Relais Villa Savarese

The property was charming, enclosed, and breathtaking, and easily the most unique, beautiful hotel I’ve ever been to. Every room is distinctive and comfortable. I genuinely enjoyed the nightly turn-down service. The front desk woman, whose name I didn’t get, was extremely warm and accommodating, as were the bar staff. I was there with my two young children, and if I’m ever back in Sorrento, I’d stay nowhere else except Relais Villa Savarese.

The room was a bit dark, and the bathroom had no natural light, if I had to nitpick. The grounds are beautiful, with lemon, apple, and lime trees, and the hotel has a wonderful pool and friendly staff. Breakfast was fantastic. Special shout-out to the girls at reception and Roger, who were wonderful, hardworking staff.

The hotel is in a beautiful old villa, with lovely gardens and a lemon grove on one side. It’s a small place, so it was quiet, with few, if any, people at the pool or breakfast. The staff struck a great balance, friendly and helpful without hovering. There’s a 30-minute walk to Sorrento centre and about 10 minutes to San Agnello train station for trains to pompeii and elsewhere. At the end of the road, by the junction with the main road, there are convenience stores and a bakery. There’s a much larger supermarket near the station, and a great takeaway pasta place at the end of the road, Paste Fresche Il Manicaretto Di Schisano Anna, handy if you have the roof terrace room and want to eat in. Breakfast was very good, with a good choice of hot and cold food. There weren’t loads of sweet options like some past reviews said, just a couple of delicious homemade cakes along with the usual pastries, fresh fruit, cheese, and meats. The hot dishes were particularly good, including crispy pancetta and a selection of ratatouille-style dishes. My one suggestion would be more bread, since the selection felt limited for a country famed for its excellent bread. It truly deserves its boutique hotel status, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it!

The room’s air conditioning didn’t work, so we barely slept. At 11:50, while we were rushing to pack and leave, the front desk called to remind us that checkout was at 11. We said we had been given a noon checkout and asked why they were calling as we tried to get out before noon. They kept repeating that we had 10 minutes, which was obviously the same deadline. The call went back and forth for several minutes about something I already knew. No one helped with our bags or anything else. A front desk worker came out and watched us and our driver load the car for quite some time. We booked this place for one night between Cocumella and Hotel Miramalfi. My boyfriend’s boss was visiting with us and had rented a yacht for a day and evening out. We’d spent three nights at Cocumella in a two-floor suite with a huge private terrace and a view, but because we’d only be sleeping at the hotel before going to Amalfi in the morning after getting off the yacht, we didn’t extend that stay. We chose somewhere close by and booked through 10 pm. My boyfriend and I have stayed at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria and La Cocumella seven times between them, and I’ve visited the Amalfi Coast with my parents since the 1990s, so we know the area well. We usually sleep around six in the morning because we work New York hours, including weekends. We had a lot of work to catch up on because the yacht had no Wi-Fi during the day, so we’d made sure we could check out late. Noon wasn’t particularly late, and my eyes are still watering from lack of sleep. The room photos online looked cute, but in person the room had orange leather that felt like the 1970s. People come to the Amalfi Coast for a view, and this place had none at all. The photo is of our “view”. That’s not something I’ve factored into this review.