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Cinque Terre - Marina Piccola Hotel and Marina Piccola Restaurant in Manarola

Just a quick note and respectful counter-opinion about this property.

The RS guide is somewhat dimissive of this hotel and is unreasonably harsh toward the restaurant, in my opinion.

The hotel room we had (#9) was, without hesitation, the best and most memorable one we had in our two weeks across Italy. Clean, sleek and comfortable, this room had a commanding view, both from our windows and from our private terrace, of the Sea and of the "Little Marina" just below the property. The staff and management were lovely and charming people. Granted, this town gets hammered with tourists and day-trippers. So, I am sure they can be crabby and jaded sometimes. However, we made a concerted attempt to not be their typical tourist, trying to communicate in Italian (their English is great) and being a lot more "gentle" than others we saw there. We were treated royally....

As for the restaurant, I cannot understand why the RS guide pans it as a "tourist trap". Again, we approached dinner not as tourists, but as interested diners, asking about the menu and the wine. We got the staff engaged in our meal and they seemed pleased with being a "partner" of ours to make sure that we had the best possible experience. It was a GREAT meal with an incomparable view! These people know their food and wine and they led us to some great food and a terrific wine value (20 euro for an ourstanding Sangiovese-based)

Go in as a tourist and be treated like one. Go in as a "diner" and you will be treated respectfully and very well.

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