then asked the receptionist to see if she could get us a hotel in town. She was very rude, did not want to help, but eventually because they did not want their other guests to be upset by seeing that we were refusing to stay at this hotel, the manager ordered her to check availability elsewhere. I later thought on that and guessed that we were probably not the only ones upset and they just did not want to have a riot on their hands. 5. We lost the cost of both nights accomodation. We paid for another 2nights at a 3 star in town called La Bussola. I thought it was a bit odd that I paid for the Bussola the same amount of money I paid for Excelsior but I did not care at the time, just as long as I can get someplace decent to stay in. We went outside of the hotel to see about getting the shuttle back down, and the driver refused to take us down to town. He took off. Later I found out he probably went to pick up the people from the private beach....you see what they don't tell you is that, the shuttle is used for town and the beach which apparently, to get to their private beach the van goes up the mountain and down the other side and is not on the way to town. No wonder the shuttle operates town to hotel something like every 2 hours! I am sure it must be lovely but we did not want to bother, the beaches near the heart of the town were beautiful and we loved the town. 6. We paid another 25 EUROS for a taxi to take us down hill, gass free in Neutral!!!!!!! So, we lost something like 325 Euros that day....we tried to make the best of everything, whilst in Amalfi, eventhough we knew that it was high way robbery to lose the money for both nights accomodation and that we would be taken for another ride when we hire another taxi at 100 Euros to take us from town to Salerno again. My husband and I figured that basically, Amalfi does not get much business in the winter, so all the town folk try to make their year's worth from 3 months of tourist season. We really could not see what all the rage was, lets face it, there are a million places in the Mediterranean that are just as beautiful and some even more beautiful and civilized. Amalfi town is very small and would not recommend staying more than 2 days. We found the folks over in Malta to be extremely friendly and we can say that Malta was the only country where we really felt we were welcome by hoteliers and the general public, everyone was so great!!! And the little island of Gozo was so charming, 100 times better and more beautiful than Amalfi!!!

Believe the bad reviews and not the good ones! Stayed for 2 nights in May 2006 4 star prices for 2 star style Hotel may have been charming 30 years ago but not today Bedroom décor dated and bed was a just a basic metal frame with a piece of chip board. Staff unhelpful and gave incorrect information regarding buses to Amalfi (Don’t consider walking and a taxi costs 30 euros for a 10 minute ride Pool size okay, but bathing area a squeeze Breakfast was a sorry looking affair. The only plus points are: Beautiful views from the hotel in a wonderful part of the world

My husband and I have just spent our Silver Wedding Anniversary at this hotel and have to say we could not fault it. The staff were all lovely and nothing was too much trouble for them. The rooms were nice and very comfortable and the views were stunning. The food was also very nice and if you didn't like the dessert of the evening they would happily bring you the most wonderful ice cream or fruit, most of all we found the staff all very cheerful. The hotel is situated very high above Amalfi and it takes about 15 minutes to get down to the town, we knew this in advance and hired a car for the duration of our holiday. However there is a shuttle bus that takes you down but a car is more convenient. Yes the roads are very winding and the drivers are quite fearless, but I have to say we had a wonderful time and would recommend it. I was slightly apprehensive about the hotel having read some of the comments on this page, but they all proved unfounded.

While I can understand some of the reviews, our experience was a very pleasurable one, I found the whole place charming to be honest. The decor is a little tired but would describe it as a bit shabby chic, although there are signs of recent renovations all over the place. Our room was very large, very clean and with breath taking views, the heating/air conditioning was definitely free. The breakfast was basic but adequate, did not eat in the hotel in the evening as booked in for bed and breakfast only, but the hotel runs a very reliable coach service into Amalfi town and if you miss that you can easily get a SITA bus for only 1 euro into town which stops right outside the hotel, and you can have a whole choice of food. We ate at many different places and found all to be very good. The staff are very friendly, did not experience any surly people at all! The Excelsior retains a certain charm and I came to Italy with a romantic expectation of the hotel, people and Amalfi and was not disappointed. The hotel is remote but then it does say that in all the literature, however you can easily get around by bus. As long as you are looking for a restful retreat or romantic holiday, think it is the perfect place.

As we were driving along the coast, we were looking for our "Hotel with beach". Having run up and down the beach road 3 times, we decided to give the hotel a ring to check it was actually in Italy. Turned out the hotel is 5 miles from the beach but it does own a stretch. Truth be told: to get there is a James Bond experience, going down in an elevator though a tunnel cut out in the rocks. Be aware though : this experience costs you EUR 20 pp every time you innocently take the hotel bus to the beach...Our room was spacey and clean, with amazing views from a very large balcony. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the restaurant has even better views and we sat at a romantic balcony table. But then the real surprise came: horrific food straight from a can. Bottom of the food chain soup, schnitzel that reminded me of my shoe soles on a wet English winter day, and cray fish salad without cray fish. Come here but avoid the food.

My husband, baby son and I have just returned from our worst holiday ever - and it's because we had the misfortune to stay at the "Grand" Hotel Excelsior in Amalfi. We had expected some 4 star luxury, but instead we received little better than 2 star basics. Stuck at the top of the hills, we were forced to eat dinner every night in the hotel "restaurant" - and I have to say that it's the worst food I've ever been served. If you're a veggie don't even consider it - the options range from uncooked courgettes and aubergines with a side of silverskin onions to DEEP FRIED CHEESE SANDWICH!?!?! However, the lounge area was very impressive - an extremely well preserved example of 1960's decor (the bad stuff) - complete with formica side tables and brown and blue sofas with tassles. Honestly, if we could have found alternative accommodation we would have - we even tried to find flights home, but had to stick it out for the full 7 days. It's made us very cautious about ratings awarded to hotels by travel agents - as this is in no way a 4 star hotel. Please, if you want to enjoy the beauty of the Amalfi coast and enjoy pleasant evenings with good italian food and wine, then don't stay here!!

What can you say about a hotel that is set up on a cliff, facing the Amalfi coast besides the fact that it's beautiful. The staff was not rude or in anyway unhelpful, in fact they did their best to make sure everyone was taken care of. The rooms or at leats my room set in the garden area, with a spectacular view..... The hotel was clean, the staff was polite and the food was amazing. What more do you want in life... Everone expects it to be a 5 star, which it isnt I rate this hotel a full 4 star and deserves to be appreciated!!!!!