Hotel Villa San Michele

Hotel Villa San Michele belongs to that exclusive category of hotels that you only encounter a handful of times during your life. 

It is at the same time unassuming and spectacular. 

It has been owned and operated by the same family for decades, and most guests are regulars, which creates a special and intimate kind of atmosphere. 

Because so many people return year after year, it feels less like a hotel and more like staying at a relative’s (very extravagant) summer house. 

The hotel has one of the best locations on the Amalfi Coast. The town of Ravello is not far, and both Atrani and Amalfi are easily reached by foot. But what really makes the location perfect is the hotel’s private sundeck with direct access to the turquoise waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. 

Included in the hotel’s very reasonable room price is half board. 

This means that breakfast, served at the hotel restaurant with a breath-taking view of the sea, is always included, and that you can choose if you want to have either lunch or dinner included as well.

The menu tends to shift according to what is in season and available. 

The restaurant is in daily contact with local farmers, and ingredients are generally locally sourced from farmers along the coast, as is the house wine. 

The family is local, which means that staying here is an authentic experience. 

This means that it does not have the same amenities as impersonal luxury hotels, where service is fast, and everything is at your fingertips the moment you have asked for it.

The family is hardworking, but the hotel is also their home, and guests should respect this. What this hotel offers is difficult to put a price-tag on: It is about learning about the authentic culture of the Amalfi Coast, the way it was before it was exploited. 

The food at the restaurant is amazing, as is the service, but what brings people back is also the beauty of the landscape, as Hotel Villa San Michele combines views of the dramatic hillsides (you can even catch a glimpse of Ravello’s famous Terrace of Infinity when going for a swim, if you know where to look) with direct access to the sea. 

The verdant, terraced garden is perfect for a cup of coffee in the afternoon or an aperitivo in the early evening, where you can relax with a book or in quiet conversation with your travel companion. 

What the hotel really offers is an invitation to the art of doing nothing, of slowing down, taking your time, becoming one with the moment and with your surroundings. 

The room décor has not been upgraded for decades, and most rooms are painted in the same Mediterranean colours of white and light blue. 

Bathrooms are dated, but the ocean view and generous terraces that accompany most rooms more than make up for this. 

The lack of renovation is part of the hotel’s rustic charm. Not everything needs to be up-to-date or ultra-luxurious. You will probably spend very little time indoors anyway, but the possibility of waking up with the sound of the waves crashing against the cliffs beneath your terrace is a memory that will last you a lifetime.

Hotel Villa San Michele

Ravello, Italy