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Omer A

Avoid Il Sogno di Manarola by The First: Poor Service and Unethical Practices

1.0 of 5 bubblesReviewed 31 Jul 2024via mobile
My stay at Il Sogno di Manarola by The First was deeply disappointing. The management was not only rude but also remarkably unprofessional, showing a clear lack of concern for guest comfort.

The Internet was excruciatingly slow, which severely impacted my ability to work. Additionally, the view, which was advertised as a side view of the ocean, bore no resemblance to the pictures. I’ve attached a photo to illustrate the disparity.

Privacy was another major issue. The management discussed my reservation details with individuals outside my booking, which is both unprofessional and intrusive.

The final straw was being billed for minibar items that I never used. Despite my repeated requests for an itemized receipt, the management refused to provide one. This reluctance to offer transparency suggests an attempt to scam and overcharge for items that were never consumed.

Overall, I cannot recommend Il Sogno di Manarola by The First. The poor service, lack of professionalism, and dubious billing practices made for a highly unsatisfactory stay.
Date of stay: July 2024
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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1 - 6 of 33 reviews
Reviewed 21 June 2023

Beautiful place to stay in Cinque Terre! The rooms are exceptionally comfortable and location is perfect. Enrico was amazing and helped with things to do, see and places to eat during our visit. I would absolutely stay here again and highly recommend to people looking for an ideal holiday in Liguria and Cinque Terre. I will definitely be back! 5 stars!

Date of stay: June 2023
  • Trip type: Travelled with friends
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
Thank Josh K
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 9 June 2023

I read the other tripadvisor reviews and was terrified (booked through priceline, found the tripadvisor reviews after I booked). However, this place was solid and was a fine stay in Manarola during a crowded weekend. Check in was not nearly as bad as other reviews made it out to be. Someone will whatsapp message your phone w/ sufficient details and the place really was not that hard to find either. The room was nice w/ new appliances and a window that had a partial sea view.

However, the hotel was not have a balcony or terrace and does not have a hottub/Jacuzzi. The photos make it seem like it does, but it does not. Overall, satisfied with my stay here.

Date of stay: June 2023
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
Thank mattrM892ZL
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 26 May 2023

Haven't even got to the hotel yet, but have been attempting to reach the hotel for over a month now for the check-in instructions that they say will be given 24 hours before arrival. Here we are less than that and radio silence. They asked for passport copies and we sent them over a week ago, and still nothing. We have attempted to reach them via email (used 3 different emails provided on website), WhatsApp, their online contact form on the website, etc. And we have never been able to reach them. Finally reached Enrico via WhatsApp and he threatened me as well as cancelled the reservation just because I said I couldn't reach him! HORRIBLE HORRIBLE PROPERTY!!!!

Room tip: RUN AWAY
Date of stay: May 2023
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
3  Thank AdventureBird12
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Francesco Migliore, Proprietario at The First - Il Sogno di Manarola, responded to this reviewResponded 27 May 2023

Dear Sarah
First of all we want to thank you for your review and we take this occasion to clarify some points of it. You are an agent who made a reservation on Orbitz/Expedia on behalf of your clients and you insert your mail in the section clients contact. When you sent us messages on the 09th and 16th May you were in contact who is no more working with us and when you sent us a message yesterday we replied to you that your clients sent us their private e-mail address to receive self check in information that we sent them and they informed you about this well. Nevertheless you decided to send us a lot of messages and calls direct to a wrong department and you didn't take care of our replies. Probably you were upset because we sent information to clients and not to you but for security reasons we can inform only guests about their accommodation. For this reason you decided to send a whats app message stating that you contacted Enrico a lot of times without any reply on my part that is completely false and offensive. We sent you messages stating that the reservation is confirmed and again reconfirmed that you clients provided us pics of their passports, we provided them information about luggages porter, elevato and so on but you decided to cancel their reservation. The same for the screen shots published where you decide to cancel the sections containing offensive comments about me that's very strange for a professional agent. We apologised with you but you continue with this weird behavior. Best Regards Enrico

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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Reviewed 22 March 2023

I stayed at this hotel and I paid for extra amenities. When they did not provide them, they said they would issue a refund. They never have. Now they are ignoring my calls and texts and refusing to pay me back. DO NOT STAY HERE. I never write reviews, but this place is truly terrible.

Date of stay: November 2022
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
2  Thank Emily M
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Francesco Migliore, Proprietario at The First - Il Sogno di Manarola, responded to this reviewResponded 27 May 2023

Dear Clients
than k you for your review. We are not used to charge items that clients didn't use or not to provide them and ask you to pay. Anyway you didn't list these amenities and their value, if you provide this information to us we will be happy to refund you. Thank you Best Regards The Management

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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Reviewed 31 August 2022

DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOTEL.
The owner is rude, unprofessional and after threatening me I decided I would not stay there with a small child as it was not safe. The reviews on booking.com are false as only those that have manged to stay at the hotel can leave a review.
read the other reviews on here - this man is a fraud and a con and really just wants to take your money and not let you stay at the property. He should be stopped.
BE VERY VERY VERY CAREFUL.

Date of stay: August 2022
    • Location
    • Rooms
    • Service
1  Thank annamO724DP
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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