Excelsior Vittoria

Excelsior Vittoria Review

Overlooking the Bay of Naples, this Belle Epoque dream offers gilded salons worthy of a Proust heroine; gardens and orange groves; and an impossibly romantic terrace where musicians sometimes lull guests with equal doses of Cole Porter and Puccini. This complex of two mansions and two 19th-century chalets has been run by the same family for 175 years; they have traded witticisms with Alexandre Dumas and Oscar Wilde, welcomed crowned heads, and comforted Caruso in his final days. The public salons are virtual museums, with potted palms, Victorian love seats, and Stile Liberty ornamentation; like the Bellevue Syrene hotel, this hotel offers the truly magical experience of staying in a veritable "palace" in a casual resort. Guest rooms are usually spacious and airy, with tile floors, soigné furnishings, and balconies and terraces overlooking bay or gardens. Dine in the open-air seaside restaurant Bosquet or in the magnificently grand dining hall of Vittoria, where waiters in starched white jackets don't look a bit foolish. Outside is a gorgeous park, lined with arbored promenades, shaded by orange trees, studded with statues, and home to a giant pool. Step outside the protected gates and you're right in the heart of Sorrento.