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Villa Cimbrone Review
Read our Amalfi Coast and Capri hotel reviews. Or post your own.
Villa Cimbrone 
- Address: Via Santa Chiara 26, Ravello, 84010
- Phone: 089/857459
- Fax: 089/857777
- www.villacimbrone.it
- Price range: $$$$
- Location: Ravello
Fodor's Review:
Suspended over the azure sea and set amid rose-laden gardens, this magical place was once the home of Lord Grimthorpe and the holiday hideaway of Greta Garbo. More than a decade ago it was exquisitely transformed into a hotel by the Vuillemeier family. After 18 months of renovation the newly spruced-up hotel-villa reopened in 2004, complete with new restaurant near the Cripta, or porticoed crypt, which was built by Lord Grimthorpe to resemble the one at Fountains Abbey, near his birthplace in Malton, England. Thankfully, the Gothic-style castle has remained intact, replete with guest rooms ranging from palatial to cozy. Two rooms are covered with frescoes, and all follow a basic floral theme -- we love the small Peony Room because it's the only one with its own terrace overlooking the bay (Garbo's former room only has an enclosed balcony) in the main castello. Happily, a new wing -- antiques and a parchment-hue color scheme make it look as time-burnished as the main house -- has been built with a bevy of rooms overlooking the sea bluff and the gorgeous new pool. Tapestried armchairs, framed prints, and vintage art books, which belonged to Viscountess Frost, the lord's daughter, still grace the enchantingly elegant sitting room. Another grand period room, the Music Salon -- pomegranate-red and lined with old-master paintings -- has been newly restored and is just the place to curl up with a Bloomsbury memoir (many members of that Edwardian literary set were houseguests here). Best of all, guests have the villa's legendary gardens all to themselves once their gates are closed at sunset. The villa is a bit of a hike along lanes and alleys from the town center, but porters will carry your luggage and the distance helps keep this the peacefullest place on the Amalfi Coast. You can get an advance view of the hotel at its splendid Web site.
- Hotel Details: 19 rooms
- Rate includes: 2 meals, Full breakfast
- Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC, V
- Closed: Closed mid-Nov.-Mar.
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