Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria

The Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria benefits from a phenomenal location, right in the heart of Sorrento, high on a cliff overlooking the harbor and separated from the bustling Piazza Tasso by orange groves and acres of parkland. The hotel itself comprises three separate villas, all built between 1834 and 1880. This is a true Grand Hotel in the old style, its past guests including Wagner and Goethe, and the opera singer Enrico Caruso was a resident for a time in the twenties, his suite today remaining more or less as he left it. As if that weren't enough, Emperor Augustus himself kept a villa here.

The hotel, long Sorrento's finest, has been restored recently, but not redesigned — rooms are still outfitted with period furniture, and ornate frescoes decorate the ceilings of some suites. The only modern intrusions are those most necessary for survival, namely satellite television and air conditioning. Most rooms have balconies, overlooking the gardens and groves, and the higher-end suites, facing the bay, have spectacular ocean views.

Restaurants include the traditional Vittoria dining room, all 19th-century elegance; the Orangerie for glamorous poolside plates and drinks; and the Michelin-starred Terrazza Bosquet, which boasts stunning bay views and candlelit outdoor dinners accompanied by a small orchestra in the warm season. For starters, we suggest champagne and wisteria-gazing at the Pergola. Or immerse yourself in the serenity and Feng shui sensibilities at Boutique Spa La Serra, formerly a 19th-century greenhouse, steeped in the surrounding orchard's perfume and floods of natural sunlight.

Fifty meters below the hotel is the seafront, and the hotel's private elevator transports guests down the cliffside, to the harbor. Here there are boats available for hire, for exploring the coastline, and hydrofoil services link Sorrento with Capri, Naples, and Ischia. From Naples to Pompeii and round to the Amalfi Coast, the entire region is beautifully scenic and rich with history (the hotel's gardens are now home to authentic Roman columns unearthed during construction) — and the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria is an ideal home base from which to venture forth and explore.