Hotel Villa Maria

Villa Maria - great hotel from which to enjoy an even greater holiday in Italy! Lovely view from our window over the beautiful Bay of Naples and the majestic Vesuvius. Comfortable, clean room - only complaint is the mini bar (fridge) - it goes off when you leave the room (as you have to remove your room card from the electricity slot - so might be an idea to request 2 access cards and leave one in) As you can imagine that was not ideal when you're looking forward to a nice cool drink on your return from the 30 degree heat outside! Excellent service and so well organised in the dining room where we enjoyed very good food both for breakfast and dinner. Hats off to the Maitre and his very efficient and professional staff. Swimming pool served its purpose to cool off in the hot Italian sunshine but it could get quite busy at times. We loved the roof terrace where we drank chilled wine (from the wee shop across the road!) and enjoyed a spectacular panoramic view! Sometimes we had it all to ourselves - jacuzzi and all! Out and about in Sorrento is such a pleasurable experience: from the lovely little lemon and Limoncello shops to the Grand Marina and the port. Eating and drinking in the bars and restaurants are expensive so we used to buy chilled beer or water from the local shop for a euro a bottle and quench our thirst that way! We had a fantastic trip to Capri: 30 minutes on the ferry from the port costing 36 euros return. Another trip we did was to Pompeii where we took the 30 minute train journey from Sorrento station. At the station we purchases a ticket for 34 euros which included return train fare, direct entrance into the ruins (no queuing) and a fantastic knowledgeable tour guide named Anna Lisa. We took an excellent mini bus day-tour to Positano, Amalfi and Ravello with lunch and wine included and the great service from our driver, Toni, at a cost of 60 odd euros each - highly recommended! We had an absolutely wonderful holiday and I hope you do too!

We simply enjoyed our visit. There were no heroics, no catastrophes, we were comfortable and we were sorry to leave. The service was good, the staff were pleasant, the pool area, pool bar and restaurant excellent and no negatives.

We stayed for a week with Riveria travel we had paid for Sea facing double room with Balcony, unfortunately we found ourselves in a very small double tiny balcony 1/2 the size of others also facing an apartment block very disappointing, we mentioned this to the reception staff as we were not happy but the young lady said it was not possible to change to a better room until the Monday so we had to spend 3 nights in this small room , not what we paid for & had to repack Sunday & unpack on Monday , but this room was so much better & Sea facing both room & Balcony double the size. The strip of room 208-508 should be classed as small double with partial sea view if you turn side ways. On a good point the hotel is spotless, restaurant very well run staff friendly & professional, the food at both breakfast & dinner excellent especially for a 3 star.The hotel is just off the Main Street so very handy for a nice walk after dinner with plenty of shops which stay open late & restaurants / bars Sorrento has a nice feel to it. On our last day we had a late flight so asked if we could use a room to shower & change the reception staff were very helpful & gave a a key to a hotel room with clean towels & not pushed for time. Forgot to mention the elderly gentleman who used to come into the reception area & also the restaurant on an evening checking things really pleasant he may be the Owner likes to keep an eye on things