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Hotel Lorelei et Londres, Sorrento. Whatever happened to it?

Hotel Lorelei et Londres, Sorrento. Whatever happened to it?

Old Sep 11th, 2010, 03:32 PM
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Hotel Lorelei et Londres, Sorrento. Whatever happened to it?

Many years ago, I stayed at this lovely old hotel. It supposedly closed for renovations a few years ago, but never reopened. Does anyone know why or whatever happened to it? It sits right on the cliff. The building is still standing. Is it unsafe or did no one think it would be profitable to reopen? The setting is absolutely gorgeous. Their outdoor garden restaurant was so beautiful. Did any of you ever stay there? I keep hoping it will reopen. I would love to stay there once again.
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Old Sep 13th, 2010, 03:20 PM
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Anybody in Sorrento know anything about this?
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Old Sep 13th, 2010, 03:24 PM
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Try asking the Sorrento Tourist Office:
http://www.sorrentotourism.com/eng/contactus.html
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Old Jul 17th, 2011, 02:52 PM
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I stayed at the Lorelei in 1993. I always remember that they let me park my car inside the gate in a very tight car park area. I remember a balcony room with incredible views across the Bay of Naples to Mount Vesuvius. I had dinner on a wonderful veranda with beautiful wisteria. The evening sunsets were spectacular. I think my room cost were around $60.00 a day. I used the hotel as a base to visit Capri, Positano and the Amalfi coast. I have not been back to Sorrento but I think of this hotel quite often. I google map it every so often. I am so sorry to hear that it has closed. It wasn't a first class hotel when I stayed there but it's location and atmosphere is extremely unique. The Hotel Lorelei is the type of place you don't plan for, it's one of those gems that you find almost by accident. I can only hope that someone will obtain this property and remodel just enough so that it can function as it once did when I was there. I would be it's first guest to sit on that veranda just one more time!
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Old Jul 18th, 2011, 09:28 AM
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Oh, DScaccia1,

I was so happy to see your post. It was shortly after that when I stayed there. Eating outside on their veranda made me feel as if I was a traveler transported back to the time when everybody went by ship, and everything was slow. Perhaps I am just feeling old or nostalgic today, but I too would love to sit there once again; makes me teary-eyed thinking about it. There are not many places that do that to me. Thanks for your post and the reminder of that wonderful experience.
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Old Mar 23rd, 2014, 08:33 AM
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So happy to find these posts! I stayed there in 1996. What a breath of fresh air to arrive after a hot, dirty three days in Rome! The elevator inside the cliff leading to the dock and the Mediterranean, the bathroom with the most interesting tiny bathtub with built-in chair, and the twin waiters grunting "Prego" made for a most memorable stay. I emailed Rick Steves recently to get the name of the hotel (I'd forgotten it) because the hotel (and the twin waiters!) were featured on his show a few years after I stayed there. His travel team graciously emailed back that the hotel shut down in 2007. The current owners own the Hotel Mignon in Sorrento, which is open. I'm glad I'm not the only one with memories of the Hotel Lorelai!
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Old Apr 1st, 2014, 09:23 AM
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I quote from my around-the-world diary written in 1975: "I had planned to go back to Rome and on to Florence tomorrow, but the spell of Sorrento was catching me. In the early evening I found right on the sea-cliff the Hotel Lorelei, an old fasioned place which, when I had the nerve enough to ask, that, for the price of my lunch and hotel, (elsewhere), I could stay there with full pensione. (for the same price)...had a second breakfast on their terrace which was delightful: rolls, jam, cappucicno....Love my room, overlooking the sea with two high French doors for window...the morning so beautiful from my window,,,another peaceful awakening by the sea and watching from bed. Its marvelous to watch the sea from one's bed--the only place to be sick and a nicer place to be well."
Hence my feelings for that remarkable hotel in Sorrento! (WJBryan, author)
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Old Apr 11th, 2014, 08:22 AM
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Wow, Janean and WilliamJB,
Thanks for the posts.
Interesting how we all felt about that old hotel.

I learned from a poster on another thread that the hotel is owned by the same owners as Hotel Mignon Meuble, and e-mailed them about the Lorelei.

They responded a few minutes ago that the hotel has still not been renovated and they do not know if they will ever renovate or reopen it.

Too bad & sad.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2015, 10:16 AM
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Just returned from Italy. We took a day trip to Sorrento and wanted to have lunch at the wonderful terrace restaurant at the hotel where we stayed in 2004. So we made the 15-minute trek but were shocked and saddened that the gate was locked closed and the lovely place abandoned and overrun by weeds.
I was glad to find these forum posts to relive the days we spent there and commiserate with others about the hotel's closing. What a lovely spot it was - and what a bargain for us budget-minded travelers. So sorry to hear that it probably will not be reopened.
It was really sad looking at it from the water as we sped away back to Naples.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2015, 10:52 AM
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JoanBareBrown,

Your new post about the Lorelei brought tears to my eyes. A couple of days ago, cleaning out picture albms, I found a picture I took of the Lorelei about 15 or 20 years ago and teared up. It is amazing how that simple place affected people, evoking such affection. Our first night in Sorrento, we had dinner on their terrace - perfection. Looking up at it from the water back then was enchanting.

I have since stayed in many interesting and more elegant hotels, castles, cave hotels and hotels with lavish furnishings, on the beach in the Caribbean, but only the Lorelei has made me wish for just one more visit before my traveling days are over. Looks as if it isn't meant to be.

Glad you posted. Thanks.
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Old Sep 1st, 2015, 03:56 PM
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I am so sad right now! I visited Sorrento in 2002 and 2003 and stayed at the Hotel Loreli. It was just gorgeous! Someone in another post mentioned the elevator in the cliff. I forgot about that. I have a great photo of me in my new sun hat (purchased in Sorrento)on the terrace, overlooking the water. My balcony room was breathtaking. I remember taking pictures beneath my balcony of the beautiful sky blue water....I am headed back to Rome in a few weeks and wanted to revisit the Loreli as a sidetrip. To hear it is not open is heartbreaking! Someone please renovate and open it up, then I must return again....
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Old Sep 1st, 2015, 08:51 PM
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Hi Ninasimone,

It is both sad and lovely that nearly five years after I started this thread, people still find it and recall the Lorelei with such affection. Did you notice that one person stayed there 40 years ago?

Your posts and the shared memories of such a special place makes it seem not quite lost.

You know, no Marriott or Hyatt or anything like these mega resorts can ever compare with a place like the Lorelei, so I guess we should all feel lucky to have had the experience once.

Thank you all for posting. I hope during your travels that at some time, each of you have another experience like that.
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Old Sep 1st, 2015, 09:13 PM
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I just found recent images by this photographer of the Lorelei. Nikhvi4 They are beautiful and haunting. Google: Images of Albergo Lorelei, Sorrento or Hotel Lorelei de Londres, Sorrento. Should come up under one of those. Be prepared to cry.
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Old Feb 14th, 2016, 11:03 AM
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Just talking about this wonderful hotel! Valentine's night so going over romantic memories! Came across these posts. Similarly remembered this hotel with affection. 2004 drove down from Florence with nothing booked and saw the hotel which rang a Lonely Planet bell. Stopped and I went in and secured a room. They showed it to me so I found my husband we left the car and I was bursting with excitement. He wasn't disappointed. Balcony! View over an orange grove then over the bay! Looking straight at Vesuvius! Heaven! It was like walking back in time but what a lovely time! It would be great to go again but I don't want it to have changed. Save it from brown cushions on the bed and a bit of laminate flooring eh?
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Old Feb 14th, 2016, 03:50 PM
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Rosiesharpe,

I started this thread and everytime it pops back up with someone else posting their memories, I get tears. Thank you.

How I wish I had known it would close. I would have made sure to return before that happened. I should send a copy of this thread to the owners.
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Old May 12th, 2016, 09:04 AM
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We stayed there a year or two before it closed in 2007, it may have been listed in the RS guide at the time. Run-down rooms but the most incredible views, a spacious waiting room past the hotel entrance, an attached restaurant with dining overlooking the sea, an elevator thru the rock down to a floating dock for swimming. It was one of our first trips to Italy and we felt so lucky to find it! I remember the young lady who ran the front desk (in my memory it was just a table in the waiting room, but it has been a while) as being very friendly and helpful, she said she had worked for the owners for a number of years.

This was back in the early internet days when it was still pretty easy to travel without reservations. We initially planned on staying 2 nites, then found ourselves asking at the desk each morning if we could stay another nite. We ended up staying 4 or 5 and finally pushed off or else we would have spent our whole vacation there. In retrospect I wish we had.

If only walls could talk, I think they could tell so many stories of people enjoying a stop there over the years. I hope it will reopen someday.
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Old May 12th, 2016, 02:30 PM
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Whenever I pass by I feel so sad - it is a grand historic place that needs a benefactor. This blogger has some great photos on the links at the end of the post.

https://cjknowles1972.wordpress.com/...ei-et-londres/
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Old Dec 18th, 2017, 11:08 PM
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The Lorelei is quite magical, and I too have the same connection that many of you write of. I felt so very sad when I first saw the building in its condition on google maps. I have dreamed of taking my daughter to the Lorelei. Her name originates from my first stay in Sorrento and Capri.

Although....the building still stands which means that there is hope. There isn't a huge hotel standing in its place. I discovered a brochure which seems to show that the property was for sale in 2015.
http://www.edilblucase.com/public/al...ELLORELEY1.pdf
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Old Dec 19th, 2017, 04:25 AM
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Thanks, Klougilchrist!
I had seen the sale advert, but in Italian and I could not make it transfer.
So many people who say there are no views in Sorrento never saw this lovely place. When we had dinner outside on the terrace, I knew it was a view I would never forget. Every time someone makes a new post on this thread, I am happy for a shared memory, but also feel wistful for what once was.
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Old Dec 19th, 2017, 11:54 AM
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what lovely memories.

I don't know this hotel at all but reading what you have all written makes me wish that I did.
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