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Luxury hotel base Positano or Sorrento with 2 teen daughters

Luxury hotel base Positano or Sorrento with 2 teen daughters

Old Dec 18th, 2014, 07:57 AM
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Luxury hotel base Positano or Sorrento with 2 teen daughters

I am spending 5 days in Amalfi coast. Would like to see Positano, Sorrento, Amalfi and Ravello, Travel agent suggested staying in Ravello and friends suggest Sorrento. Blogs prefer Positano. I am travelling with my family (and 2 teenage daughters). We will spend 2 or 3 days in Capri after. Travel agent suggested Le Sirenuse, Covo Dei Saraceni (Positano), Bellevue Syrene (Sorrento) and Palazzo Avino (Ravello). Need some direction please
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 08:12 AM
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If you want to travel along the coast, Ravello is not a good base. It's set back off the coast up high. Nice place to visit, great views, but not a convenient location for day trips.

Do you want to see Pompeii? It's easier from Sorrento. Look at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria. Otherwise, Positano is a smaller, more charming town right on the Amalfi coast. (Sorrento is actually around the corner on the Golf of Naples.) You could do a day trip to Sorrento from Capri. But while Sorrento is a pleasant place and a good transportation center, it's not as picturesque as Positano or Capri.

Some doubts about your travel agent here.
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 08:12 AM
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Ravello is high in the hills above Amalfi, so to get to the other villages or to the sea, you would have to take a 20-minute bus ride down the small windy road to Amalfi. Ravello is a lovely quiet village but it is not on the sea and does not have good transportation options.

Since 3 of the 4 places you want to see (Positano, Amalfi and Ravello) are on the Amalfi Coast, it would be best to stay actually on the Amalfi Coast. Sorrento is near (45 minute bus ride) but not on the Amalfi Coast. If you stay in Positano (which is always my choice), you can easily reach Amalfi via a 35 minute ferry ride. You can then catch a bus or taxi up to Ravello from Amalfi.

Le Sireneuse is a gorgeous hotel with the classic Positano view. Covo is also a lovely hotel and it is down at the beach so it has a different view and you will have to walk up the stairs to many of the restaurants and shops. There are plenty of shops and restaurants and beaches in Positano to keep everyone entertained when you are not visiting the other villages.
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 08:37 AM
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I've stayed in both Ravello (Hotel Graal) and Sorrento (Bellevue Syrene). Agree that Ravello is not the place to stay as a base, though the town and the Graal are both pleasant enough.

The Bellevue Syrene in Sorrento is a very nice place indeed. It's on the water and at the end of a street, so it's something of an oasis from the city's bustle, yet it's easy walking distance to everywhere in the city center.
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 08:46 AM
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We've stayed at the Murat in Positano three times. Get an "old" room.
http://www.palazzomurat.it/

Ditto what everyone else said about Ravello & Sorrento. I would not stay in the village of Amalfi - too many large bus tours arrive there.

Stu Dudley
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 09:04 AM
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Well we stay in Sorrento since it has better access to the rest of the area - via ferry, hydrofoil, bus, train, car or cab. Also it is a larger town with more restaurants and shops.

Separately, the beaches in most of these towns are very poor - usually pebbles or even rocks - unless you are staying in a resort that has imported sand to make a private beach.

We stay at the Hotel Excelsior Grand Vittoria - which is situated in a large private garden in the center of Sorrento - so easy walking to all the places in the town. There is large pool in the garden and many of the rooms have lovely views (balcony or terrace looking out over the Bay of Naples). Also there is a private elevator down to the town dock (for ferries and hydrofoils to all spots along the coast) from the terrace of the hotel.

I think you need to decide what you want to see and do - relaxation versus sightseeing - and check out the transit options from wherever you decide to stay. Just keep in mind that Amalfi and Positano are not cities but small towns - charming, cut into the side of a cliff, often with a large number of steps to climb to get anywhere. We found them preettier to view from a boat, and only mildly interesting to visit.
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 09:06 AM
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Sorry - a lot depends on exactly when you will be there. In high season the road along the coast is a very long parking lot. (We drove it in May and it was fun - slow - but you then have a chance to look around. Would not attempt that in July or Aug.)
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 10:24 AM
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"we stay in Sorrento since it has better access to the rest of the area - via ferry, hydrofoil, bus, train, car or cab."

The "rest of the area" you mention must be Naples and Pompeii, because it is easy to access the Amalfi Coast from Sorrento if your main objective is to visit the villages on the Amalfi Coast.
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 10:37 AM
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I have stayed in Sorrento, Ravello, and Positano and prefer the latter. The Murat and Covo are both nice, but do not overlook the Poseidon for good views and location.
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 11:11 AM
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I really prefer Positano to either Sorrento (which isn't on the AC) or Amalfi. Ravello is very nice, but too remote for my taste.

Now about hotels.. How much luxury do you need? Le Sirenuse is amazing, but for several hundred dollars less, you could stay uphill at the four-star POSEIDON in a luxury suite with a sweeping view of town and beach.

If you do decide to book there, you can also ask about THE FUNNY ROOM, which is on top floor with a private terrace that runs half the length of the hotel. We had the chance to stay there two years ago, and it was amazing!

For a beach location, The MURAT is lovely, but so is BUCA DI BACCO, which is on ground level at the beach. It has big rooms overlooking the water and a wonderful restaurant downstairs!

What I don't like about COVO DEI SARCENI: Because it's right at the town dock, the pool overlooks all the action and all the NOISE, which in the summer months is considerable. I have never stayed there, so the rooms could be fine, but the location which is right where the boats arrive/depart all day, would drive me nuts.
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 11:13 AM
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Sorry- forgot to add that THE FUNNY ROOM at The HOTEL POSEIDON is comfortable, but not extremely luxurious. You are paying extra for the enormous terrace which is accessed through a set of three stairs in the small living room. The hotel does have several suites, all of them quite nice, but none with that kind of terrace!
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 11:17 AM
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Bookmarking---definitely on my bucket list!
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 05:53 PM
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Here is a sneak preview to get you excited:

http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=4481
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Old Dec 18th, 2014, 06:11 PM
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Great photos, Bob
TAKE ME AWAY!
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Old Dec 19th, 2014, 02:46 AM
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Another vote for Palazzo Murat in Positano. It's situated at the village end of the walkway down to the beach, which makes it a lot easier to get back to the main road to visit the other AC villages. It can get to a bit of a hike up from the beach if you're doing it every day, maybe twice a day.

I'm not a Capri fan and although we have spent a night on the island, I would rather have spent that in Positano than on Capri. 3 nights would certainly be too many for me.
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Old Dec 19th, 2014, 12:38 PM
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I think if you've never been to Capri it's worth a day or two, but I certainly wouldn't spend more than that unless you're into some heavy duty upscale shopping and huge summertime crowds. There's an air of pretension- some would say sophistication- that I don't really like, which is why two visits was plenty for me.
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Old Dec 19th, 2014, 01:55 PM
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There are two ways to enjoy Capri. One is to take the many walks out of the center. The other is to park yourself at the pool of the Quisisana and stay there. http://www.quisisana.com

Link that with a few days in Positano at the Sirenuse and you'll have a luxury hotel experience to remember. http://www.sirenuse.it/en/13/homepage.aspx
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Old Dec 19th, 2014, 06:13 PM
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I love the description of how to enjoy Capri above, but I can't imagine staying at either Quisisana or Le Sirenuse with teenagers along.
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Old Dec 20th, 2014, 01:37 AM
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Last year we spent 3 nights (which is really 2 full days) on Capri. We did several beautiful walks and were not bored.

We flew into Naples and took the ferry to Capri. We then ferried to Sorrento where a driver met us and took us to Positano. We stayed at Residence Alcione which was across the street from Sirenuse. We did not find the walk down to the beach (or back up) to be difficult.

We hired a driver for our day trips and it was an easy location for the car to pick us up.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2014, 11:41 AM
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2 teen daughters too!
We did this trip 2 summers ago with our 2 teen daughters & am glad we based out of Sorrento.

We stayed at the Hilton Sorrento Palace.
It's a short up-hill hike, but a great spot for teens. Phenomenal multi-tier pool with teens from multiple countries hanging out. Great breakfast buffet with a view & we'd take a short hike into town for dinner.

Sorrento has a lot more dining options and what teens like (more teens).
Hired a car/driver (Sorrrento First Choice) to visit the Amalfi Coast & took the train to Pompeii.

Would not do anything different if we go again
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