Ravello - Hotel Caruso

Ravello leaves St Paul de Vence for dead.

This Orient Express Group luxury hotel underwent four years of renovation between1999 and 2003. The building dates back to the 11^th Century and the redevelopment work has certainly been carefully executed to sympathetically restore and preserve floors, frescoes and many other aspects of the building’s history.  It's just a pity that they didn’t employ an imaginative interior designer.

The location is stunning, perched at the top of Ravello with amazing views of the surrounding Amalfi coastline.

We are in a deluxe Junior Suite priced at just over 1000 euros per night.  The room and private garden are very similar in layout to the suite we had at Villa San Michele (a sister hotel near Florence) except that here we have an uninterrupted view across the sea and coastline, as opposed to an uninterrupted view of a hedge at San Michele! (See the separate review of Villa San Michele).

The décor of the suite is chintzy. The over-riding theme is red floral led by the matching curtains and sofa, with red trim on every piece of white wooden furniture.  Even the Hessian floor mats have red trim.  It is disappointingly bland and as a result the room has no personality.

The bathroom is spacious and well equipped.  Both bath and shower are large and have sophisticated temperature control units.  The double wash basin set up is also a good size.  The dressing room / wardrobe area is incorporated in the bathroom but as the bathroom is large, this works well.

The toiletries basket is staggering.  Never, in all our travels, have we encountered anything so extraordinary in a bathroom.  A 200ml bottle of Penhaligon Shower gel is accompanied by two 100ml bottle of shampoo and bars of soap.  As if in competition, Bulgari have contributed two 75ml bottles of body cream and other goodies.  Molton Brown also makes a contribution. The retail value of the basket’s contents must be easily in excess of 200 euros.  It is truly exceptional.

Power points which take both American and British plugs, are installed in the room.  This is a clever touch which other hotels might consider.  Broadband Internet is complimentary and the hotel is fully wireless.

Silly things are irritating such as the cups and saucers being removed from the room so you can’t make a cup of tea in the afternoon.  Why was our mini bar not restocked?

The garden is wonderful to have although it is overlooked by the balconies of several other rooms, so there is no privacy.  When the American guest in the room above took a telephone call on his balcony it sounded as if he was in our room.  We could almost hear the voice of the caller on the other end of the line!  You really are on eggshells with the garden door open.  Be careful what you say.  It is a big problem.

The “infinity” swimming pool is probably the most amazing pool on the planet.  It sits high above the sea below and has the incredible views.  But what is the cheap and nasty clock doing on the pillar by the pool?

The let down, we have consistently found with Orient Express Hotels, is the restaurant.  Orient Express Magazine claims that the Hotel Caruso restaurant is “already drawing applause from international critics”.  Why?  The starter we shared was “Mediterranean Crudite”, a selection of raw vegetables.  A few raw carrot sticks and other vegetables with a dip is not innovative.  The pork ribs were good (not worth €30) but the rack of lamb was tasteless.  The quality of the lamb (€38) was excellent but simply placed on artichokes did not stimulate the palate.  It was screaming out for an accompaniment.  Although one would expect a higher mark up on wine than in small restaurants it was interesting to note that the Amarone del Vapolicello we enjoyed the previous night in Naples at €40 was €78 here.  Orient Express have some great hotels but we have yet to be wowed by one of their restaurants.

Hotel Caruso
Ravello
Amalfi Coast

+39 089 858 801