Nice hotel or private accomodation in Cinque terre?

Your post isn't exactly in the right area of this site. You may want to post it again in "The Boot" section. Nonetheless, it is a good idea to have a reservation before arrival in CT. While I cannot offer a recommendation for a group of your size, I will suggest you find a "base camp" and do hikes from that location. The walk between villages you envision isn't just an easy stroll. With luggage, it would be long and difficult. Keep your luggage in one location and see the five lands via train, boat, and on foot. Easy train connections between all, so you can train to one place and hike "home", or hop the train or a boat to get "home". With 4 or 5 days you will see a lot. Most tourists stay only for 2-3 nights. Vernazza is nice and has some nightlife but also has a lot of steep climbing to accommodations.

We like Manarola as it is usually easier to get to rooms with fewer stairs then Vernazza, for example. I have used Booking.com as well as Arbaspaa to find rooms/apartments. With 5 of you, an apartment would be ideal. Remember there is more to the area than the 5 towns of the CT. Portofino, Santa Marherita Liguria, and other towns along the coast can be easily visited from a base in the CT. Here are a few trip reports I have done from the area.

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Merete and Co :-),

As someone else mentioned, your post would have been better in the "To The Boot" section, as this section is for reviews.

A few thoughts regarding your questions.....

• YES, it's definitely a good idea to pre-book hotel rooms, especially in May as it will be starting to get busy.
• Where to Stay? Everyone has their own preference, and my favourite is Monterosso. It's the largest of the five towns and therefore has the greatest number of lodgings, restaurants, etc. For a group of five, that will provide more choices in accommodations.
• Private Rooms. Some of the smaller towns have more private rooms than conventional "hotels", so that will be the only option in some places.
• YES, it's absolutely the best idea to stay in one town and use that as a "base" to explore the others. It's VERY easy to get between the towns using the frequent and cheap local trains (DON'T forget to validate!). You can also hike between some towns (depending on the status of the No. 2 trails in May) and take the train when you get tired of hiking.
• Accommodation suggestions. As it's not likely that you have a copy of the RS Italy Guidebook at hand (which has lots of hotel listings), these two websites may be helpful:

http://www.rebuildmonterosso.com/p/visitors-information.html

http://savevernazza.com/visiting-vernazza/

I'm not sure whether the lists are completely up-to-date, but you can check various hotels to determine room availability. My favourite hotel is Hotel Villa Steno in Monterosso, but you could also have a look at Hotel Pasquale or Villa Adriana (or any of the others on the list for Monterosso). I'm not as familiar with Vernazza and the other towns, but I'm sure others here will be able to provide some answers.

Happy travels!

I agree with Ken. Monterosso is our favorite place. We stayed at Hotel Villa Steno. Matteo and Carla are awesome. We are going back in September and wanted to stay there again, but they were all booked. Same with the others that Ken mentioned. We did find another place recommended by Pasquale's, Giardino_Incantato. It looks lovely. We hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza...it was beautiful. You can do all five towns. I would make one place the home base. Enjoy.

Tina

www.airbnb.com!!

I booked 2 rooms at La Vigna di Gigi in Manarola. He only has 3 rooms, 1 advertised as a single so you can all stay there if all the rooms are still available for your dates. Another reviewer (Jessica) on this site recommended it. He offered us a small discount for cash payment. No breakfast. Good reviews.