MoonGirl

Before posing my question, I would like to thank everyone who has previously taken time to post about their experiences in Capri -- I have learned a lot by reading this forum.

Our situation is as follows: for medical reasons, we've had to cancel the vacation we planned to take in September. As a result, we are now trying rather at the last minute, to put together a alternative trip -- to Capri -- for the last week in October. In choosing a hotel (among what is still available), we need to take into account the fact that my boyfriend (DBF) has a mobility impairment, and may also still be in "recovery" mode from lung surgery in August. To be more specific the nature of his impairment: he is unable to bend one of his knees fully due to previous cancer surgery, which limits his ability to navigate steps and steep inclines. We certainly don't expect to find a lot of perfectly level ground in Capri, but on the other hand would prefer that he not be presented with a Herculean challenge every time he wants to leave the room or leave the hotel grounds.

Apart from this, here are the other considerations, in order of priority:

1) we need a place where, in the event he is too tired to do anything else, we can park ourselves on a terrace all day and enjoy a truly magnificent view, and perhaps take a dip in the pool;

2) budget is probably a rung or two less than the Quisiana, Caesar Augustus, and Capri Palace

3) if the hotel does not have an elevator, we would want a place where he doesn't have to do more than 1-2 flights of stairs in order to get a great view

4) ideally, we would be in a spot that is relatively tranquil, but from which we could also amble into town and/or to restaurants on foot

From anyone who has stayed in Capri before, I would greatly appreciate your thoughts about the suitability of specific hotels, positive or negative, in light of the considerations above. At this point, ruling hotels out is just as helpful as ruling them in.

In light of what I have read so far, my first choice would be the Hotel Luna; unfortunately, it is closing for the season on October 22nd, the week before we arrive. I've also been giving consideration to Casa Morgano and to the Ambassador Weber (the shuttle service could compensate for what appears to be its greater distance from the center of town). I must admit, however, that despite lots of reading and review of maps, I still don't have a good sense of hotel locations or topography, so I welcome alternative recommendations.

Many thanks in advance for any assistance.

SeaUrchin

Maybe try this place, it says it has disabled accommendations:

http://en.venere.com/not_classified_...html?ref=38438

MoonGirl

Seaurchin, thanks so much for responding to my post and forwarding the link. What an interesting place that appears to be! As it happens, DBF does not actually need any type of special disability accommodations within the room itself, so a bigger priority for us would be a location near the water (which is what I meant, but stupidly did not specify when I said "magnificent view&quot. But I appreciate the suggestion all the same -- thanks for giving the matter some thought.

Katie2

MoonGirl--Although I don't have any recommendations for a hotel in Capri, I wish you and your boyfriend a wonderful and memorable trip. Capri is absolutely beautiful.

SeaUrchin

Maybe if you call the Hotel Luna they can give you a recommendation. I wish I knew of a place! Keep topping and maybe someone else who does know will see this question/

Did you look all through Venere and some of the other sites? I'll keep thinking.

kismetchimera

I wish that I could help you Moongirl but I am not familiar with Capri.I am going next month and I have a reservation at a small B&B "Casa Augusto."
Good Luck and I hope that you find something.
Ciao,
AnnaMaria
Here is another link for Capri..
http://www.capri.com/en/hotels

i_am_kane

MoonGirl,

I've read your post twice and tried to come up with a hotel that would be appropriate for your needs.

Unfortunately, Hotel Luna is the only one I can think of that would suit your situation.

A little further down the Via Camerelle is the Hotel Syrene (a Best Western), which is a lovely hotel, and the location is great, but again, there are lots of steps leading up to the entrance.

The Quisisana's location is between Hotel Luna and the Syrene and looks accessible, but the room rate is mostly likely high.

Caesar Augustus Hotel is in Anacapri, not Capri town.

Dejais

Moongirl...I have stayed at the Ambassador Weber and while the shuttle would be great help, I don't think I would recommend that hotel for your visit. First of all, you have to walk up a rather long and steep incline to get to the lobby of the hotel. The shuttle (or taxis) can not go any futher than the bottom of the drive.

Also, anywhere you go directly outside the hotel would be either steeply up or down. The beach is about 100 steps directly down. My husband insisted on counting them because the webste had said it was something like 32. It was not and there was a big difference between being a few steps and being a bit of a hike. I did not mind, but hubby did as he is not in the best shape and definitely not a walker.

Based on your post, I would cross the Weber off my list of possibilities. Also, since Capri is so hilly what about reconsidering and staying in someplace like Poisitano or Sorrento? I have not stayed there personally but we did visit Sorrento and it was much more level. Wish I could offer more help. I wish you much luck with your search and your trip!

MoonGirl

Thanks so much to everyone for the good wishes and for taking the time to help me think this through. Dejais, the information about the Ambassador Weber is particularly valuable -- I appreciate the detailed description of the surroundings. It's very hard to figure this out from a distance -- DBF certainly can do some quantity of steps and some incline -- it's kind of hard to know exactly what will work (and won't work) without seeing it, but every bit of detail helps.

I had actually ruled out Positano altogether, because everyone seems to complain about steps being everywhere. There are some lovely hotels there, but I had the impression we would be kind of stuck in the building once we arrived. I will take a closer look at Sorrento and also Ravello, but I was starting to get pretty excited about Capri, so would love to make that work.

All suggestions and comments are appreicated, please keep them coming -- many thanks again!

SeaUrchin

Since I am online searching hotels for myself I looked some more for you too, here is another one, it is down by the marina but you can take the funicula or a bus to get other places on the island

http://www.belvedere-tre-re.com/eng/index.html.

CRAZY4TRAVEL

Hi MoonGirl,
We stayed at the La Residenza in Capri and although it was a 4 star hotel it has many of the requirements that you mention.

The lobby and pool area are on the main level. There is an elevator to access the rooms. There is a second sun terrace which has very nice views. There are a few other restaurants in the area.

Here is the website:
http://www.laresidenzacapri.com/en/index.html

MoonGirl

Dear Sea Urchin and Crazy4Travel: Thanks so much for sticking with me on this and for the recommendations. I am going to check them both out pronto.

In the meantime, let me toss out another idea that occurred to me to see if anyone has any comment. I'm wondering whether the Villa Brunella might be feasible for us if (and only if) we stayed on one of the upper level floors, close to the reception. I know that the rooms on the lower floors would have too many stairs, but if we stayed on an upper floor, as I understand it there would be a relatively small number of stairs required to get to the room, and there is an elevator available that could take us down to the pool. Do I have that right? If so, any comments about the general location of the Villa Brunella in light of what we're looking (a not insurmountable distance to town)? Many thanks again for everyone's time.

CRAZY4TRAVEL

Moon Girl...It looks lovely but my only concern is that the hotel is a good 10 minutes or more steep walk uphill into town. There is no car service so this might pose a problem if you don't want to stay put for your whole duration.

Also..on the reviews the lower level rooms are mentioned as being smaller and without views as the bushes and trees obstruct it.

I don't know first hand but someone else may chime in that is more familar with the property. My opinion is that you want to be closer to Capri than to Marina Picolo.

CRAZY4TRAVEL

sorry...Marina Piccola.

CRAZY4TRAVEL

Hi MoonGirl...I was surprised to see that the reviews of the La Residenza seemed very poor on trip advisor. We had a deluxe oceanview room and were very happy as we had a nice balcony with patio set. The hotel has recently been renovated and we found it to be good but I would hate to recommend it if it does not get overall good feedback.

In comparison, the Villa Brunella seems to have very high marks but my concern would be the isolated location away from town. That would normally be an asset for me but in your case it could turn out to be a pain.

Grinisa

I've stayed at the Villa Brunella and would not describe its location as isolated. The walk into town takes less than 10 minutes, along a beautiful, villa lined street that is, for the most part, very flat. You would need to get a room above the pool as the lower rooms can only be accessed by a great deal of steep stairs.

CRAZY4TRAVEL

Thanks Grinisa...as I had said..I am not that familar with the property so I'm glad that you were able to clarify that for MoonGirl. One of the reviews on Trip Advisor descibed the location as isolated so I was going by that and not first hand experience.

tripgirl

moongirl:

I answered your question on my trip report.

But bascially the Casa Morgano is closer thanthe Villa brunella and it is about 10 minutes or a bit less to get to the center. You do have a little incline and there are steps down intot he property and then a set of stairs fromt he top of the lobby into the registration desk.

However,t he Casa Morgano would meet your needs to just hang out in as there is a pool and lovely terrace.

Yes, the Hotel Luna is the other property I would consider for its proximity and alot of posters have stayed there and like it.

MoonGirl

Dear Everyone: All of this detailed information is extremely valuable, and is helping us to hone in on some possibilities. From what I've read so far, I think both the Brunella (on an upper floor) and the Casa Morgano are probably "do-able" for us; the nicer rooms at the Residenzia appear to be out of our price range. (Grinisa, I saw the same reviews on TripAdvisor which also gave me pause about the uneveness of people's experiences. It is always good to spead "directly" though with someone who stayed there).

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to post, and I continue to welcome further thoughts . . .