Maison La Minervetta - Sorrento, Italy     

We stayed at La Minervetta for the start of our honeymoon. Even though the guest book was filled with "honeymooners" the hotel didn't feel that way. La Minervetta is a beautifully designed boutique hotel, made to make you feel comfortable, relaxed and frankly, quite hip! The decor is beautifully crafted - bright colours radiate throughout the hotel. The rooms are superb. Bright and appropriately spacious. Beautifully decorated. The floor-to-ceiling windows with the spectacular view are unbeatable. The terrace in the morning for breakfast is superb. Simple but plentiful. The evening terrace experience is very special. Siobhan made great margaritas, good aperitivi with nuts and olives and beautifully lit with candles. The staff of three ran La Minervetta and were incredibly helpful with restaurant recommendations as well as being a great source of other local knowledge. The pool is small - this is not a place for you if you want to hang out by the pool for a long time. It is a small, dark plunge pool and does not get any sunshine after the mid-afternoon. A gem of a hotel. Free wireless internet or an internet computer would make it even better.

As always with all my personal travel I enjoy quite a substantial amount of research to find that perfect hotel in the perfect location to tailor as precisely to my expectations as possible. This met and surpassed every expectation which is a first for me ever. I read the reviews on trip advisor and every positive comment is 100% accurate and more. From the moment you enter the front door you have a feeling of entering your shangri-la- that you have won the chance of experiencing a very special opportunity. There is a charming warm welcome from all the staff and the attention to detail is quite wonderful. Every whim and request is carried out with a minimum of fuss and 100% efficiency. The decor in the hotel is a result of the extensive travels of the family and their style is impeccable with so much to look at, enjoy and read. It's impossible to walk anywhere without something catching your eye. The rooms are the perfect sanctuary for the travel weary and we had to change rooms during our stay (though this was administered without a hitch) our first room was number 8 which was a superior with floor to ceiling glass windows looking out at the spectacular view over the bay of Naples and majestic Vesuvius. This view had a kind of mind numbing effect- it rendered you speechless. I am very much NOT a morning person but the favourite part of my stay was waking up in the morning and pulling up the blinds to reveal the view. We moved to room number 6 afterwards and it seemed a bit smaller but the white minimalist decor made use of the light and panoramic view, but had a bigger bathroom. Bathrooms were spacious and filled with wonderful toiletries which seemed to be constantly refilled.. I loved the pool area and was sad that it only had sun until 2pm.. but hardly the hotels fault.. and I enjoyed the different spaces where you could relax read.. or even play yahtzee.. accompanied by a glass of wine and some snacks.. even the trays arrived like a mini work of art from the glasses and ceramic snack pots to the wooden trays. It was a shame they didn't have a restaurant but I think if you were not forced out of the restaurant at least once a day the eventual departure might just prove too much to bear. Floriana booked me a taxi to the airport and asked when do you want to leave.. I replied NEVER. I can't wait to go back one day and be part of the magical minervetta experience- thank you!!