Help with Hotels in Sorrento

You might want to also stay away from Steve's recommended Hotel Nice. The Manager, Alfonso, was a great guy, very fun and charming, but obviously overworked. I dismissed the criticisms of the street noise thinking it couldn't be that bad. It was! There is a square, Piazza Lauro, 1/2 block up and across the street were summer events are held. During our weekend there, a local radio station, "Kiss Kiss", was doing a remote show that they blared out of huge speakers till 11:30pm. The hotel was booked up, so they couldn't move us.

Hotel Minerva looks like it would fit your bill.

I just got back from 5 nights in Sorrento and stayed at Hotel Il Nido. It is not right in town, as I'm sure you know, but the up-the-hill location makes for some spectacular views.
In my experience, it was a fantastic place to stay. Friendly helpful staff, clean, bright rooms, incredible balcony overlooking the bay, great food etc etc.

Can't imagine what bad things were said.

We stayed at the Settimo Cielo in 2007. Decent room, great views,great staff.
We ate at La Tonnarella (right up the road from Settimo Cielo) 2 nights, decent prices, good service,house wine and food.
(We retired to Florida after 30 years in Camp Hill, Pa 10 years ago.)

I don't know which reviews you mean but at least two of the four you mention get consistently very good reviews on Tripadvisor, especially the Antiche Mura which is in the centre of town.

In the warmer/busier months we stay out of town but Spring and Autumn stay in town. Being in town does not have to mean traffic noise, the cliff top hotels are usually quieter.

Without knowing your budget it is difficult to know what to suggest you might like. There are over a hundred hotels in and around Sorrento. For example the boutique hotel La Minervetta might suit as a honeymoon hotel but it is not cheap.

http://www.laminervetta.com/index_ing.htm

Casa Dominova is reviewed on TA

We stayed at Il Nido in 2006 and have nothing but positive feeling about our stay they and in fact have recommended it to many others.

I just checked Trip Advisor and of the last 30 reviews only 2 have been less than positive.
I don't think you would go wrong staying there.

We also stayed at Hotel El Nido in 2006- If you prearrange they will pick you up at the train station and if they do not do that anymore they do have a pickup location in Sorrento. They also take you down in the morning and shuttle's run at different times during the day. As the other posters said - the view is to die for and the having dinner at 10PM on the balcony overlooking the bay is spectacular and the food is excellent as is the wine. Look into this place - you won't be sorry - We did go for dinner in the old harbor one of the nights as well.

For a honeymoon I think the Excelsior VittoriaI is the best place to stay. http://www.exvitt.it/sorrento-hotel.html

Located in the town centre of Sorrento on the cliffs overlooking the Bay of Naples. The building is secluded from the main square by private gardens with citrus groves. Guests pass through the main gate and through the gardens to find the Hotel right on the seafront of Sorrento. An elevator takes you directly you the boats to Capri. You can see our pictures at:
http://gadtravel.blogspot.com/

Our family of 4 stayed at Settimo Cielo 4 nights in July 2006. We were very happy with our stay here and loved having the balcony overlooking the bay. There was a beautiful rooftop pool overlooking the bay too. Alot depends on how much you want to spend--Maison La Minervetta, located next to Settimo Cielo, I am sure is very nice but more expensive. Also the the Excelsior Vittoria looks lovely and is in a great location but is probably the most expensive, or one of the most expensive, hotels in Sorrento. You may also want to check out Hotel Capodimonte located on Via Capo. We walked by it many times and it looked lovely. Good luck and buon viaggio!

Consider the Ulisse Deluxe! We stayed there recently and LOVED it! It's called a hostel, i don't know why. Rick even says in his book it's more like a 4 star hotel. It was beautiful. We had a room with a HUGE private bathroom, marble floors, A/C and a king size bed for only 60E a night! It was the best deal we ran into in our whole trip across Europe! It was a very clean and classy place, I can't imagine anyone wouldn't love it!

My husband and I stayed at La Tonnarella for three nights in September. Our room was fantastic. If you look at their web site, the room we had is the one they use as their example, however it has been updated with a nice armoire. We had a corner room with a very large terrace on the back and a balcony on the side. Even the bathroom had glorious views. Large bathroom, but small shower. There were flowering vines and fruit trees. I think it was room #5. My husband said it was the most romantic place we have ever stayed and we have stayed in some fabulous places all over the world. The views made it as you are on the cliff overlooking the bay. We had no problem taking the bus and getting off at the hotel just before ours. I think it was Bellevue. The restaurant terrace was wonderful and the food so good, we ate there all three nights. The waiters were reserved but we broke through that and had some good laughs with them. They made sure we had the best table, against the rail, each night. This afforded us fantastic views of the wedding fireworks displays that were held in the hills each night. They had weddings every day of the week and one night there had been two weddings so we had a double treat. Generally though, I think Rick is right about the indifferent management which spills onto the staff but they weren't rude. I think some rooms were near the kitchen and I imagine could be quite noisy so I would make sure I'm on the top floor. When we were shown to our rooms we started walking down a hall with a window at the end. I kept thinking, please keep going, keep going, and she did! We had the last room on the hall on the left! I couldn't believe our luck. I had paid extra for a great view but I never expected anything so spectacular. Can't think of a better place for a honeymoon in Sorrento. I know there are some extrememly nice places in town. We liked the terrace, views and quiet La Tonnarella provided. Try the terrace restaurant if nothing else!

I can't imagine staying any place nicer than La Tonnarella. We had an incredibly special room, Room 25, which is a suite with 3 separate sleeping areas and 2 bathrooms (for our family of 5). But, peeking into other rooms, they all looked great.

We almost stayed at Il Nido, which is certainly less expensive. What clinched it for us was the suite, but also the private beach. And, we thoroughly enjoyed and took advantage of the beach access.

As others have said, La Tonnarella's restaurant is also fabulous.

That said, everyone's idea of a great stay is different. So, I always get a bit nervous recommending a place.

Whatever you decide, have a great time!

Thank you all for your comments! Yes, I truly am not a picky person but when some reviews were talking about urine smells, ants in the beds, mold, wet sheets...I got very nervous! I just want to enjoy Sorrento and not have some of these issues. The look of the furniture and even rude-ish staff won't ruin my honeymoon.

I just had to correct myself. I actually am very picky. :-) I reread my comments and thought "who am I kidding?" But I guess my point is I'm not hoity-toity where I need every amenity and stay at 5 stars wherever I go.

But if I my bedspread smells like urine, it's going to be a rough nights sleep!

The bad reviews that you saw, were they on this site or another one? Just curious.

Deanna,

My husband and I have stayed several times at the Hotel Garni Desiree (next to La Tonnarella). We have been very pleased with the Garni, friendly and helpful staff and gorgeous views from our windows and balcony. It is about a ten-minute walk from the main square and it delightfully quiet. The Garni has also been recommended by Rick.

My husband and I stayed at Hotel Minerva during the last 3 nights of our honeymoon, and we loved it: http://www.minervasorrento.com/

The views were amazing! I believe it was featured in Rick Steves' Italy TV series.

Hi Deanna, I highly recommend Hotel Johanna Park. As a single woman travelling there, the family owned hotel was perfect. Johanna, the owner, and her son were always there and were amazingly pleasant and helpful. They'll drop you off at the town center and pick you up with a phone call. He even took me and another lady to Positano and Ravello. Like most European hotels, a 4* is more like a 3* for us. Check out their website http://www.johannapark.it/
I'm going back to Italy in 10 days and wish I could go back there. Have fun.

We stayed at Settimo Cielo last year. Clean room with great view, nice bedding, large bathroom, small balcony, mediocre breakfast and frig on request (small charge I believe). Professional but nice front desk. Pool in mostly shade with lovely view. Cost 155 Euro for three with cash discount. In 2004 we stayed at the Minerva Hotel. Great pool, better breakfast and prettier common rooms. A little older decorated room with large balcony but more expensive and hardier to get. The guaranteed balcony made us choose Cielo this trip and it was nice. I prefer pools as my husband got two terrible bites from a huge jellyfish in Positano.

Yikes - I was wondering if there were jellyfish there.

For the person who was asking - I found the negative comments on trip advisor.

We swam at the La Tonnarella beach three days in a row, and we never saw a jellyfish. But, those types of incidents can be tide-related, so you never know for sure. Unpredictability; that's the charm of the sea!

Deanna,
We stayed at Hotel Minerva in Sept. 2007 and had a perfect stay. The staff was very helpful, the room was larger than many in Italy + a view, and breakfast on the terrace each morning was like a scene out of an old Grace Kelly movie with the view and the white jacketed wait staff ;-) Also, this hotel is frequented by British tourists so the staff speaks English well (this is probably true in most Sorrento hotels). I don't know if you have been to Europe before, but hotels are not like they are in the US so keep an open mind about some of the quirks and chalk it up to the adventure. I'm sure you could find loads of comments on this website about this. However, I think in any country a urine scented bedspread would be considered unacceptable!

Perhaps the only negative was the significant walk into town or a bus ride (bus stops right at the hotel door) This is true of all the Via Capo hotels in this area. So if you want a gelato shop or restaurant right outside your door you won't find one here.
Have a wonderful wedding and honeymoon!