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Amalfi Coast
This June will mark exactly 50 years since the late Carlino Cinque threw open the doors of his labour of love-turned-legendary hotel, Il San Pietro, in Positano. It’s one of those rare achievements in the hotel world, a feeling as much as a place, with views that imprint in the psyche and a singular location, cantilevered thrillingly out over the Tyrrhenian Sea.
To mark the occasion, its current owner-director (and Carlino’s grand-nephew), Vito Cinque, has quietly but industriously been bringing new refinement and fizz to every last room, with the help of Roman style arbiter Fausta Gaetani (she of the dazzling designs at Villa Tre Ville). There’s also a new jewel box of a bar and a stunning – and extremely environmentally friendly – showcase kitchen (price tag: €3.2m) for Zass, the hotel’s über-romantic Michelin-starred fine-dining venue. But the perennial favourite here is Carlino, the San Pietro’s lowfi open-air beach restaurant – historically only open for lunch (and one of the most coveted tables in Italy in the high season) but, starting this summer, serving dinner.
If, instead, you’re after what’s new under the Amalfi sun, look south to Borgo Santandrea. Perched just below the bijou town of Conca dei Marini, it’s the year’s buzz-generator – a 29-room, 16-suite temple to eccellenze amalfitane, from the dozens of handcrafted ceramic patterns on walls, floors and columns to the classic-cool drinks menu down at the hotel’s beach (a soft-sand, private one – rare as June frost in these parts; it’s worth considering Borgo Santandrea for its pleasures alone).
Il San Pietro: Via Laurito 2, Positano; from €490. ilsanpietro.it
Borgo Santandrea: Via Giovanni Augustariccio 33, Amalfi; from €500, taking reservations from 1 July onward. borgosantandrea.it
