chazzarelli

Bmeyer - np

You might want to go back and look at some of my posts and topics - I asked questions about 3 or 4 different hotels in Positano and I got a bunch of great responses from people reccommending hotels and commenting on my choices.

Lifeman

I've stayed at the Savoia and whilst it's not madly luxurious, it's perfectly fine and more importantly, it's bang in the right place for the walk up and down to the beach. Get them to give you a room overlooking the street as you get fantastic views of the town. It's not noisy at night, so no problems there.

The Circumvesuviana does go from Sorrento to Pompeii and does stop at the ruins. Book to Pompeii Scavi-Villa Misteri. the journey is just over half an hour. See the website for the train at www.circumvesuviana.it The SITA bus will take you into Sorrento.

The steps up and down in Positano are not like a staircase in a house. They are wide with a low rise and are not difficult to negotiate. Just take your time if you need to. There are so many shops, kiosks, coffee shops etc on the way that you hardly notice the walk. If you decide to arrive by sea, then the porters will be all over you like a rash at the landing stage.

Easyjet is a good airline for the Venice-Naples leg and you can then use the Circumvesuviana from Naples to Sorrento. The SITA bus or a taxi will then take you into Positano and the Savoia is 20 yards from the bus stop.

Bmeyer

Did they speak English because we are having some serious communication issues!

Lifeman

We didn't have any problems with them. Not sure why you've had a problem?

Micheline

When we arrived by boat in Positano we did not know about the porters. We stayed at Villa Rosa. Many steps. We were very happy to use the porters going back. We loved Villa Rosa.

Bmeyer

Micheline did you stay in a standard room?

macdogmom

Just stayed last week for 3 nights in Positano at the Residence La Tavolozza. It has stunning views of water and church but very centrally located. The people that run it are wonderful. We had a two bedroom apt that is part of the B&B but had a kitchen and living room as well as the two bedrooms. They delivered breakfast to us every morning but it was great to have the extra space (there were 4 of us)and refrigerator. We paid 230 euros a night--a real bargain for the space and views. They also set up a free shuttle to Il Retrovo restaurant at the very top of the hill and we had a wonderful dinner there one night. It was getting very hot and humid on our last day and the place was full of tourists especially during the day when tour buses would pull up and let everyone out. It is on the same street as La Sirenuse and I think Villa Rosa.

Bmeyer

@macdogmom- Is that the one where you can only contact through email? I haven't heard back yet...

Bmeyer

Also how was the view? I want some town and a sea

Micheline

We stayed in the family room. The standard rooms are lovely as well but if you stay there ask for the room with the large terrace. I just don't recall the number of that room right now but I'll search later - have to get supper on now.

macdogmom

Yes, we emailed with them. Loved the views and location--you get wonderful view of ocean and town especially mosaic dome of the church. Hope you hear back soon.

Micheline

Room 33 (Villa Rosa) - Same view as La Siraneuse as it is right across from it and a little higher. Couldn't wait to wake up in the morning to breakfast on the terrace and the spectacular view over Positano and the sea.

FUBella

http://www.palazzotalamo.it/english.html

We stayed last year (May 2009) at the Palazzo Talamo on via Pasitea. All the rooms had fantastic views, and we found their rates more reasonable than the hotels on the east side of the town. Its on the west side of the town, and incidentally, all the restaurants on this side of town were much more reasonable than the ones down on the beachfront. Our concierge, Giovanna, was helpful at recommending a few.

To get there, there were two walking paths up from the beachfront area- one steep pedestrian staircase path directly up (hard on the glutes!), and the other a sloping road that winds through the town. We preferred walking up and down on the sloped road most of the time so we could window shop.

For your day trip to Pompeii, it might be worth the splurge of a car service, since Pompeii is vast and requires a lot of energy and walking. We had rented a car to drive from Rome to Pompeii, then left it in Sorrento so we could take the ferry to Capri. (this was very adventurous of us) But I've also had friends take the bus from Positano to Sorrento, and then the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii, and they said it was totally doable for them AND their three year old son.

If you have time, we really enjoyed a quick day trip to Ravello by bus. I thought the ceramics there were much higher quality and more reasonable than the selection in Positano and the gardens at Villa Cimbrone were absolutely beautiful and very romantic.

My absolute favorite day on our vacation to the Amalfi coast was a private 3 hour boat tour of Capri. We were traveling with three other couples as well and the boat took us to the Blue Grotto, a private inlet for swimming, past the famous rock formations, etc.

Enjoy!

Surfergirl

Like Cheryl, we stayed at and also highly enjoyed the Villa Tartana. Also liked the location, which was very close to the sea, and not many steps at all. We had two rooms -- one with a little balcony that looked down the street with views of the church (practically next door) you see in photos of Positano. The other had two rooms, beautifully tiled, with windows in the huge lounge area overlooking the sea. Yes, there is no lift, so getting upstairs with the luggage (reception is up a flight of steps) is challenging, but they do have a porter, who will go down to the entrance and collect your luggage and bring it up to your room.

There are also porters at the dock. So if you come, say by train to Salerno (as we did), then take the boat into Positano via Amalfi, there are porters at the Positano dock if you don't want to drag your stuff the very short distance to the hotel.

Then, you could walk up the gentle walk to the main street, and take a bus (when we were there, it was 1 euro, but could be more) that will take you all the way up to the top of Positano and back down. It's a great way to see the town, and kind of like Mr. Toad's wild ride at Disneyland! You could also take the bus up to Montepertuso, which is more of a hair-raising (in a fun way!) ride. That way, you can see the entire town of Positano, as well as a good chunk of the Amalfi coastline.