Culture, cuisine, cliffs and coastlines:
12 days in Campania
12 days in Campania
Logistics, part 2 - Accommodations and food
Accommodations
Hotel La Minerva, Capri.
We really wanted to stay on Capri for a few nights. Initially, we were a bit
turned off by the prices but decided to stick a crowbar in the wallet and go
for it. We researched a fair number of places in Capri town and were
intrigued (almost to the point of being skeptical) of the almost unanimous
‘5’ ratings for this hotel on Trip Advisor (at the time of our trip and when
writing this report, Hotel La Minerva was the #1 rated hotel on Capri). It is a
three-star hotel, largely because it does not have a pool or restaurant. The
location, in our opinion, is almost ideal. It is just a few minutes walk from
Via Camerelle and the piazzetta, meaning that it is convenient to all the
shops and restaurants of Capri town, but just far away enough to be nice
and quiet – okay, the birds make a bit of noise as soon as the sun starts to
poke up, but we can handle that!
La Minerva is about as clean as a hotel could be. We probably wouldn’t
classify it a luxury hotel, but it is very comfortable – extra pillows, nice-sized
bath with plenty of counter space, decent linens, a very large walk in closet
to get all the ‘stuff’ out of the way, a sofa and sitting area (which we had to
use as Allie’s bed), nice amenities in the bath, a quiet and efficient air
conditioner, a large terrace with table and chairs and sunbeds (with pads),
and on and on. We particularly thought the common areas were very
tastefully decorated, with tile floors and nice ceramics all around. The view
from our terrace (which includes privacy barriers to a point, but not all the
way) included both sea and part of the Capri hillside. Breakfast is served
either on your room’s terrace or on the rooftop deck and includes a nice
selection of breads, yogurt, cheese, fresh OJ and coffee. Environment was
very understated and relaxed; service was very friendly and helpful. We
found it essential to stay on Capri, and at that price (in Capri terms) we’d
say, yes, La Minerva did live up to the hype.
240€ for a superior triple.
Residence Stefania B, Positano (booked through Summer in Italy)
We had never rented a vacation apartment before, so this was a new
experience for us. This was driven by a couple of needs. One was the
ability to stay in a nice, but affordable place in Positano. Secondly, and
more significantly, the need to have some room to move around, especially
since we wanted to stay put and use Positano as a base for the whole
week. We looked at the offerings of a few agencies, but in all honesty, we
made our decision fairly quickly. For a number of months, ours was the
only 2005 booking for this apartment (although it seemed to be fairly well
booked during 2004, so not to worry). In summary, we were very pleased.
The location was perfect, in our opinion, for using Positano as an Amalfi
Coast base. The SITA and internal bus stops were just a half-block away.
Also within that half block are all the resources one needs – a tabacchi,
public phones, Bar Internazionale (for cornetti and café in the morning and
gelati at night, as well as bus tickets), a small grocery, a produce store,
and a respectable small trattoria. It is about a 10-15 minute walk down to
the beach via steps (hundreds of them), or you can walk down the Viale
Pasitea in about 20 minutes, past other hotels, restaurants and shops.
The internal bus runs every half hour from Piazza Mulini; we always used
this to come back up. The apartment also is very close to the steps going
up toward Montepertuso, if one is inclined to make this walk (we went part
way one evening).
The apartment, itself, is very nice. It has two bedrooms, a very large bath, a
full kitchen, a living room, and most significantly, a huge terrace adorned
with flowers and with a stupendous view down over Positano. We found it
to be very much as depicted on the Summer in Italy website. It was
renovated just several years ago and has nice tile floors, modern
appliances, and very tasteful decorating. Of particular benefit was the
washing machine, which we used four times – but beware, Italian washers
take much longer than we are used to (almost two hours), and there is no
dryer; a drying rack is provided on the terrace. The apartment has air
conditioning, although we did not use it. Stefano, the landlord, was very
helpful during our stay, including hooking us up with a driver to Naples on
short notice.
We brought along an iPod and a small portable speaker (cost, $40; small
enough to be carried along with other things in a backpack). This added
immensely to our enjoyment of the apartment.
The only downsides (since hardly anything is perfect!): the master bed is a
bit firm for our taste (some extra pillows would be nice), and there are
about 80 steps up from the street to the front door. This was not a problem
for us; we’d been ‘in training’ before we arrived.
We could go on and on, but we really enjoyed this. Highly recommended!
About $1,500 for the week, plus electricity, cleaning, and linens.
B&B Donna Regina, Naples
This was a bit of a crap shoot. We found it while searching many Naples
options on the Internet and thought it looked very unique and interesting.
Venere.com was the only site where we found customer reviews, which on
balance were very positive. We were a little iffy about staying in the
historical center, but none of the reviews mentioned anything of concern,
other than that the street is closed due to some renovations and you need
to look past the condition of the building entrance.
In a nutshell, this small four-unit B&B is in a 700-year-old building that is
part of the former Donnaregina Vecchia convent complex. The fourth-floor
flat housing the B&B is the former mother superior’s quarters. It is now
owned by a family of artists (the grandfather apparently was quite famous),
and paintings, statues and other objects fill (and we do mean fill!) the walls
and furnishings throughout.
Each room is decorated in a unique manner. Ours – the blue room – has
about 16 foot ceilings, with a circular metal staircase leading up to a loft
that includes two additional twin beds (Allie’s hideout). It is equipped with
TV and air conditioning, which came in handy. The bath could probably
stand a bit of improvement – in particular, the shower was quite small and
didn’t always produce hot water, but at least it had a door. Breakfast is
served at a communal table and we enjoyed morning conversation with the
other guests, all of whom were from France. Apparently, it is possible to
arrange a home-cooked Neapolitan dinner, although we did not do so.
Dominic, the owner, was very helpful. He spent a half hour with us after we
arrived to go over a map of Naples and to provide a variety of enthusiastic
recommendations for dining and activities. We were able to try several of
them.
Re the area: this B&B is located in the historical center, in the area known
as Decumano Maggiore. Although it is important to use good sense
throughout Naples, we did not find this area to be particularly
uncomfortable or seedy. As noted, the street (Luigi Settembrini,
perpendicular to the Via Duomo) is closed off – thus, not a lot of traffic. The
building entrance is a bit austere – huge wooden doors that are open
during the day, and a somewhat grim common entrance way (there are a
number of apartments in this building) leading to a teeny, tiny little elevator
that, at best, holds three people; thus, the ground floor entrance feels as if
you are entering an apartment building, not a hotel/B&B. Moreover, this
area does not appear to be a big ‘tourist’ area. There are a couple of other
hotels a bit down the Via Duomo, but not a lot of restaurants in the
immediate vicinity. It is about a 10 minute walk to the real heart of
Spaccanapoli. We took all the recommended precautions, and did not feel
at all unsafe here.
The location/setting is probably not for everyone, but it was appealing to us
and we particularly enjoyed staying here. It was convenient for our plans in
Naples and offered a very unique, home-like feel.
120€ for a triple.
Eating
We ate well. How could you not. Some of our favorites:
Capri:
Ristorante Belsito
da Gemma
Pizzeria Aurora
Buca di Bacco da Serafina (pizza)
Amalfi Coast:
da Costantino, Positano
Lo Guarracino, Positano
Villa Maria, Ravello
di Teresa, Conca dei Marini (lunch with the Gennaro e Salvatore trip)
La Grottina Azzurra, Positano (simple neighborhood trattoria with decent
pasta)
Pizzeria Il Capitano, Positano (roof deck of the Montemare Hotel with a
fabulous view)
Naples:
Antica Osteria Pisano
Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo (pizza)
Bellini
In particular, we found that we could eat very well in Naples without
spending a small fortune.
Allie discovered a new favorite on this trip: gnocchi alla sorrentina. She ate
it darned near every day, and is still eating it back in Chicago (thanks,
Trader Joe’s). Chris and Marisa went nuts with the seafood and the local
wines. We all enjoyed the pizza, although now that we’re home, Allie is
glad not to have to eat her pizza with a knife and fork.
We had only one disappointing meal – Il Ritrovo in Montepertuso – also the
most expensive on of our trip. The food was okay, but we obviously hit it on
a bad night. The service was terrible. Mind you, we are not averse to
enjoying a long, leisurely meal. But we do not define that as having the
wine brought to the table some 45 minutes after we ordered it, and 20
minutes after the antipasti dishes are cleared (and after reminding the staff
several times that we’d ordered wine). Or as having our meals arrive close
to a half hour apart.
See all of our trip photos
our travels
home
contact us
Accommodations
Hotel La Minerva, Capri.
We really wanted to stay on Capri for a few nights. Initially, we were a bit
turned off by the prices but decided to stick a crowbar in the wallet and go
for it. We researched a fair number of places in Capri town and were
intrigued (almost to the point of being skeptical) of the almost unanimous
‘5’ ratings for this hotel on Trip Advisor (at the time of our trip and when
writing this report, Hotel La Minerva was the #1 rated hotel on Capri). It is a
three-star hotel, largely because it does not have a pool or restaurant. The
location, in our opinion, is almost ideal. It is just a few minutes walk from
Via Camerelle and the piazzetta, meaning that it is convenient to all the
shops and restaurants of Capri town, but just far away enough to be nice
and quiet – okay, the birds make a bit of noise as soon as the sun starts to
poke up, but we can handle that!
La Minerva is about as clean as a hotel could be. We probably wouldn’t
classify it a luxury hotel, but it is very comfortable – extra pillows, nice-sized
bath with plenty of counter space, decent linens, a very large walk in closet
to get all the ‘stuff’ out of the way, a sofa and sitting area (which we had to
use as Allie’s bed), nice amenities in the bath, a quiet and efficient air
conditioner, a large terrace with table and chairs and sunbeds (with pads),
and on and on. We particularly thought the common areas were very
tastefully decorated, with tile floors and nice ceramics all around. The view
from our terrace (which includes privacy barriers to a point, but not all the
way) included both sea and part of the Capri hillside. Breakfast is served
either on your room’s terrace or on the rooftop deck and includes a nice
selection of breads, yogurt, cheese, fresh OJ and coffee. Environment was
very understated and relaxed; service was very friendly and helpful. We
found it essential to stay on Capri, and at that price (in Capri terms) we’d
say, yes, La Minerva did live up to the hype.
240€ for a superior triple.
Residence Stefania B, Positano (booked through Summer in Italy)
We had never rented a vacation apartment before, so this was a new
experience for us. This was driven by a couple of needs. One was the
ability to stay in a nice, but affordable place in Positano. Secondly, and
more significantly, the need to have some room to move around, especially
since we wanted to stay put and use Positano as a base for the whole
week. We looked at the offerings of a few agencies, but in all honesty, we
made our decision fairly quickly. For a number of months, ours was the
only 2005 booking for this apartment (although it seemed to be fairly well
booked during 2004, so not to worry). In summary, we were very pleased.
The location was perfect, in our opinion, for using Positano as an Amalfi
Coast base. The SITA and internal bus stops were just a half-block away.
Also within that half block are all the resources one needs – a tabacchi,
public phones, Bar Internazionale (for cornetti and café in the morning and
gelati at night, as well as bus tickets), a small grocery, a produce store,
and a respectable small trattoria. It is about a 10-15 minute walk down to
the beach via steps (hundreds of them), or you can walk down the Viale
Pasitea in about 20 minutes, past other hotels, restaurants and shops.
The internal bus runs every half hour from Piazza Mulini; we always used
this to come back up. The apartment also is very close to the steps going
up toward Montepertuso, if one is inclined to make this walk (we went part
way one evening).
The apartment, itself, is very nice. It has two bedrooms, a very large bath, a
full kitchen, a living room, and most significantly, a huge terrace adorned
with flowers and with a stupendous view down over Positano. We found it
to be very much as depicted on the Summer in Italy website. It was
renovated just several years ago and has nice tile floors, modern
appliances, and very tasteful decorating. Of particular benefit was the
washing machine, which we used four times – but beware, Italian washers
take much longer than we are used to (almost two hours), and there is no
dryer; a drying rack is provided on the terrace. The apartment has air
conditioning, although we did not use it. Stefano, the landlord, was very
helpful during our stay, including hooking us up with a driver to Naples on
short notice.
We brought along an iPod and a small portable speaker (cost, $40; small
enough to be carried along with other things in a backpack). This added
immensely to our enjoyment of the apartment.
The only downsides (since hardly anything is perfect!): the master bed is a
bit firm for our taste (some extra pillows would be nice), and there are
about 80 steps up from the street to the front door. This was not a problem
for us; we’d been ‘in training’ before we arrived.
We could go on and on, but we really enjoyed this. Highly recommended!
About $1,500 for the week, plus electricity, cleaning, and linens.
B&B Donna Regina, Naples
This was a bit of a crap shoot. We found it while searching many Naples
options on the Internet and thought it looked very unique and interesting.
Venere.com was the only site where we found customer reviews, which on
balance were very positive. We were a little iffy about staying in the
historical center, but none of the reviews mentioned anything of concern,
other than that the street is closed due to some renovations and you need
to look past the condition of the building entrance.
In a nutshell, this small four-unit B&B is in a 700-year-old building that is
part of the former Donnaregina Vecchia convent complex. The fourth-floor
flat housing the B&B is the former mother superior’s quarters. It is now
owned by a family of artists (the grandfather apparently was quite famous),
and paintings, statues and other objects fill (and we do mean fill!) the walls
and furnishings throughout.
Each room is decorated in a unique manner. Ours – the blue room – has
about 16 foot ceilings, with a circular metal staircase leading up to a loft
that includes two additional twin beds (Allie’s hideout). It is equipped with
TV and air conditioning, which came in handy. The bath could probably
stand a bit of improvement – in particular, the shower was quite small and
didn’t always produce hot water, but at least it had a door. Breakfast is
served at a communal table and we enjoyed morning conversation with the
other guests, all of whom were from France. Apparently, it is possible to
arrange a home-cooked Neapolitan dinner, although we did not do so.
Dominic, the owner, was very helpful. He spent a half hour with us after we
arrived to go over a map of Naples and to provide a variety of enthusiastic
recommendations for dining and activities. We were able to try several of
them.
Re the area: this B&B is located in the historical center, in the area known
as Decumano Maggiore. Although it is important to use good sense
throughout Naples, we did not find this area to be particularly
uncomfortable or seedy. As noted, the street (Luigi Settembrini,
perpendicular to the Via Duomo) is closed off – thus, not a lot of traffic. The
building entrance is a bit austere – huge wooden doors that are open
during the day, and a somewhat grim common entrance way (there are a
number of apartments in this building) leading to a teeny, tiny little elevator
that, at best, holds three people; thus, the ground floor entrance feels as if
you are entering an apartment building, not a hotel/B&B. Moreover, this
area does not appear to be a big ‘tourist’ area. There are a couple of other
hotels a bit down the Via Duomo, but not a lot of restaurants in the
immediate vicinity. It is about a 10 minute walk to the real heart of
Spaccanapoli. We took all the recommended precautions, and did not feel
at all unsafe here.
The location/setting is probably not for everyone, but it was appealing to us
and we particularly enjoyed staying here. It was convenient for our plans in
Naples and offered a very unique, home-like feel.
120€ for a triple.
Eating
We ate well. How could you not. Some of our favorites:
Capri:
Ristorante Belsito
da Gemma
Pizzeria Aurora
Buca di Bacco da Serafina (pizza)
Amalfi Coast:
da Costantino, Positano
Lo Guarracino, Positano
Villa Maria, Ravello
di Teresa, Conca dei Marini (lunch with the Gennaro e Salvatore trip)
La Grottina Azzurra, Positano (simple neighborhood trattoria with decent
pasta)
Pizzeria Il Capitano, Positano (roof deck of the Montemare Hotel with a
fabulous view)
Naples:
Antica Osteria Pisano
Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo (pizza)
Bellini
In particular, we found that we could eat very well in Naples without
spending a small fortune.
Allie discovered a new favorite on this trip: gnocchi alla sorrentina. She ate
it darned near every day, and is still eating it back in Chicago (thanks,
Trader Joe’s). Chris and Marisa went nuts with the seafood and the local
wines. We all enjoyed the pizza, although now that we’re home, Allie is
glad not to have to eat her pizza with a knife and fork.
We had only one disappointing meal – Il Ritrovo in Montepertuso – also the
most expensive on of our trip. The food was okay, but we obviously hit it on
a bad night. The service was terrible. Mind you, we are not averse to
enjoying a long, leisurely meal. But we do not define that as having the
wine brought to the table some 45 minutes after we ordered it, and 20
minutes after the antipasti dishes are cleared (and after reminding the staff
several times that we’d ordered wine). Or as having our meals arrive close
to a half hour apart.
See all of our trip photos
our travels
home
contact us
La Minerva, terrace of our room
La Minerva, view from the rooftop terrace
Residence Stefania B, terrace
Residence Stefania B, view from the
terrace
terrace
B&B Donna Regina, view from window
B&B Donna Regina, room from loft
B&B Donna Regina, Chris and Allie
squeeze into the elevator
squeeze into the elevator
Positano from a window seat at da
Costantino
Costantino
