Caruso, A Belmond Hotel, Amalfi Coast

Ravello, above the Amalfi Coast

Caruso sits on Piazza San Giovanni del Toro, at the quiet top of Ravello. The town stays calm even in August, when Positano and Amalfi below are full of day visitors. Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone, with their gardens and the Terrace of Infinity, are a short walk away, and in summer the Ravello Festival holds concerts in the gardens of Villa Rufolo. Amalfi town is around 20 minutes by car, Positano about an hour, and Naples Airport around an hour and a quarter.

The building began as a private palace in the 11th century and became a hotel in 1893. Restoration has kept the frescoed ceilings, vaulted halls and terracotta floors, and the gardens, laid out over more than a century, step down the cliff in terraces of roses, vines and lemon trees.

Rooms, suites and Villa Margherita

Every one of the 50 rooms and suites is different. Double Rooms are 35 to 50 square metres, some facing the sea and others the gardens. Junior Suites are 45 to 60 square metres, and the Suites add terraces with loungers and a dining table looking out over the Gulf of Salerno. Two suites can be connected to make a two-bedroom suite for families or friends travelling together.

For the most privacy, the Signature Suites have their own gardens, and Villa Margherita, a separate villa in the grounds, has its own garden and dedicated service while sharing all of the hotel’s facilities.

The infinity pool, spa and La Piscina

The heated infinity pool is the image most people know Caruso by. It sits on the edge of the cliff, so the water seems to meet the sea and sky with nothing in between. Around it, La Piscina pool club has sun loungers and cabanas, and Caruso Grill serves a relaxed lunch from its wood-fired oven.

The Caruso Spa has a menu of signature treatments, and there is an open-air gym with sea views, yoga in the gardens and guided walks along the old paths that link Ravello with the coast.

Il Pantaleone, Adagio and dining experiences

Il Pantaleone is the main restaurant, where Chef Armando Aristarco cooks the food of Campania with produce from the region and the hotel’s own gardens, across tasting, sea, earth and vegan menus. Adagio, the new bar beneath 18th-century frescoes, makes cocktails from the coast’s citrus and botanicals. For a special occasion, the hotel can arrange a chef’s table, the Krug Table or a pasta-making class.

Why book Caruso, A Belmond Hotel with Berkeley Travel

Berkeley Travel is a member of the Belmond Bellini Club, so every stay we book at Caruso includes daily breakfast for two, an upgrade on arrival where available, a hotel credit of US$100 per room or US$220 per suite, early check-in and late check-out where possible, and a VIP welcome, at the same rate as booking direct with Belmond.

Your Travel Designer will choose the right room for the view you want, book tables at Il Pantaleone and cabanas at La Piscina in the busiest weeks, and arrange transfers from Naples, boat days to Positano and Capri, and a visit to Pompeii. Caruso pairs well with a few nights on Capri at Jumeirah Capri Palace, and Belmond links stays here with a summer journey from Paris on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. See more of Italy.