Review of Hotel Poseidon, by Joanna Monkhouse

In a village crammed with hotels, the luxury Hotel Poseidon is one that deserves to stand out from the crowd. With colourful buildings clinging to the rocks, Positano is the prettiest of the villages on Italy's Amalfi coast, providing a lovley location for the luxury hotel. The Poseidon is situated a gentle 10 minute walk down the hill to the centre of the winding streets of boutiques, but is away from the bustle of the popular beach in summer.

Built in the 1950s and still managed by the Aonzo family, the hotel has friendly and welcoming staff which help to retain the personal feeling of the family villa that it once was - it also has the benefit of Jennie, an Australian and long time resident of Positano who is dedicated to making guests as comfortable and as well-informed about the area as possible.

The facilities

Reception is on the street level but the main hotel is located up a flight of steps. The salon and reading room have a fireplace and grand piano, and the bar links them to the large sunbathing terrace and swimming pool which has a sweeping view of the village and the sea. The luxury hotel's pool is covered and heated outside of the summer.

The Poseidon's well-regarded restaurant 'La Terrazza del Poseidon' is also popular with non-residents and has a large dining room, but serves to the bouganville a covered terrace during the warmer months. Several nights a week the atmosphere is complemented by music - piano and violin or mandolin and guitar.

Also taking advantage of the panoramic view is the gym, which should inspire reluctant exercisers, and if that is not enough, perhaps the promise of a massage afterwards in the Laura Elos Beauty centre would do it. The spa was the first in Positano and offers shiatsu, thai-massage, hydrotherapy amongst a host of other treatments.

The Poseidon has a large garage, a bonus in this village distinctly lacking in space, and attendants on call 24 hours a day.

All the communal areas are decorated with plants, oriental rugs, antiques and objets d'art that make the atmosphere both intimate and elegant but the real bonus of the Poseidon is its reasonable rates - when coupled with the charming service, it is hard to do better in Positano.

The rooms

The Poseiden hotel has 48 rooms and four suites. The rooms' antique furniture is a feature against the rest of the space's relative simplicity - white walls, gilded wall sconses and fregge (carved woodwork) above the beds, and the sea view from the terraces. The bathrooms are decorated with colourful local tiles. The largest suite has a mezzanine bedroom and a wall of glass looking out over Positano and the sea.