The Grand Hotel Vesuvio is Bellini’s favourite hotel in Naples – built at the end of the 19th century, she is a majestic grande dame sitting on the waterfront, overlooking the little fishing harbour of Santa Lucia and the Castel del Ovo.
The Vesuvio is the ideal choice for exploring the chaos and buzz of Naples, whilst being able to retreat to relative peace and quiet in the evenings. Bedrooms are old fashioned yet with big bathrooms and all the mod cons, choose a room on the upper floors with a balcony overlooking the coast and Capri in the distance.
The hotel was a huge favourite of Oscar Wilde, Guy de Maupassant, and Clarke Gable and the famous tenor Enrico Caruso, made the Vesuvio his Neapolitan home and spent the last years of his life as a resident of the hotel. The ‘Caruso Roof Garden’ on the ninth floor bears his name, and from here you can enjoy the marvellous views over the Gulf of Naples.
The bustle of the city is never far away and after an aperitvo in the Caruso Roof Garden, head out to dinner in the harbour by Castel dell’Ovo (across the road) which is an unusually calm and romantic. If you like to mix with the Neapolitan intelligentsia, try the bar on the ground floor.