Review of Grand Hotel Quisisana, by Jamie Dunford Wood

The Grand Hotel Quisisana is an old favourite of many people, a grand old hotel on this grand old island in the middle of the glitz and the glamour. And glamourous it undoubtedly is, as shipping magnates with deeply tanned wives mingle with brewery heiresses and 30-something British merchant bankers.

The approach is impressive - rather like the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, this bastion of privilege faces the cruise passengers and tour groups with arrogance and supreme confidence, for it's at the end of the short and busy walk from the Piazzetta past shops most of the day trippers can only gawp at. Once inside you know you have to stay here - at least for a drink or lunch by the pool - because you are hot and sweaty and can see the pool in the midst of a delightful garden beyond reception, on a terrace overlooking the Bay of Naples.

Reception itself is large, airy and flooded with light, decorated in early French empire/directoire style, before the empire got too bombastic, with a highly polished grey/white marble floor. Upstairs you approach the 150 rooms along light, airy, marble corridors, lightly carpeted in blue, with the original oil painting or antique piece of furniture.

The standard 'minimum' rooms are small but bright, with plain white tiled floors and small, exquisite coloured glass chandeliers, which most of the rooms have. The deluxes are bigger, with the traditional colourful Capri majolica floors, and balconies. Furniture is good quality repro antique, with bare white walls, perfect for the seaside Capri light, white painted cupboards, and simple 18thC bedheads, with wicker backs. Fabrics are pale yellows and blues, to match the tiles on the floor. Again, deluxe rooms have large bathrooms with twin sinks and separate showers, although they are pretty plain.

Junior suites have large sunbathing terraces, while cabana-style rooms can be rented by the pool. The best rooms with highest ceilings are to be found on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors. Rooms are sold either with town 'shopping area' views, or 'pool and park'. The problem is that the Quisisana is far enough back from the sea to make that view somewhat hazy and distant. Still, the gardens and poolside breakfasts and lunches are magnificent, a true haven from the tourist crowds outside - most of whom have gone by sunset, leaving you to venture out into the real Capri for dinner in any number of wonderful places. In addition to the outdoor pool, there's an indoor pool, fitness center and Turkish bath.