Casa Angelina

Rooms

All is pure white inside the bedrooms and suites: the walls, the floor tiles, the square stack of bedside shelves, the inviting down duvet and its plump pillows. The only relief comes in the chromes and greys of a plasma screen, 2 anglepoise lamps, a sinuous silver vase with pert narcissi, and an ice bucket which is busy keeping your bottle of house champagne cool. So keep your shades on and slip, with bottle and fruit basket, through translucent white curtains to a balcony where, suddenly, all is blue. An endlessly sparkling sea, disturbed only by tiny triangles of boat-wakes and distant fingers of mist-haloed rock, lies enclosed in the rugged embrace of the Sorrento peninsula and an overarching azure sky. The view hits you like a parachute jump; just don't drop the bottle.

Coming back down to earth, you may find the odd minor niggle in the room: when we visited, the multimedia TV (including WiFi service) was playing up. But the bed was irreproachable and the bathroom was both sensuous (smooth cream walls of composite marble) and functional (glass-walled tub with both overhead and handheld shower). Shiny chrome towel rails, retro-chic weighing scales and provençal body lotions from L'Occitane keep up the contemporary standards.

The rooms are divided into 2 buildings (which do communicate, but not obviously) and several categories of room. All have sea views (the best are from the Relaxing Rooms on the corners, which also have bigger terraces with sunbeds). The magnificent Angelina, Azure and Vermarine Suites each boast a huge terrace, an indoor sitting area and, in the bathroom, a separate shower and tub, the latter basking in front of a sea-facing window. The Deluxe Corner Sea View Rooms also have front sea-facing balconies with chairs to soak up the shimmering vistas.

Features include:

• Air conditioning
• Central heating
• Coffee / tea making
• DVD player
• In-room treatments available
• Minibar
• Radio
• Safe box
• TV
• WiFi

Eating

A groovy exterior lift, with rising views over the sea, whisks you up to the hotel's top-floor Michelin-starred Un Piano nel Cielo ('Storey in the Sky') restaurant and dining terrace.

The evening cuisine is seriously impressive. There's a fantastic range of fresh seafood - we sampled scallops with apple, but there might also be prawns with cream of broad beans, or marinated sea-bass with salad from their garden. Pasta and carne dishes also make an appearance, such as our rosemary fillet of beef with blackberries. For dessert, it was hazelnut panna cotta. Whatever you order you'll be presented with a stuzzichino (trio of amuse-bouches) to whet your appetite - ours were crudites and melt-in-the-mouth sliders. As you'd expect, it's all presented with an eye for beauty; they also do a 5-course and a 7-course menu.

Breakfast is an excellent buffet spread - our highlights were the smoked tuna, ricotta meringues, orange and lemon marmalades, pistachio cake, lemon tart, pancakes and scrambled eggs with crispy bacon. But the biggest highlight is sitting outside on the terrace and watching the morning sun burn the mist off the lilac sea. Casual lunches and dinners, along with perfectly crafted cocktails, are served all day in the ground floor Seascape Bar - our Caesar salad was light and fresh.

If you fancy eating out, there's La Gavitella fish restaurant on the beach below, the excellent La Brace in the centre of Vettica Maggiore (5 mins walk), and various seaside gems accessible by boat or car (try sociable Da Adolfo on Laurito beach or Lo Scoglio in Nerano).

Features include:

• Bar
• Restaurant
• Restaurants nearby
• Room service
• Vegetarian options

Activities

• Whatever you do, don't miss a boat trip along the peninsula's rugged coast: the hotel has a 'Sea Gem' speedboat for up to 10 people and offers high-end excursions to Capri, Amalfi, even Naples; or, at Positano pier, you can book a day-trip exploring nearby sea-caves, waterfalls and rockstacks.
  
• Head into Positano - there's a free hourly minibus, or a water taxi from the pier below - for some shopping, sunbathing and celeb-spotting: its boutiques are ever so chic (if a little samey) and recommended for fashion, footwear, glass and ceramics, while its twin beaches are full of beautiful young things tanning on hired sunchairs, or dancing in open-air discos by night
  
• The active can hire a canoe to visit the cave-pocked coast either side of Positano, or the extravagant yachts moored in its bay (look out for Denzel Washington, Rod Stewart, Lenny Kravitz)
  
• If you have a car and good nerves, follow the breathtaking corniche road along the coast to Amalfi and back; detour to Ravello to see the astonishing gardens of the Villa Cimbrone, stop for lunch in the neglected piazza of Atrani, walk down to the coves of Conca dei Marini for a swim, and pass on the overrated Grotta dello Smeraldo
  
• If you don't have a car, you can take a public ferry from Positano to Amalfi for the day, to enjoy its medieval duomo, its Cappuccin monastery (now a hotel), its creamy sfogliatelle pastries (Andrea Pansa makes the best), even a Michelin-starred lunch at La Caravella
  
• If you have boots and lots of energy, the Sentiero degli Dei (Path of the Gods), which links Praiano with Positano via a stomach-churning path up in the clouds, is a must
  
• Other spectacular hikes include the ascent to the ridgetop chapel of Santa Maria del Castello, feasible - in clear conditions - as a 5-hour circuit from Positano
  
• If that's too strenuous, you can enjoy a massage or sauna in the hotel's wellness centre, join a Pilates class, go jogging or weight-training in its gym, or just chill by the pool (there's an indoor and an outdoor one)

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Boat trips
• Fishing
• Hiking
• Nightlife
• Private guided tours
• Sailing
• Shopping / markets
• Snorkelling
• Swimming
• Well being

Kids

Children 12 and over are welcome, but to be honest it is really more of an adults' retreat: there are valuable works of art in the living rooms, the beach below the hotel is small and gravelly, and the general atmosphere is one of ambient cool.

Family friendly accommodation:

Extra Beds Available

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Casa Angelino is in the small town of Praiano, just along the coast from Positano on the south side of the Amalfi peninsula.

From the Airport
Fly to Naples Capodichino (70km), then take a taxi via Positano to Praiano (about 2 hours, given the twisty roads at the end). The hotel can organise a taxi with an English-speaking driver, and intend to offer speedboat transfers from Naples port (1.5 hours) for those really wishing to arrive in style.

By Car:
We generally don't recommend hiring a car in this area, as the roads are treacherous (and clogged in summer), plus the coastal boat service is pretty efficient. That said, Casa Angelina can work well for drivers as it has a free on-site car park and a shuttle service to Positano (whereas staying in town would mean a hefty parking bill). If you do want to hire a car, we recommend choosing a small one to making navigating those roads easier.

Detailed directions will be sent to you once your booking is confirmed.

Read our guide to Getting to Italy and Getting around