10 Unique Places to Stay for a Memorable Holiday

Last year, I stayed in some incredible hotels Sri Lanka: The Fortress Resort & Spa near Galle was particularly dreamy. As I start planning my travels for 2025, I've been reminiscing about some of the other beautiful places I've stayed in over the years. I've put together this selection of my most unique and memorable stays around the world. I hope it helps inspire your own holiday plans!

Sorrento: Sun, Sea and Sandals

Sorrento is a small but attractive resort town famous for its lemons. It lies about 30 miles south of Naples — not close enough to see its northern neighbour, although you can usually see Vesuvius looming across the Gulf of Naples. To reach Sorrento, we took a hydrofoil from Molo Beverello, which takes about 45 minutes and cost about €13 with a suitcase. On the way back to the airport, we took a car, which took just over an hour; the Circumvesuviana train takes a similar amount of time and passes through Pompeii and Herculaneum. The ferry was very pleasant, though, and offers great views of Pompeii and the islands.

Where we stayed
We spent four nights in Sorrento, although I didn't have that much free time in the city because of our day trips to Capri and the Amalfi Coast and the events surrounding my cousin's wedding (the reason for our trip). Despite being a popular resort town, with frequent cruise ship arrivals, Sorrento is notable for its near absence of a beach. Several of the restaurants and 'beach' clubs have small pontoons, as did our hotel, the Bellevue Syrene, which is one of the most beautiful hotels I've ever stayed in.

The building dates to 1820 and it is quite literally carved into the cliffside — if you walk down to the pontoon rather than taking the lift, you will wind down a steep tunnel inside the cliff. Most rooms have a sea-view and many also have balconies: even after four days, I didn't get over the excitement of opening my curtains to see the Mediterranean, Sorrentine peninsula and Veusvius; I have about 50 photos of essentially the same shot. The rooms are also large, comfortable, bright and elegant, and there is a 'club lounge' where complimentary drinks and snacks are served all day.

We spent most of our free time on the sun loungers on the hotel's pontoon, dipping into the cool, clear sea for a refreshing dip from time, although I also paid a couple of visits to the hotel's small but gorgeous swimming pool. I also managed a couple of trips to the outdoor gym. The staff were extremely professional: friendly, courteous and helpful. My only complaint was the wifi, which was so awful that it would often take 15 minutes to upload a single photo; and yes, I probably should have been taking my holiday time to switch off from the internet!

What we ate
We ate at the hotel's 'snack bar' a couple of times — the grandest snack bar I've ever seen: a leafy colourful tables with a panoramic sea view, under the shade of a leafy pergola. I had pasta both times — the shrimp and lemon tagliolini was particularly good — followed with an espresso. The crockery was so beautiful, I wished I could have taken it home with me. One day, I also stopped for a Bacio (chocolate and hazelnut) gelato at Momi; it was ace.

We dined at two other restaurants in the city. I impressed the staff at L'Antica Trattoria by calling up to make a reservation in Italian. We had a lovely table on the bustling, pedestrianised Via Padre Reginaldo Giuliani, and struggled to choose among the tempting options on the menu, which advertises itself as classic with a twist. In the end, I went for prawns in breadcrumbs with sardine sauce, tomato and capers; it doesn't sound like much but the prawns were incredibly flavoursome and the textures were spot on. For my main course, I had the 'chicken roll' (not a chicken sandwich, I learned, but perfectly juicy chicken stuffed with mozzarella and sundried tomatoes. My mum's beetroot (barbabietola in italiano) risotto looked great too. The waiters were very friendly and the food was great.

We liked Ristorante Il Buco so much that we went there for dinner twice. The first time, it was almost 10 o'clock and we were starving after a cocktail reception with the wedding party. Luckily, Il Buco was near by and they found a table for us in the cavernous former monks' wine cellar where the restaurant is located. We went back again with my brother and sister-in-law when they arrived in Sorrento the following day. I couldn't resist ordering three courses both times — there are also a couple of palate-cleansers/pre-puddings included. The best dishes I tried were the scallops, the lobster and the perfectly cooked chateaubriand that I shared with my dad, and the 'enjoyment of chocolate' (chocolate mousse, gel, brownie and...something else, with passionfruit and strawberries). They also have a seriously impressive gin library and I tried a Czech gin with my tonic called OMG; I hadn't heard of it before but with its wide range of botanicals, it tasted great. The service both nights was impeccable.

What we did
The town centre of Sorrento is small and very walkable — as long as you don't mind the inclines and steps (pro-tip: there are several elevators down to sea level that charge €1). The buildings are colourful and, in summer at least, the town has a lively energy. There are also several churches and a couple of small museums.

As I mentioned, we didn't do very much apart from shop, eat and sunbathe (it's a tough life). Corso Italia (pictured first below), in the town centre, is home to many of the towns shops and boutiques, while Via Fuoro (pictured second), a narrow pedestrianised street one block north, and the alleyways that stem from it are the best places to shop souvenirs. When I say 'souvenirs', about 90% of these involve the lemons for which the town is known: lemon sweets, lemon soaps, lemon crockery and, of course, Limoncello.

I was on a mission to buy some leather sandals (leather is another big product in the town), but the only pair I really liked didn't come in my size and I didn't want to get them made for me in case they didn't fit. I must have visited several dozen shops selling variations on the same theme — most places will customise everything from the colour(s), to the design and decorations, but the prices were steeper than I expected.

In the end, I went to Ca Gi Sa at Via San Francesco 24, just opposite the Convento di San Francesco. They made me a pair of sandals with bronze leather straps in about 15 minutes, which fit very well (the woman also showed me how to readjust them so you don't have to keep undoing the clasp). Total cost: €35. Not cheap, but reasonable for the quality (some of the bejewelled designs can go for €150). I didn't get the name but there was a gorgeous leather bag boutique on Via Torquato Tasso, near the junction with Via Fuoro; they had great modern designs and I particularly liked the turquoise bags.

I wouldn't eat at the tourist-trap restaurants on Piazza San Antonio but it is a good spot for people-watching. I had wanted to pay homage to the 16th century poet Torquato Tasso, for whom Piazza Torquato Tasso is named. I struggled through his most famous work, La Gerusalemme Liberata, in the only Italian literature class I took at university ('visions of hell'; Dante was more fun). Piazza S. Antonio is a better place for watching Sorrento go by, though.

Five minutes further east from the centre along Via Corso is L'Agruminato, an attractive citrus garden. I suspect it is more impressive in the spring rather than the parched days of August, but it was nice for a quick, shaded wander; they also do Limoncello tastings. There are also two marinas, Marina Piccola to the east of the town centre and Marina Grande just to the west. We walked down to the latter one evening and it was very pretty all lit up by night. We would have liked to eaten at Da Emilia one night but ran out of meals.

The wedding
My cousin and her new husband had their wedding ceremony at Villa Fondi in Piano di Sorrento, in the hills just to the east of Sorrento and overlooking the sea. It was a small but beautiful outdoor ceremony, after which we travelled further up into the hills to Villa Eliana for the reception. It is one of the most glamorous wedding venues I've ever been to — we could almost have been in LA with the outdoor pool and palm trees.

It was really hot so everyone — including the bride — had the urge to jump into the pool. We all enjoyed some excellent martinis from the martini bar while we waited for the couple and then had a delicious wedding breakfast. We were even treated to a perfect sunset. My cousin did a great job of organising everything and it was wonderful to see her and her new husband so happy together. A fitting end to a wonderful week in Naples and Sorrento.

Grotto Hopping in Capri

The island of Capri lies just 3.5 miles from the southwestern tip of the Sorrento peninsula and about 10 miles from Sorrento town. It's a small island, about 3.5 by 1.5 miles, with about 12,000 residents. In the peak season, tourists outnumber residents by a ratio of about three to one, but the island hasn't shaken its glamorous past it remains one of the most popular Italian islands, as well as being the birthplace of the caprese salad and capri pants.

There are regular ferries from both Sorrento and Naples but we hired a small motorboat for the day and our charming skipper Teodoro steered us out to Capri, where we circumnavigated the small island in a clockwise direction from Marina Piccola on the south shore. It took us about 45 minutes to reach Capri, and we rode past some of the pretty perched villages and Roman remains on the mainland, including Villa di Pollio Felice (not Pollo Felice (‘happy chicken’) as I first thought Teodoro said!).

Capri's most famous attraction is the Grotta Azzurra (blue grotto) on the north shore, but there are dozens of other smaller and still very beautiful grottos and Teodoro took us into several of them, including the Grotta Verde (green grotto), Grotta Bianca (white grotto) and Grotta dei Santi (grotto of the saints). The water is so clear and appears in various vibrant shades of green, blue and turquoise; when the water catches the light, the effect is absolutely stunning. 

We stopped off to swim and leap off the boat on numerous occasions. This was a good call given that the relatively small beaches of Capri were all incredibly crowded; laying down your towel requires exceptional Tetris skills.

We docked at Marina Piccola and caught a taxi up to the town of Anacapri, which is smaller and higher than the island’s main town, Capri. There isn’t a great deal to do in Anacapri and we didn't have time to take a ride on the chair lift up to the highest point on the island, Monte Solaro, but we wandered through the town’s main drag, Via Giuseppe Orlandi, and looked at the Casa Rossa (a Moorish style house in a vibrant red colour) and the church before stopping for lunch at Le Arcate, a large, rustic restaurant with friendly waiters and good value food. I had a pizza (shocker!), which was very good, although a little too crispy to be truly Neapolitan.

The taxi journey back down to Marina Piccola was just as exciting — the roads are very narrow and twisty and there are stunning views over the bay. After hopping back onto our boat, we carried on sailing around the island, passing various lighthouses, watchtowers, Roman ruins, grottos and the three faraglioni rock formations, one of which you can boat through.

Although we hoped to visit the Grotta Azzurra, we weren’t sure how long the queue was going to be. We had asked Teodoro whether we should head there first thing in the morning but he told us that the afternoon was less crowded. There were still quite a few tour boats waiting when we arrived, not to mention the long queue of people waiting on the mainland. Our skipper managed to arrange for us to jump the line, however, which must have been incredibly annoying for everyone else (sorry to anyone else who was in Capri on Saturday).

The five of us were crammed into one of the tiny row boats, which are the only boats allowed inside the grotto. After we had each paid our €13, our brusque but characterful rower sung O Sole Mio (this is not optional) and rowed us into the grotto. I was fully expecting it to be a) not much more impressive than the other grottos we had seen and b) a complete tourist trap. Happily, although it was not dissimilar to Disney’s 'Pirates of the Caribbean' ride, it really was an impressive sight and one that cameras can’t capture very well, especially not in the five minutes you get inside. The water really does glow an ethereal turquoise, like an incredibly beautiful swimming pool but without the lighting. If you stick your hand in the water, it glows too. We asked ourselves how much we would pay to have a private visit into the grotto for an hour at sunset (when the light strikes the cave mouth at the perfect angle) and the answer was quite a lot of money!

We had one last swim and then it was time to head back to Sorrento. But then disaster struck! Well, sort of. A rather large ferry-generated wave struck the boat and ruptured the belt that powers the water pump. Teodoro called for back up but started trying to fix it himself. As you can imagine, we were devastated to be lying in the sun on the front of a boat with views of Capri and the mainland for an hour! Just as the rescue boat arrived, Teodoro had got the motor started again and we were soon on our way home, just in time for a stunning sunset over Capri and Ischia. I don’t think I have ever been less bothered by a transportation breakdown!

Our day on the boat was one of the best of my holiday and I think it is one of the best ways to visit Capri, especially in August when the ferries, beaches and buses on the island are all extremely crowded. There are plenty of restaurants and some good shops on Capri, especially in Capri town, but it is expensive to stay on the island and if you are on a budget, a day trip might be a better option.

Going Coastal: A Day on the Amalfi Coast

I'm a little behind with my Italian travel blogs thanks to a packed schedule and terrible wifi, and it was on Thursday morning that we took the ferry from Naples to Sorrento. Sorrento lies just across the Gulf of Naples from its more northerly neighbour and you can take a train or taxi (both of which take about 70 minutes), but we opted to go by boat, which is a little faster (45 minutes) and rather pleasant. There isn't a huge amount to do in Sorrento itself but it’s a good base for exploring the Amalfi Coast and the isles of Capri and Ischia. 

I’ll write about our stay in Sorrento in another post, as this post covers our day trip to the Amalfi Coast. There are a number of ways to visit the beautiful villages and small towns that line the verdant coastline on the south side of the Sorrento peninsula. You can, for instance, reach Positano, the closest village to Sorrento and perhaps the most iconic, by taking a ferry from Sorrento in the summer season, and then hop from village to village on the regular but crowded public buses. You can also join one of the numerous organised tours that run from Naples and Sorrento. We decided to hire a driver for the day so that we could customise our itinerary, although as there is only really one way in and one way out of the Amalfi villages, only so much customisation is possible in the summer.

We left Sorrento at around 9:30 am and it took about 40 minutes to reach the outskirts of Positano. The drive was exceptionally scenic and we were grateful to have such a careful driver on the stomach-churning, winding roads. The first viewpoint we stopped at had a great vista looking back towards Capri and Ischia. Our driver also pointed out the Li Galli islands, an archipelago of tiny privately owned islands that look fairly normal from the side, but from above, one of them resembles a dolphin or a mermaid, depending on your point of view.

We must have left town ahead of most of the tour buses and vans because there were still parking spaces at the viewpoints we stopped at; on our return journey, the vistas were a lot more crowded. When we got our first glimpse of Positano, we knew that it was going to be a good day. The pretty, pastel-hued houses and buildings are perched precariously on the hillside overlooking a modest, parasol-lined beach. The clear blue sea, meanwhile, is dotted with ships, large and small.

We wandered around Positano for about an hour and had coffee on the beach. There is good shopping to be had in Positano, especially if you are in the market for fine sandals, hats or scarves; however, the prices are more expensive than in Sorrento and especially Naples.

En route to Ravello, we drove through several more villages, including Praiano, which, like many of the other villages in the region, had a gorgeous tiled dome on its church. Finally, on the outskirts of Amalfi town, we hit our first traffic jam and unfortunately, it was a big one. We didn't stop in Amalfi but it took over an hour to get through the queue (naturally, the traffic is at its worst in mid-August with both international and Italian tourists heading to the region). Amalfi is the largest town on the Amalfi Coast and the most developed. The small beach is jam-packed with colourful parasols and the town’s gorgeous duomo is well worth a look. Its population is about 5,000; it used to be much bigger and served as an important trading port until it was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in the 14th century.

Eventually, we reached Ravello, which is perched high above the sea in the hills. We stopped for a quick but good Neapolitan pizza at Ristorante Vittoria. Ravello is famous for its two grand villas, Villa Rufalo, which is closer to the centre of the village, and Villa Cimbrone, which is a steep ten-minute walk away from the centre, but well worth the hike once you reach the Terrazzo dell’Infinito — a terrace worthy of the infinity in its name. 

We went to Villa Cimbrone and did a few leaps on the terrace, before taking a brief walk through the villa’s beautiful gardens and then heading back to our car for the journey back to Sorrento. The views from Ravello are really stunning so if you head to the Amalfi Coast, I would definitely recommend that you pay a visit.

The drive back to Sorrento was slightly quicker — the traffic wasn’t quite as bad through Amalfi, although there were many tour buses still making their way into town. We had hoped to get home for about 3:30 but that would have meant sacrificing our trip to Ravello, so instead it was closer to 5:00 that we pulled back up outside the hotel. 

We really enjoyed the day and it was a great luxury to have a private car driven by a knowledgeable and entertaining driver. It cost about €300 but although there were only three of us in the car, we could have had five people for the same price. Of course, like most of the other destinations and activities on this trip, it would have been more pleasant and less crowded in May or October, but we still had a great time. There are many other villages on the Amalfi Coast that we either didn't see or didn't visit; if you are looking for Amalfi inspiration, the website positano.com is useful for getting a feel for what each village offers.