Hotel Palumbo by Joanna Monkhouse

Hotel Palumbo, a C12th Moorish palace in Ravello, has been a hotel for many years. It was a stopping point on the Grand Tour and since has been visited by numerous personalities. Located next to Palazzo Sasso, Hotel Palumbo shares the awe-inspiring view down to the coast far below.

The magnificent entrance hall is surrounded by huge arches and ancient marble pillars and the ceiling is a couple of storeys high. A sweeping staircase leads to the impressive dining room with frescoed vaulted ceilings and antique furnishings. The cuisine is renowned and it can also be served on the terrace with rattan furniture. Wines come from the owner’s vineyards.

Hotel Palumbo is family-run and furnished with museum quality antiques from Italy and England. Most rooms (in the main building at least) have balconies or terraces and sea views but some are rather small, with barrel vaulted ceilings. They are named rather than numbered and each is decorated uniquely. The bathrooms are again vaulted and most feature double basins and large baths with large old mirrors set into the walls to fit the shape of the ceilings. The seven room annex offers inferior accommodation and lacks the sea views.

Grand yet personal, Hotel Palumbo offers a refined environment with excellent dining and superb views but prices are high and there is no pool on site (guests can use the pool and tennis courts at a villa on the coast or another pool in the village). Where Palazzo Sasso is all glitz and new money, Hotel Palumbo is class and old money.