Honeymoon Amalfi Coast, 1st time Italy, Help!

I personally have not been to Palazzo Avino, and I am sure it's wonderful. But they don't have a beach, even a pebble beach like the public beach in Positano. They have swimming platforms (albeit luxurious) with a clubhouse and tables on a rocky face on the sea. Based on your main post, I would never have suggested a (lovely ... ) room in a (lovely ... ) town that's fifteen minutes from their own beach club. I am inclined to guess that Palazzo Avino starts north of $800 a day. I don't see any point in researching impossible places for them.

Are you aware that European vacation month is August, and July is already very high season at Italian sea resorts? Decision and booking time is urgent for Positano, I would say. (We stayed in Sorrento, so I can't make a Positano suggestion. It was important for us to have a cocktail at the famous La SIreneuse, but I don't think I would ever want to stay there, even if money were no object. And, their pool was the size of a postage stamp.)

Edit: I neglected to say that I noticed that every one of the female Sireneuse guests at the micro pool seemed, to me, to have chosen ... er ... surgical improvement. I'm not objecting to that, just making an observation about that particular luxury demographic.

I think that Sorrento has it all what she wants. From there you can get easily to Naples, Pompeii, Capri, Amalfi Coast. We stayed in hotel Antiche Mura. Very close to Piazza Tasso - the main square. The hotel has a nice swimming pool in lemon orchard. Train and bus stations are less than 10 minutes walk. Price was little over 100 Euro. There are more expensive hotels with view of Bay of Naples. Sorrento is not too secluded or quiet unlike Positano or Amalfi.

Ravello may be too quiet and secluded for them.
I would recommend Positano.
We stayed at Hotel Eden Roc and I think it would check most of the boxes for her, all of the rooms have balconies with sea views. Will be pricey in July but I think still within your budget and they only have 25 rooms so imagine they book up for July fast.
There is a pool on the top floor with an amazing view.

Le Sirenuse in Positano, for an upscale hotel with sea view. It will likely be more than $350 a night but it is beautiful. It is a ways to the pebble beach at Positano, but they can do it, downhill all the way until you have to come back to the hotel!!!

sirenuse/it website

I agree that Le Sirenuse is a gorgeous hotel in Positano but I think 350/night will not cover a room there that time of year. But if I ever have an opportunity to splurge, that hotel is on the list. I have not stayed there but we enjoyed drinks (20 euro Belliinis) while waiting for a ride back to our hotel in Sorrento. IT has beautiful views and a beautiful pool area. If they are looking for swanky, that's the hotel.

I like staying in Sorrento. It is a a bigger town so there are more restaurants and shops. It's convenient as a home base to day trip to other cities if you wish. There is a waterfront area where you can swim but for the most part, the beach chairs are on docks with steps leading down to the water.

I have stayed at the Hilton in Sorrento twice and I think they could get one of the higher/executive rooms for 350/night. There are lovely views of the Bay of Naples and it's a nice hotel. They also have a very nice pool-great to jump in an cool off at the end of a long day of sightseeing. It's about a ten minute walk from the city center and it's very convenient to the train station.

Since they are planning for July, they should anticipate crowds with a lot of day trippers from cruise ships. I can see the appeal of picking a nice hotel that they love, hanging out by the pool or on a beach at the height of the day, and then venturing out to enjoy the town once the crowds have thinned.

We like staying in Sorrento best, for reasons others mentioned. We've stayed at Hotel La Tonnarella 3 times and really like it. We had a room with a large private terrace with amazing views of town, bay, Capri and Mt Vesuvius. Hotel has a wonderful restaurant on a large terrace w/same amazing view. They have a great breakfast buffet. They also have a private beach that we enjoyed very much.

I only want to say that there is no comparison between staying in Positano and Sorrento. We deliberately stayed in Sorrento for daytrip transportation reasons, not for a honeymoon. And we took a luxurious room at the cliffside Ambasciatori because the Vesuvius view was important (and they represented that the cheap rooms were gone ... ) But Sorrento is not that different from any other fully-developed, partly reinforced concrete, purpose-built resort town. And it is really short on beaches, sand OR pebble. Although I think it has too many of the same international luxury retail chains, Positano is a special location.

We were extremely happy with our five nights there, but we did not come for a romantic honeymoon. We did not stay at the Hilton, but walked by it. I don't see any difference between it and any non-beachfront Hilton in the U.S.A. I'm not slamming the Hilton recommendation, but just thinking about .... "a honeymoon."

Positano is more unique with a romantic feel than Sorrento, absolutely. Unfortunately, if they are looking for a hotel comparable to Palazzo Avino in Positano, that will cost well over 350/night that time of year. I offered the Hilton, which felt very upscale and luxurious to me when I stayed there, as an alternative in their budget. The lounges/restaurants/pool areas had personality and felt warm but the rooms are definitely Hilton rooms (very nice Hilton rooms though). I research before my trips like everyone. I have never regretted staying at a chain in Europe and I like that I can accumulate points for free stays. But I understand that's not for everyone.

I do think 350/night is a good budget and will give them a lot of really nice options but probably not quite as fancy as Palazzo Avino. Perhaps they can stay lower their budget for Rome, do a couple of nights at a lower price on the Amalfi coast, and then a few nights in her dream hotel?

Right across the street from Le Sirenuse is Hotel California. That is where we stayed. It's the "apartment" of Marchello in The movie "Under the Tuscan Sun". Magnificent sea views with balcony, nice family owned with beautiful breakfast terrace. They offer a continental one. The rooms are clean, adequate, but sparse. Right down the street is Francos, a open air cocktail bar owned by Le Sirunese, it's only less than 2 years...has the iconic Positano view. Also, steps away is Bar Bruno, another lovely outdoor restaurant. Hotel California is reasonably priced. The blowdryers are horrendous though, she will need to have one.

We looked at Eden Roc, but didn't want to walk that far up, or take a ride. However, it has more of a resort feel.

Another option in Positano to look at is:
Hotel Marincanto

Personally I thought they had the BEST location in Positano and the BEST view. We stayed and love Eden Roc but if I were to go back again I would check out the costs and rooms for Hotel Marincanto. Not endorsing the hotel in anyway I just liked this location and view and I recall it had a nice pool and outdoor spaces. From limited knowledge I had of it, seemed prices really vary for good view rooms vs. not so good rooms there though, so may be over budget for a nice room with terrace. Eden Roc was good in that all of the rooms have a terrace and the same views and is within or under your price target.
My impression of the Hotel Marincanto based on not staying there is it looked like an ideal honeymoon place.
La Sirenese while beautiful, we met some people and they were staying here so we walked back with them one evening and saw the place is definitely the chic, luxury place to stay and super convenient to the beach but I did not feel the view was as good since it is not "high" enough.

Hard to look at an online map and understand since it is a vertical town of steps what looks right next door could be a decent walk away.
Lulu mentions Eden Roc is way up and not convenient as such, I guess this depends more on what transportation methods you will be using. If arriving/departing by ferry Eden Roc is not convenient, if arriving/departing by bus, car, etc... Eden Roc is more convenient than a place lower since it is right on the main road. You can go even higher into the hills and get even higher up views but that would start to be too high up for me.
I think everyone will have different preferences, to be high and get more sweeping views or be closer to the beach. I thought position wise where the Marincanto sits offers a bit of both.

In Sorrento you will definitely get more hotel for the money, larger rooms, big lobbies, much more common areas, larger pools, areas to sunbath, etc... Space is tighter in Positano. We stayed at a nice place in Sorrento up on the cliffs with an amazing view of the Bay of Naples.

Hotel Bel Air and it was a very dreamy, honeymoon type of place that would be under your budget I am fairly certain even with a nice terrace suite.
if a perfect honeymoon involved staying in your room, at the pool or in the hotel's property and eating dinners at the hotel restaurant than the hotel Bel Air or similar hotel in Sorrento would be a better option than anything in Positano. Positano is a different feel in many ways and I preferred it greatly as a place to stay because of it's unique charm.

I would lean towards Positano over Sorrento for an extended honeymoon stay. They will want a few days of beach relaxation time, and Sorrento can't match Positano for that. $350 pn in July appears quite tight (and perhaps impossible for a sea view room). A little removed from the beach, but with gorgeous sea views from its hillside location.... http://www.hotelposaposa.com

I host tours of Italy and just returned in September from Amalfi. Sorrento is busy and worth a visit but there is no access to the water in most places. Positano has some great places but the budget wont go far in summer as stated by others. Ravello is lovely but still pretty sleepy at night.
I would recommend Hotel La Onda Verde near Praiano. Right on the water. Less than 1 km to the centre of Praiano with nightlife and some great restaurants (VIVARO WINE BAR IS AWESOME, tell Gennaro I sent you), right outside the hotel are are couple great bars (la Pirata) and a five minute stroll along the oceans edge with bring you to Marina di Praia and five or six places to eat and a beach. Rates are more in line with the budget for summertime.
http://www.ondaverde.it/index.html