Grand Hotel Excelsior

​Arguably the most legendary hotel on the world-famous Amalfi Coast, the Grand Hotel Excelsior was really one of the only hotels that gave me a little bit of everything I wanted. It's old, outdated, ugly, and perfect. Confused? Read on.

Location: A

Without a doubt the most beautiful place on earth, you will be hard-pressed to find a spot that is bad in Amalfi. But the Excelsior offered something for everyone with it's location. Perched high up the cliffs of the coast, views are nothing short of breath taking. A 35 minute walk down through the locals' backyards, around lemon trees and past small churches will take you to the perfect town of Amalfi. The way down is easy, the way up, not so much. Thankfully, the hotel offers a free shuttle service running around every 30 minutes, with a pit stop at the hotel's private beach. The beach itself is great, adding a whole new dimension to the hotel. Take two elevators down through the cliffs and you're greeting by the beautiful Mediterranean coast and a perfectly-sized pebble beach, complete with restaurant and bar. So the Excelsior has a bit of everything-views, city access, and beach access. Finding that combination on the Amalfi Coast is almost impossible, so the location on its own puts the Excelsior on an almost unparalleled level for the region.

Rooms: B-

The view is the only thing keeping this rating afloat. All rooms at the hotel are blessed, and I mean seriously blessed, with ocean views that are next level (if you haven’t been able to tell by now, the views are awesome). Aside from that, it is seriously outdated. Old beds, chest falling apart, mold forming all around, tiny sink, etc. But, at the end of the day, we were almost never in the room anyways so it didn't really matter all that much.

Amenities: A-

One of the most beautiful pools on the Amalfi Coast, but beware, it is freezing cold

As I said, thanks to the location and sheer size of the hotel, there's a whole lot to do. The hotel itself though is pretty jam packed with things to keep you entertained. There's a beautiful pool (albeit freezing), complete with plenty of lounge chairs with a small shading system. Behind the pool you can find a bar inside a cave which I thought was totally dope. Walk through the cave and you'll find a little ice cream bar and seating area with, again, amazing views. There are several bars to have a drink and mingle with the elders. The most impressive service on offer here was the daily free tours provided by the hotel. You could get coastal tours of Amalfi or the Path of the Gods hike, along with other options, for free by staying here, which I found to be a great deal.

The private beach of the hotel, taken way above from the ‘beach lobby’ 

Dining: B+

Breakfast was great, lots of options and (don't be annoyed) great views. But that is all I can comment on as we did not have any other meals at the hotel.

View from breakfast, which made the food taste that much better

Service: B

Odd is the only word I can use to describe it. When I told Lorenzo, the manager, about my blog and Instagram account, he completely ignored it and was in fact somewhat rude in response (which was a first). The check in lady was very young, and while I appreciated her quirky nature, it was almost slightly off-putting how she traded professionalism for a youthful jubilee. But hey, some people are into that. I didn't hate it, didn't love it, rather felt it was, well, just odd.

Lobby ‘lounge’ area

Scene: Old and somewhat frustrating. There's almost a catch 22 at the hotel where you know you're in a super nice area staying in one of the most legendary hotels, ergo feel the need to act superior, but the reality of the matter is that this is a pretty cheap hotel in comparison what other hotels in Amalfi have to offer. Maybe it's because I've stayed in Amalfi before and been one of those people who experienced the ultra-luxurious style of Amalfi vacation, I don't know. But there's a superiority complex with lots of the people who stay here and it got on my nerves at times. Other than that, there are mostly older people with a few younglings scattered here and there.