Where to Stay
Genoa is this region's largest city and is the easiest to reach from the United States. There are plenty of hotel options that make it a good base for exploring the broader area. Turin and Cuneo also are safe bets, as are the resorts in the Alps and the bed and breakfasts along the Cinque Terre coastline.
The price code for the hotel listings below is $ = 200 or more per night, per room.
Hotel Alexander
$-$$$
For a clean room in a safe part of Genoa at a reasonable price, it's hard to beat the Hotel Alexander. It's within walking distance of both the main train station and the harbor area, including the aquarium. Each room has a private bathroom as well as a television, refrigerator, and telephone. The hotel is on a main street, so ask for a room on one of the upper levels if you're sensitive to city noise.
Hotel Bristol Palace
$$$-$$$$
A more upscale choice in Genoa is the Hotel Bristol Palace, a renovated palace that's close to the museums, shops, and aquarium. You will feel like nobility of the early 1900s as you descend the grand staircase each day. A restaurant is on-site, as are a twenty-four-hour porter, WiFi access, laundry service, satellite television, in-room safes, and pretty much every other luxury you might desire.
Le Petit Hotel
$-$$
In Turin's old town, Le Petit Hotel is within walking distance of theaters and museums. Some staff members speak English, and there is a restaurant on-site. All rooms have private bathrooms, hairdryers, telephones, Internet access, mini-bars, and satellite television. Air conditioning and safes are also available, but not in every room, so be sure to request them if they're important to you.
Hotel Palazzo Lovera
$-$$$
This is a rebuilt palace in Cuneo where Pope Pio VII was once held as Napoleon's prisoner. There are forty-seven hotel rooms plus a small gymnasium and a restaurant. Package deals are available if you want to include massages, cooking classes, cheese tastings, and the like along with your hotel stay.
Hotel Carla
$-$$
Located in the village of Levanto within Cinque Terre national park, this hotel has thirty-six rooms plus a restaurant where you can enjoy homemade pastas and vegetable pies. All the rooms have private bathrooms as well as telephones, safes, and televisions. You'll be within walking distance of the Mediterranean coastline and a short taxi ride away from the Cinque Terre trails.
Hotel Mont-Blanc
$$-$$$
This nineteenth-century hotel is in the Aosta Valley village of Chamonix, where you can walk or take a hotel shuttle to the ski slopes daily. There are thirty-two rooms and eight suites on site, plus a restaurant that serves buffet breakfasts and five-course dinners. Local wines are a highlight, with more than 15,000 bottles in the hotel's collection. Special rates are sometimes available if you book directly online through the Best Mont Blanc Group.
