Review of Villa Franca, by Joanna Monkhouse

The luxury Villa Franca lies near the top of Positano and as such has an especially commanding view of the village and, unusually, of both the beaches - the main one and the lesser known side one.

The facilities

The pool top restaurant takes full advantage of its location and offers sweeping views of the dramatic coastline. Lunch can be served here but Villa Franca's main restaurant is located off the small reception, lounge and bar on the entrance level. The lounge is filled with terracotta urns, plants and royal blue armchairs and sofas with white lions' heads at the end of the arms, not to everyone's taste, but certainly a fresh and memorable look.

The pretty restaurant 'Li Galli' has no terrace but walls of large windows overlooking the sea and a vine covering the ceiling that gives an outside atmosphere, although the floral oval-backed chairs are somewhat outdated. Villa Franca's owner personally oversees the kitchen, which has a good reputation for sea food.

On the lower ground floor is a small but well equipped gym, a massage room and a Turkish bath with a central statue. A shuttle bus runs from Villa Franca to the centre of town - a good thing as the hotel is 200m above sea level and it's a fair climb back up, but the views are certainly worth it. In a village of mainly hotels, and expensive at that, Villa Franca offers friendly service, warm hospitality and good value.

The rooms

The 38 bedrooms have all the conveniences one would expect in a hotel of this calibre (a/c, minibar, tv etc) and the décor is crisp and fresh - white walls, tiled floors, cream furnishings accented with yellow and green. The beds are set into decorated alcoves, and a few objets d'art add a personal touch to Villa Franca's simple elegance. Mirrors increase the sense of space and the rooms feel much larger than they are.

Standards have a 'partial' sea view, if you stick your head out of the window, superiors improve on this, and deluxes are definitely worth going for - at rates this reasonable it's a shame not to splash out.