Hotel Girasole - Sorrento, Italy     

We have just returned from 2 weeks holiday at The Girasole Hotel in Sorrento. It is an excellent family -run hotel with helpful friendly staff in all areas and nothing is too much trouble.The pool and gardens are surrounded by beautiful orange and lemon groves and there is a real air of relaxation which is needed after a day of sightseeing. The poolside bar offers good value homecooked food and freshly prepared salads during the day and the breakfasts are varied and good for a 3* hotel. The rooms and public areas are spotless. We stayed in a roadside room and although the traffic was busy it didn't bother us. The air conditioning was very effective and extremely quiet - we certainly needed it as temperatures were up to 35 degrees! We travelled to Capri. Pompeii, Vesuvius, Herculaneum, Amalfi, Positano and Ravello (a beautiful town in the mountains above Amalfi - a must to see) by public transport including bus, train (Circumvesuviana railway) and boat. It is very easy to do and saves you a lot compared to the tour companies trips and you can do it at your own pace. The hotel will give you local travel information and timetables. We also visited Mount Faito which can be reached by cablecar from Castellammare di Stabia(on the Circumvesuviana ) From the cablecar terminus you can take an uphill walk through the woods along the ridge of the mountain up to the top where there is a small church and magnificent views. It is not well publicised but well worth a visit but you will need walking sandals or trainers. The walk into Sorrento is by a very busy main road and takes 15/20 minutes but there is also a quieter back road which takes a little longer. We had a wonderful holiday at The Girasole Hotel and we would certainly return to there again and would recommend it to anyone as being a good value, friendly place to stay. Kate & Barry W.

We stayed at the Hotel Girasole for 1 week with First Choice Holidays. Although we knew it would be good based on the Trip Advisor reviews we had read before booking, the hotel completely exceeeded our expectations. It is a family run hotel and the owners speak very good English so could advise us on the local area, where to eat, which buses to catch etc. Our room was fine, it was cleaned every day with fresh sheets and towels. Nice bathroom with powerful shower. We had a room with a balcony at the back of the hotel and there was a busy road below. However, as there is excellent air conditioning in the rooms, you don't really need to open the balcony doors so this kept it quieter. Breakfast is between 7am and 10am each day, continental style, which was more than adequate. The pool is lovely surrounded by orange and lemon trees. There is a poolside area with parasols for sunbathing and a covered area with chairs and tables so you can buy snacks from the little bar at lunch time (filled rolls, omelettes, quiche- all homemade plus drinks and crisps). It is all very clean and well-maintained. From the hotel it is about a 15 minute walk into the main square in Sorrento along a very busy road. The pavement is quite narrow in some places. Watch out for mopeds! There are some Tabacchi shops close by where you can buy water, drinks etc, one of which is open all day. Sorrento itself was lovely, the views were amazing along the coast and we had some great food. We would love to go back, it was a shame the week went so quickly!