La Sosta di Ottone III

La Sosta di Ottone III

Six rooms sit inside a 16th-century house at the top of Chiesanuova, a hamlet whose single road has never allowed cars, the kind of place legend says Otto III passed through in 996 on his way to Rome to be crowned emperor, which is where the name La Sosta, meaning stopover, comes from. Two hundred metres above the Mediterranean and three kilometres from Levanto's centre, the guesthouse looks out over the Levanto Valley and the sea from a garden lined with olive trees and a terrace built for lingering over the restaurant's local food and wine. Fabio Graziani and Angela Fenwick renovated the building in 2002, keeping it to three floors and six rooms rather than expanding, and there is still no elevator, so anyone travelling with heavy cases or limited mobility should look elsewhere. What sets it apart from other small hotels in the valley is the Day Designer, a standing offer of local knowledge and route planning rather than a rack of leaflets at reception, useful for guests who want to walk to Monterosso in around three hours via Colla di Gritta and Monte Rossini. Free Wi-Fi, parking nearby, airport transfers and concierge help cover the practical side, and breakfast is served on site with a small charge for children. This suits travellers happy to leave the car outside the village and walk the last stretch, and it will frustrate anyone chasing beach proximity or hotel anonymity. A cleaning tax is charged separately at the property, and pets are not allowed. By the time the narrow road empties out at dusk, La Sosta is less a hotel than a stop, exactly as its name promised. A six-room guesthouse in a 16th-century building atop car-free Chiesanuova, above Levanto and the Cinque Terre coast. Its Day Designer service sets it apart from other small hotels here, though the lack of an elevator across three floors won't suit everyone.