I wanted to pass along to the community our challenging experience with Vernazza rooms and apartments (www.vernazzaroomsandapartments.com). Rick has it in his book but I would not use them again. I had booked our room online and then later had a lengthy email exchange with them regarding the check-in process.
They required using WhatApp to send them pictures of our passports and booking credit card. In a subsequent email they provided a link to a secure site where I then uploaded the pictures as an alternative to using WhatsApp. Yes I know WhatsApp is secure but I was more comfortable using the secure website instead.
I also confirmed with them our arrival time of 18:00, 24 hours ahead of our arrival. They responded on an email the following:
"Thank you very much—your online check-in is complete. We’ve received all documents correctly as well as your arrival time. For your convenience, we’ve scheduled an in-person meeting tomorrow at 18:00 under the station bridge (beneath the stairs). Our operator will be wearing a blue cap with “Vernazza” on it. If, for any reason, the operator is unavailable at that time, we’ll provide self check-in so you can access the room independently."
Please notice the statement "For your convenience....". Also note that they said our checking process was complete, but that if the operator was not available, that we could do self check-in. Not understanding that.
During our long day a train travel from Rome, we encountered a rail strike on our last leg of our journey in La Spezia which delayed our arrival in Vernazza by 90 minutes. I informed via email that we would be late and received a confirmation acknowledging our delay. When we arrived in Vernazza, there was a young man with the blue cap on. He took us up to our room, but when we got there he insisted that I pay him 25 Euros. When I said no, he was going to leave us standing there without access to our room. I told him to check with his boss which he did and insisted that I pay him. As was stated above this was suppose to be for our convenience. I gave in and paid him the 25 Euros.
In subsequent email, I told whoever I was communicating with (never had a persons name on any of the emails), that it was not fault we were delayed buy the rail strike. Their only response was it wasn't there fault either.
I'll never book with them again and I hope that Rick considers removing them from his book.