A fan of luxury hotels, I had been eyeing the Belmond Hotel Caruso for years. The Belmond brand knows service if I’ve ever seen one. That, coupled with infinity pool, and I was sold.
With all luxury hotels, you somewhat risk the potential disappointment. Though I LOVE hotels, I am not immune to checking in, only to feel like my money probably would’ve been better spent elsewhere on the particular trip.Â
On the other hand, I’ve found sometimes found luxury hotels to give me high expectations, only to walk in and actually feel like I’ve been transported into another world. All my expectations are exceeded.
The Belmond Hotel Caruso is one of the latter- by far. The best hotel I’ve ever stayed at and there is an undeniable magic about the entire experience.
Location
The hotel is in Ravello, Italy, a small mountainous town in the Amalfi Coast. It’s much less touristy than Amalfi or Positano, which is lovely. That said, it’s much, much smaller. We personally loved the charm of the small town, including the small shops, beautiful gardens, the town square, and the incredible food. The Caruso is only about a five minute walk from the main town square too.
That said, Ravello is very small and you can see most of the town in a day. If we weren’t staying at the Caruso, we probably wouldn’t have wanted to stay in Ravello for more than a day. We were more there for the hotel than the town itself it that makes sense.
One note is that the mountainous town is very… mountainous! The sidewalks are steep so it’s worth keeping in mind when planning your trip.
Staff
This was the part of the hotel that exceeded my expectations the most. When I read rave reviews about the hotel, I expected it to beautiful and scenic, but honestly, wasn’t sure what made it THAT great. Yes, the pool was beautiful, and so were the rooms. But was that really worth all the reviews?
Turns out it’s more than just the view, landscape, and food. It’s all of it mixed together in the most thoughtful, detail-oriented way, which is crafted by the incredible staff.
The entire time there we kept joking that there must’ve been some sort of happy gas in the air because every second felt like an indulgent experience. That comes not from one particular aspect of a hotel, but how each aspect works together, and the staff is what made that happen.
A particular shout out to the INCREDIBLE pianist, who is not technically part of the staff, but who serenaded us every night in their outdoor bar. His voice was out of this world.Â
Food and Bars
It’ll be no shock that the food in Italy was to die for. The Amalfi Coast is particularly known for its fresh vegetables, cheese, and meat. What we didn’t expect was to have the best meal of our entire trip at the pool bar!
Truthfully it’s hard to say any one meal was *the best* as they all wear incredible. But I think the pizza was the most melt-in-your-mouth, fresh cheese and sausage I’ve ever had in my life. We had it on our first day in Italy and I spent the rest of the trip in search for an equally delicious pizza, with no such luck.
The morning buffet was also fresh and delicious. We opted to pay the five euros to have it delivered to our room and set up on our terrace (below). How could you not with that view?!
Rooms and Space
These were by far the most beautiful rooms we saw in any of Italy. We stayed in a Deluxe Junior Suite because we wanted the terrace with a view. Best view ever!
Pool
As if the pools needs any introduction at all, it’s the main reason we wanted to stay here. I’ve never seen such a stunning infinity pool in my life! The pool was never crowded and you always felt like you nearly had the place to yourself. You can spend all day (or multiple days) just laying by that pool, taking a dip to cool off, ordering drinks, relaxing, and soaking in the deliciousness of life.
Transportation
We book a private car to take us around the Amalfi Coast as needed as well as to and from the airport. (Mr. Lupo, he was amazing!)
It wasn’t an inexpensive thing to do, but it definitely made more sense to us than any other option. That said, once you’re at the the Belmond, you can walk everywhere you need.
Cost
This hotel is a splurge for most (it seemed that most people there were on their honeymoon), and it was for us. I admit that though I had wanted to stay here for quite some time, it still wasn’t easy reserving the suite for the price that it was.
That said, it was, hands down, worth every penny, and we knew that to be true pretty quickly upon arriving. The hotel is a vacation within itself and I already can’t wait to go back.
If you’re looking for a truly romantic and magical experience, perhaps for a honeymoon, birthday, or anniversary, this is worth the splurge over and over again.
Entrepreneur Rating
I didn’t work a whole lot on the trip (because HOW could you?!). But it did have the best wifi of any hotel we stayed at in Italy and wifi was available throughout the entire hotel. There were plenty of quiet rooms and salons you could go into should you need to take a call or get some work done. But good luck getting your attention away from that view!
For more of our hotel reviews with entrepreneurial ratings, check them out here.