Il San Pietro di Positano

Il San Pietro is a hotel in it's own class. It stands above the rest. It's a gorgeous property unlike any other place we've stayed and all services are top notch. All of the food was delicious and every experience at or set up by the hotel was always exceptional. We always got a little extra with everything offered. Such special touches. The staff is beyond welcoming and friendly. The entire staff exuded joy so it was impossible to not be in a good mood during our stay. We enjoyed room service from our stunning balcony, small bites on the roof top, breakfast on the balcony, the seaside restaurant Carlino's and the Michelin start Zass - we loved it all. The best way to describe our stay at Il San Pietro is magical. We are already talking about coming back!

It's hard to overstate how truly stunning this hotel is and what a great experience it provides. When we arrived, we were coming from Ravello. We'd obviously looked at photos online, the website, etc., but none of those did justice to the setting. If you don't want any surprises ruined, please don't read the below -- otherwise, hope the below gives some impression of how truly exceptional this hotel and property is, and to give some context my wife and I visited the hotel (from the US) on a 10th anniversary trip. The staff greeted us warmly upon arrival and even before getting to the hotel lobby for check-in you'll see how the hotel is built into the cliffs just outside Positano. The setting is one-of-a-kind. We got a great run-through of our trip and reservations made upon check-in as well as a welcome drink on the terrace off the lobby. The terrace, which is at the highest point of the hotel on the cliff, gives you a stunning view along the coast, to Positano and other nearby cities and then down to the water below. From there, over the next few days, we explored all we could about the hotel. - The beach club is great. When you ride the elevator from the hotel lobby / hall down to the beach club, you exit into what is essentially a cave hallway, walk about 40 yards and then come upon a small inlet beach with the beach club to the left and restaurant and tennis and courtyard to the right. When we were walking out to the beach club the first day some waves came up the rock walkway and splashed us -- a great welcome. The beach club bar is also built into the cliffs and is incredible. Every day we saw the beach club staff it brightened our time -- the nicest people and ready to help in any way. I got a particular kick during our stay of watching the beach staff manage all of the boats coming in and out of the load / unload zone right off the club. You have an excellent view of Positano and the surrounding cliffs from the club and there are a few places to access the water for a swim. There's not a sandy beach per se, but believe me that won't matter to your experience considering the setting. A nice touch was the pool noodles available -- pretty simple, but I spent one afternoon floating in the sea right off the beach club and enjoying myself immensely. The drinks were great too -- they advertise the bellini and they are not wrong -- probably the best drink of our trip. - The tennis court, also one-of-a-kind. Booking time was easy, and there's no cost provided you don't want a pro. We tried to play each morning (though did not always succeed) and there's plenty of gear to use set out right beside the court. Each morning there was pilates / yoga right next to the court. People seemed to love it, though we did not partake. I'm sure the gym and spa are excellent, but, sorry, we missed those too. - Regarding room review, will keep it short -- room was exceptional. We went from Il San Pietro back to Rome. No offense to Rome, but the room at Il San Pietro, though roughly the same size as the room in Rome, was 10x our experience in Rome. The view of course did not hurt. - Staff: wonderful. People so clearly cared about our stay. Just a couple highlights: Andrea is everywhere and not sure how he does it; the sommelier at Zass was a mind-reader and provided the best wine selection of our trip; and, again, the beach club crew was awesome -- would love to come back and just hang at the bar for the day, chatting. A couple other mentions: the bartenders off the lobby / hall -- if they suggest a drink, go for it; the crew around the pool -- wonderful folks, was hard to say goodbye; and, finally, the staff on the terrace were superb. We had drinks / light bites on the terrace a few times. We could not have utilized that area more but even so I wish we could have; it is such a special spot. - A word on food: The breakfast provided was great. I'm diet limited (lactose and gluten, unfortunately) but still plenty for me and they had some nice options. I'd like to provide a special mention to the rice flour lactose-free cake that was available every morning -- I had a couple of slices each day. We ate at the beach restaurant a couple of times, quite good. (A short mention: best negroni of the trip down at the beach restaurant.) We ate at Zass one night and that (food, view, staff, etc.) was top. Honestly we were slightly hesitant about eating at Zass because we saw some negative reviews online. But, after getting the experience there, I'm not sure what the negative reviews are referencing -- maybe it's a matter of 5 miserable people out of a 1,000 always having something to complain about. As mentioned above, the wine was great (solid recommendation from the somm) and I, for the first time in roughly a week, went with a meat entree and it was very, very good. A couple other notes: Positano was cool but crowded. I for one preferred the serenity of the hotel. We rented a boat for one day to Capri -- this was an awesome, awesome trip. (A special mention to our friend, Fabrizio, who captained the Joey II to perfection.) If you're undecided on what to do certain days, we humbly recommend splurging and going with a boat rental. Capri was pretty awesome and the ride to and from was a day we'll remember for awhile. Being able to anchor and hope in the sea is not part of our normal lives and we did our best to enjoy! BB/MB

For just having been engaged in Lake Como and arriving to Il San Pietro, Sarah and I couldn't have been happier with the experience we had. The service was impeccable and welcoming. The interaction with the staff truly felt like we were in a family's beautiful home overlooking the cliff and there couldn't have been more offered to make our stay truly memorable. I especially want to comment on General Manager Andrea Zana's balance of professionalism with homeliness, as I commented on his shirt that he designed and allowed me to try one of his own so I can order custom shirts later on. It's this type of treatment that you can't find in a corporate setting and will keep Sarah and I coming back for years to come every time we visit the Amalfi Coast. I also want to comment on Concierge Alfredo Rabesco's help, as I asked to arrange a private boat from Positano to Capri, which was handled immediately with no complication whatsoever. The response for my request was "Done." We consider ourselves proud 'Alumni' of Il San Pietro and will absolutely be lifelong customers. Thank you, all!

Luogo dell'anima, la pace e l'emozione vengono stimolati sin dall'accoglienza, vera e sincera e mai formale. Organizzazione ai massimi livelli, struttura favolosa per posizionamento e bellezza, il personale tutto è il valore aggiunto.