Domina Inn Piccolo in Portofino--has anyone stayed here?

[regatta333 Member Find all posts View Profile Close regatta333]

There are no reviews for this resort and am wondering if anyone has stayed here or can offer any advice.

I have a week on hold with RCI and was about to confirm it, when they mentioned that there may be a compulsory weekly parking fee of 207 euro. The guide said that there information dated back to 2005, so I should contact the resort directly to confirm. I have sent them an email and will wait to hear back. In the meantime, I have read all the reviews on TripAdvisor and of the people who had posted anything related to parking, a few mentioned a 10 euro per night fee.

A 207 euro weekly fee to park seems astronomical to me. Has anyone had any experience with this particular resort or this area of Italy?

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

The address seems to match Domina Home Piccolo, which has plenty of good reviews on Yahoo and Tripadvisor. I don't see anything about the parking, though - that does sound awfully high and is hopefully incorrect.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I have stayed in a Domina resort in Positano, From what I heard the whole chain is upper end. I do not think you will be disappointed. as far as a car goes see if you need it in that area, If you do park it some place else and cab to it. I know the Dominia we were at did not have enough parking and we parked away from the resort but still paid about 160 Euros for the week. When we were there the exchange was about $1.32 now it is $1.49 so it is costing you even more. OUCH

[regatta333 Member Find all posts View Profile Close regatta333]

I've exchanged several emails with the resort. They indicated that the parking was free for RCI members. I was on the phone getting ready to confirm the week with RCI, when the guide read the exact wording of the additional charge, which made it sound like it was "compulsory" and not necessarily tied to parking.

I sent another email to the resort asking specifically what the fee was for, and they said to ask RCI. I told them RCI said I would need to deal directly with them and asked again what the compulsory charge was for. Here was the response:

THE OBLIGATORY CHARGE IS FOR MEMBER RCI THAT DURING THE WEEK HAVE DISCOUNT IN TH PARKING
BREAKFAST-LUNCH AND DINNER.

Since I mentioned in the email that we would not bring a car and this is really a hotel rather than a timeshare, it sounds like this might just be a way for them to get rid of rooms that would not be acceptable to paying hotel guests and get at least some revenue for them. While many people wrote very good reviews, there were also a fair number who were unhappy with the service and rooms.

I have until tomorrow to make a decision, but I'm not sure I want to tie myself to this resort for a week in what may turn out to be questionable accomodations at what will turn out to be a pretty hefty price, when I factor in the compulsory fee, the exchange fee and the cost of my deposited week.
Especially when it looks like we could get reasonable hotel accomodations and not be tied to one place for 7 nights.

Thanks for the advice.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I've exchanged several emails with the resort. They indicated that the parking was free for RCI members. I was on the phone getting ready to confirm the week with RCI, when the guide read the exact wording of the additional charge, which made it sound like it was "compulsory" and not necessarily tied to parking.

I sent another email to the resort asking specifically what the fee was for, and they said to ask RCI. I told them RCI said I would need to deal directly with them and asked again what the compulsory charge was for. Here was the response:

THE OBLIGATORY CHARGE IS FOR MEMBER RCI THAT DURING THE WEEK HAVE DISCOUNT IN TH PARKING
BREAKFAST-LUNCH AND DINNER.

Since I mentioned in the email that we would not bring a car and this is really a hotel rather than a timeshare, it sounds like this might just be a way for them to get rid of rooms that would not be acceptable to paying hotel guests and get at least some revenue for them. While many people wrote very good reviews, there were also a fair number who were unhappy with the service and rooms.

I have until tomorrow to make a decision, but I'm not sure I want to tie myself to this resort for a week in what may turn out to be questionable accomodations at what will turn out to be a pretty hefty price, when I factor in the compulsory fee, the exchange fee and the cost of my deposited week.
Especially when it looks like we could get reasonable hotel accomodations and not be tied to one place for 7 nights.

Thanks for the advice.

That is the ultimate timeshare conundrum, magnified when places start tacking on BS fees for exchangers in a place that wouldn't ordinarily warrant a full week's stay...

Let us know what you decide and how it goes.

[regatta333 Member Find all posts View Profile Close regatta333]

I released the resort today. I was simply not willing to pay the compulsory fee. I've had this resort, along with a dozen other resorts in Italy, on ongoing searches for probably over two years now, but I never would have included it had the resort information listed this compulsory fee.

We accepted an exchange to a resort in Aix-en-Provence in 2008 where no mandatory fees were involved. Although the resort was in a great location, the room we were given was inferior to hotel rooms where we stayed during the second week of our trips (and these were 2-3 star hotels). We also spent a small fortune in gas and tolls (not to mention the extra time involved) on daytrips that required you to return to the same place each night. We still had a great trip and I did not regret making the exchange, but if I had it to do over, would have just paid for hotel stays for the entire two weeks. We would have come out about the same in terms of money spent and way ahead in terms of amount of driving time.