Il San Pietro di Positano (Positano, Italy)

Slideshow | Lightbox (30) Tags: hotels italy positano resorts Posted: Jan. 5, 2009 by Myrka

1. Chapel San Pietro is next to the hotel's parking lot

3. View on hotel from the sea

5. The hotel cannot boast any monumental entrance or facade

7. Deluxe room

9. Bed and door to terrace

11. Inside the room - closet and entrance to the bathroom

13. Bathroom

15. An alternative way of getting to the beach - about 400 hundred steps

17. Small and medium size pebbles are what you find on hotel's beach

19. Carlino is the second restaurant at the hotel

21. View on Positano from the hotel's main terrace

23. Main hotel's terrace with breathtaking views

25. There are plenty of flowers and plants in the hotel's garden

27. Hotel's swimming pool

29. Entrance to the gym and a health spa

If you have never been to Hotel San Pietro di Positano in Italy, nothing can prepare you, neither Fromms with detailed hotel description, nor hundreds reviews of people who visited it for a kind of a shock when you reach your destination. You see a pole with a sign saying Hotel San Pietro and the address is correct - Via Laurito, 2 Positano. But where is the building? There is only an ancient chapel laced with vines (Photo 1). Oh, yes, there is also a parking lot (Photo 2), but is it for hotel or for the chapel? Just don't worry, go ahead and park your car - you have arrived.

A prompt valet is picking up your luggage, another is parking your car, and a hotel clerk is greeting you and asking to follow him or her to the hotel. You make first several steps and hold your breath: the view is amazing; it challenges you to fly, to leap into this blue sky which joins the sea and disappears somewhere at the horizon. Now you are behind the small 17th century chapel devoted to San Pietro and going down to the hotel entrance. Bog stone steps laid out in an intricate design lead you to an elevator. If you like though, you can proceed further down by now marble steps to the cast iron doors - main hotel entrance (Photo 5).

Il San Pietro di Positano is privately owned by Carlino family. It was built by Carlino Cinque who in 1962 found the place "Punta San Pietro" in 1,5 kilometers from Positano and fell in love with it (Photo 3). He decided to built a villa at the top of a steep cliff with breathtaking views and turn it into hotel. In 1970 his dream came true, and 33 rooms with balconies and together with the hotel's main terrace were inaugurated.

Architectural design of the hotel turned out to be perfect. Every habitable space: rooms, halls, bars, restaurants and terraces enjoy unique unforgettable views of the sea and Amalfi coast, in clear days up to Faraglioni, famous cliffs of Isola di Capri, and Golfo di Salerno (Photo 8) . Carlino Cinque envisioned and built the Hotel himself, seeking only engineering advice; he designed the landscaping and internal decor of the villa.

As a result of his vision, since its very foundation, Il San Pietro di Positano enjoys the reputation of one of the best luxurious hotels in the world. After Carlo Cinque death in 1984, his nephews Salvatore and Virginia Attanasio continued managing the hotel. Nowadays, Il San Pietro di Positano is under the management of Virginia and her sons - Carlo and Vito.

In 1998 the Hotel was renovated. It has 61 rooms and 12 stories which are cascading down the cliff surrounded with terraces of beautiful fragrant gardens. Many celebrities visited the hotel: Peter O'Tool, Dustin Hoffman, Tina Turner, Barbara Straisand, Gore Vidal and many, many others.

Now when you know the story, it is time to enter the hotel. Our choice was elevator - it takes you to the lobby of the hotel, a magnificent space which commands 180 degree view of the sea and Amalfi coastline. Flowering vines, oranges and lemons, all sorts of orchids are not only outside of palatial windows but descending from the ceiling and columns of the lobby with elaborate festoons (Photo 6 and Photo 22). The lobby is also decorated with various pieces of antique furniture. The floors are made of majolica tiles which, as we found out lately, are all over the hotel, decorating not only floors but also walls, benches in the garden, tables and stairs with beautiful tile pictures and elaborate designs. This follows artistic and decor traditions of the Southern Italy where artistic ceramic first was used in Sicily, during the Baroque period in churches and then spread to villas, homes and everyday Italian life.

The place is very quite and serene. Personnel speaks in subdued voices. You have no need to speak Italian, everybody speaks English or other European languages. We are informed that some services are free - of course, continental breakfast and newspaper, plus, free shuttle to Positano and a two-hour sea excursion along Amalfi coastline, free parking space and free Internet wireless connection (you just ask for a laptop at the receptions desk and voila - check your email or trade stocks). Formalities are over and we are invited to our room. It is a deluxe room with the daily rate of €600 (price 2008, in 2009 the price is &euro630 per night) (Photo 9).

The room is gorgeous, in shades of green with nice furniture and already familiar terracota majolica floors. There is a spacious closet with a safe (Photo 12) and nicely appointed bathroom (Photo 11 and Photo 13). However, a feeling that the room itself is not spacious enough, as it was advertised, does not leave me. May be it is just me? But our eyes are already on the door to the terrace. Our hostess smiles and opens it - this is it: a view to die for - and all doubts are forgotten. Comfortable lounge chairs and chairs with a table and complimentary fruit basket on it meet us there. But we are still savoring the view: we are drinking it; we are breathing it; we are melting in it - all at the same time (Photo 10).

Hotel Il San Pietro di Positono is often called "a resort." And it has all the rights to be one not only because of its unique location, but also because it has its own gardens, private tennis court, SPA, gym, swimming pool and private beach. One important and nice thing about this hotel is that even if it rooms are different, all of them offer sea view.

There are two ways to get to the beach (Photo 14): an easy one - from the lobby onto the terrace surrounding it, then using an elevator which operates in a shaft carved inside the cliff you are on the beach in just 10 seconds. Another way is not that easy but very good for morning exercise - you simply go down (or up) 400 steps (Photo 15) on your feet from the lobby terrace. One pleasant thing about it is that all four hundred steps (or so) you are making pass through fruit and vegetable gardens (Photo 16). They not only please your eyes, but also allow the hotel's famous restaurant to offer the freshest produce on your table at breakfast and dinner.

Choosing an elevator to go the beach is not less interesting: when it stops, you find yourself in a cave (Photo 18) with a wide opening looking to the beach and the sea. The beach is cosy, surrounded by cliffs (Photo 17). The beach itself consists of small and middle size pebbles; however, a part of the beach area is on a huge flat rock platform (improved with concrete) with lounge chairs where you can sunbathe and enjoy drinks supplied by bar caved partially into a wall. The sea is deep enough for a good swimmer. You should make only three, four steps - and you have to swim. The water is absolutely clean as the beach itself. By the way, there is also a private pier - a convenient facility if you want to use a motorboat taxi or go on a private excursion by sea.

On the beach you will also find Carlino, a restaurant (Photo 19). It's not the main one at the hotel; nevertheless it's very popular. It is conveniently located next to the elevator cave. It serves mostly lunches (exclusively to hotel guests between noon and 4PM ), and it is refreshingly cool even in the hottest days. Hotel's private tennis court (Photo 28) is located next to the restaurant Carlino.

After a whole day spent on a beach with good swim or in browsing steep streets of Positano, you are hungry and have hundreds of choices where to dine. Obviously, you can do this in the town (and I strongly encourage you to do so - you will not be disappointed), but you may want to check out the main hotel's restaurant. We've heard a lot about it and, of course, were curious. Hotel staff advise to make a reservation even if you stay at San Pietro - at time this restaurant can be crowded - it has quite a reputation in all Positano.

Before dinner (actually any time), you can have an aperitif at the hotel's bar in the lobby. Drinks are also served on the main terrace (Photo 21) which is one of the marvels of the hotel, with art majolica all over the place and famous views on Positano and Amalfi coast (Photo 23). A nice garden with flowering plants and fruit trees is also located on the main terrace (Photo 24 and Photo 25). With its exotic plants and colors it adds to the glamorous environment of the main terrace. When the evening is coming down, the view, the garden and the candles softly flickering on tables under the darkening sky offer a beginning of a perfectly romantic evening.

The restaurant is in a beautiful spot (Photo 26). If the weather allows, the best place to be is the restaurant's terrace outside overlooking the sea, hills and lights of neighboring Praiano. The restaurant is formal - gentlemen should have long sleeves and pants, ladies appropriate dresses or tops and skirts. In my view, a very reasonable dressing code. If you are not sure, there is a small poster suggesting what is OK and what is not.

The service at the restaurant was good. For our dinner we had after antipasto a lombata as the main course and a bottle of Taurasi. The total was about €170. Generally speaking, not bad at all for a dinner at 5-star luxury hotel. Still if are looking for best deals, the hotel's restaurant is not the place to find them. For example, the next day we found exactly the same Taurasi in one of the less glamourous Positano restaurants €10 less. As far as food is concerned, well, our lombata was OK but a bit dull, as, by the way, most other dishes we tried in the restaurant. I can easily see that some of our disappointment came from expectation set really high.

Next day you can begin with exercising in a gym (Photo 29). It is only a dozen of steps from the elevator leading to the beach or skip the beach and go to the swimming pool (who would do this?). The pool is located on another huge terrace (below the main one - Photo 27) with panoramic view, and my guess is that most people are attracted to it not much by the pool but the serenity of the place and its size.

It's not my goal to describe all the details about this hotel, but I hope that by now you've got the idea. It's an expensive hotel; however, it has a lot to offer - first of all unforgettable experience, romance of the Amalfi coast and Positano as well as high quality service and amenities. We have truly enjoyed our staying in San Pietro do Positano, and we also felt that the hotel staff truly wanted to make staying as pleasant as it can be.

Highly Recommended.