Villa Cimbrone
Hotel · Ravello
Via Santa Chiara, 26, 84010 Ravello SA, Italy
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Highlights
Elegant hilltop hotel with luxe rooms, fine dining, pool
Elegant hilltop hotel with luxe rooms, fine dining, pool
"A famed villa whose gardens and the renowned Infinity Terrace afford some of the coast’s best vistas; although part of it operates as a hotel, visitors can buy tickets to explore the gardens and terrace." - Laura Itzkowitz Laura Itzkowitz Laura Itzkowitz is a writer and editor based in Rome. She has been contributing to Travel + Leisure since 2014, when she started as a fact checker before becoming a contributing digital editor in 2015. She has also held positions as a contributing editor at The Points Guy and the NYC cities editor at DuJour Magazine. In addition to Travel + Leisure, her writing has appeared in Architectural Digest, Surface Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, T Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, GQ, Departures, Afar, Fodor's, Town & Country, Condé Nast Traveler, Robb Report, Hemispheres, and others. When she's not jetsetting around Italy and beyond, she can be found in Rome, enjoying some cacio e pepe or relaxing at home with her husband and two dogs. Originally from the Boston area, Laura moved to New York City in 2011 to pursue a master's degree in creative writing and translation at Columbia University. She also holds a bachelor's degree in French from Smith College. * 10+ years of experience writing and editing * Co-wrote "New York: Hidden Bars & Restaurants," an award-winning guide to New York City's speakeasy scene published by Jonglez Editions in 2015 * Contributed to "Fodor's Brooklyn," published by Penguin Random House in 2015, which won silver in the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism competition * Contributed an essay to "Epic Hikes of Europe," published by Lonely Planet in 2021 * Updated the 2022 edition of "Fodor's Essential Italy" Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"Surrounded by the most splendid gardens on the Amalfi Coast, this historic Ravello property can trace its origins back to the 11th century. The villa was largely rebuilt in the early 1900s by Lord Grimthorpe (an English co-designer of Big Ben), and it soon attracted the likes of Virginia Woolf, Greta Garbo, and E.M. Forster. The sumptuously decorated suites include vaulted ceilings, Majolica tile floors, and cheerful frescoes. Michelin-starred restaurant Il Flauto di Pan serves elegant twists on homestyle local dishes, such as white rabbit ragù and marinated Cetara anchovies. But the villa’s simplest delight is also its most spectacular: Gore Vidal once said that the view from the garden’s belvedere was the most beautiful place in the world." - Jamie Spain
"Then, see even more botanical beauty and sweeping panoramas at Villa Cimbrone, where you can stay in a room decorated with antiques and patterned floor tiles. The more opulent accommodations here even come with stone fireplaces and frescoed ceilings." - Travel + Leisure Editors
"Set a 10-minute walk from the center of Ravello, Hotel Villa Cimbrone offers elegant rooms with free internet access. This 5-star hotel offers an outdoor pool with hydromassage corner, panoramic gardens and a private helicopter pad. Elegant rooms at Villa Cimbrone all come equipped with air conditioning, satellite flat-screen TV and a mini-bar. The private bathroom includes a hairdryer, bathrobes and free toiletries. Guests can relax on the terrace in deck chairs while overlooking the Amalfi landscape. Wi-Fi is free in public areas. A generous sweet and savory breakfast is served daily, while the gourmet restaurant specializes in organic Mediterranean cuisine with an Eastern twist. The property is a 30-minute drive from Amalfi. Positano can be reached by car in 50 minutes." - My Boutique Hotel (en)
"Villa Cimbrone occupies the most gobsmacking position on the entire Amalfi coast, perched on the lip of a sheer-sided spur high above the sea, like Winslet and DiCaprio on the prow of the Titanic. And it's no less romantic. Greta Garbo famously fell in love here, honeymooners vie for the sea-view suites, and high profile weddings are frequent.The grounds are what most people come for: long avenues of umbrella pines, fragrant rose gardens, trellises dripping with wysteria, a belvedere fringed with marble busts, even a pseudo-Roman temple. And these are reason enough for any visit. But stay after they've left, book one of the elegant vaulted rooms and you will have the place sublimely to yourself. Dinner is served in a gourmet restaurant on a poolside veranda while the sun reddens the sky above Monte dell'Avvocata and the twinkling Maiori coastline. By day, you can sun yourself by the pool, explore the stately churches and museums of gorgeous Ravello, wander down to Atrani for a swim, or take a boat trip along the rugged peninsula. Highs The best views in the world (according to Gore Vidal)Formal gardens designed by Lord Grimthorpe (of Big Ben fame), full of flowers, statues and secret nooksHistoric building, one-time residence of the King of Naples and Sicily, with medieval towers and cryptRegal bedrooms with grand fireplaces, frescoed vaults, antique furnitureYou follow in the footsteps of E M Forster, Henry Moore, T S Eliot, Virginia Woolf, D H Lawrence, the Duke of Kent, Churchill, Clinton... the list goes on and on Lows The grounds are open to non-residents from 9am to 6pm, as are the restaurant and cryptIt's 10 minutes' walk from the nearest carpark, though porters will trolley your bagsOccasional wedding parties (mostly on Saturdays), though the grounds are big enough to absorb themIt's not cheap - but Ravello's other headline hotels, the Palazzi Sasso and Caruso, are nearly twice the price" - Michael Cullen
