They say don’t meet your heroes. When it comes to travel, I admit, I sometimes feel the same. When you’ve admired so much about a place for so long — and most of it is rooted in what you’ve been told or watched on the silver screen — there’s a lot to be said for allowing the fantasy to live on, untainted. That’s how, despite travelling the length and breadth of Italy over the last two-and-a half decades and living here for the last five years, the Amalfi Coast has unfortunately eluded me.
There was another reason, of course. The Amalfi Coast is widely known as somewhere you want to do ‘properly’. So, when I was invited to visit Casa Angelina — a hotel as heavenly as its name suggests — in Praiano, I RSVP’d quicker than you can say ‘dolce far niente’. After all these years, I did of course have some pre-conceptions of Italy’s most famous coastline. On one hand: those shots of Jackie O, Lee Radziwill, Elizabeth Taylor et al in their OG jet-set splendour. Iconic. On the other: the crowds, the traffic, the noise! Not so much.
Having curled our way through hot and heaving Sorrento and Positano before arriving at Praiano on an October afternoon (‘Apparently there’s no quiet season here,’ I quipped to Mr Smith) I was starting to worry that my concerns were warranted. I needn’t have. As we pulled up to the entrance of Casa Angelina and descended the long and winding private road to the hotel, a palpable sense of leaving the noise at the door and sliding into another universe washed over us.
Perched on the edge of a cliff, basking in a glow courtesy of the late-afternoon sun bouncing off pure white walls, Casa Angelina’s ambience is immediately disarming and relaxing. Within moments of arriving, our car had been whisked away along with our luggage, we were checked in, handed an iced lemon water on the rooftop looking out to the Sorrento Peninsula, and given a little tour of the hotel before we were shown to our room.
If, like me, you adhere to the school of thought that good first impressions are everything, then when I say walking into our deluxe corner sea-view room took my breath away, you would hard relate to how impressed I was. It takes very special interior-design skill to infuse such a minimalist room with so many thoughtful details, without it feeling fussy in the slightest.
As my eyes darted around, I clocked the bedside situation. Any writer will tell you the way to their heart is through exceptional stationery. Waiting for me lay beautiful Casa Angelina-branded writing paper, a chic silver ball-point pen and a pencil that the hotel created in collaboration with Faber-Castell. Detail swoon.
More finely tuned details were revealed: on the sideboard, fresh pears and peaches picked from the hotel orchard below posed plumply alongside book releases I’d been desperate to get my hands on (hello, culinary compilation The Gourmand’s Lemon). In the bathroom, the most exquisite Diptyque toiletries (I’m a die-hard fan), a Dyson hairdryer and straightener — double detail swoon. And in the walk-in wardrobe, a Steamery clothes steamer — already on my personal wishlist — was filled with lavender-scented water and all manner of lint, brush and polishing accoutrements. A hattrick of detail swoons.
As we were hitting aperitivo hour, we decided to get dressed up in our Amalfi best — linen trousers, a pressed t-shirt and a box-fresh pair of Rivieras for Mr Smith; a navy t-shirt and white trousers for me — and headed down to the Seascape Bar to take in the sunset over Capri in the distance.
We had already stopped for an osteria lunch on the drive to Casa Angelina, but talk turned to nibbles. As if by magic, tomatoes cooked with sunflower seeds from the orto (kitchen garden) and home-cooked, fennel-infused taralli biscuits arrived. As the light dimmed, we were handed torches for reading the cocktail menu. Marvelling at how pristine the walls looked in torchlight, Mr Smith was told that the team touch them up with paint every day. ‘Every single day!’ he gasped. Details, details.
The following morning, fresh from the sleep of all sleeps, nestled in the silkiest cotton sheets spritzed with a lavender pillow spray left during turndown, we decided to explore the coast in our favourite way: by Vespa. We had mentioned it the previous day, and the hotel had immediately made sure one was waiting for us after we had inhaled a breakfast of omelettes, espressos, homegrown fruit and — to my delight — panettone.
Equipped with chilled bottles of water handed to us by the front desk, we drove back up towards the coast road on our shiny red scooter, giddy from being back on two wheels together after so long. On our ascent, I noticed a black Volkswagen Golf being sprayed down in what looked like a full valet service. ‘Oh my god, they’re cleaning our car!’ shouted Mr Smith above the Vespa’s vrooms. I laughed, thinking he was joking and assuming our very average car was someone else’s. Reader, it was indeed our car.
A key piece of advice here: if you want to explore local Positano, or any other little village along this stretch, a Vespa is the only way to do it and really enjoy it. Within 15 minutes, we had buzzed past buses and cars and crowds already queuing to reach the money-shot spots, and had parked up, ordered a cappuccino and were enjoying the view. If we had more time, we would have hopped down to a beach there, but we had lunch plans and wanted to buzz around nearby Nerano alfresco before then. Lunch was booked at Da Adolfo on the hotel’s recommendation, who had sent me a beautifully curated guide to the Amalfi Coast the week before our arrival.
Situated in a sandy cove, Da Adolfo is only accessible to diners from the water, which means that while it is an Instagram favourite, it’s never swarmed — once the tables are booked, that’s it. Just like Positano, you can arrive by bus and then take a communal boat, but if you want to have a super-romantic arrival, have the hotel hire you a private water-taxi return transfer like we did. It may only sail a couple of coves over, but it’s worth every cent.
As the waves lapped up on the shore and groups disembarked from fishing boats, we devoured spaghetti vongole, Caprese salads and tiramisu (don’t mess with the classics), washed down with dry white wine. Usually, this is an all-afternoon kind of place where you can bring your bikini and towels and take a swim post-lunch, but we wanted to head back to the hotel to unwind.
On returning, the plan was to slump straight into a siesta, but that was put on hold when I noticed special housekeeping touches in our room. Our reading glasses had been polished and wrapped in branded cloth; our tangle of cables and chargers had been unwound and tied in branded Velcro; the fruit tray had been refreshed along with a vase of beautiful local hydrangeas. ‘I love that,’ said Mr Smith, definitely referring to the cable situation. ‘So thoughtful,’ I agreed, putting on my super shiny glasses, picking up my book and sinking into freshly plumped pillows.
That evening, we had booked dinner at the legendary Da Gemma trattoria in Amalfi town (I had been hearing about this local icon for years), and so hung onto the Vespa for an evening spin there and back. Fresh fish of the day marinated in oil, lemon juice and capers hit the spot, as did the lemon sorbet and limoncello to finish (when in Amalfi). On our return to the hotel, the scooter was whisked away and our feet led us back to our spot by the bar for a nightcap.
If Casa Angelina is defined by its attention to details, then behold its cocktail menu. Mr Smith opted for the Angelina Espresso (15-year-old Matusalem rum, Saquella espresso, homemade caramel syrup and Amaro Montenegro), while I went for The Lemon Pergola (lemon-infused Malfy Gin, lemon juice and bitters, Earl Grey-infused syrup and soda). We savoured each sip as two chocolate truffles appeared in front of us and we talked of how attentive yet unobtrusive the service had been, as Elvis’ Can’t Help Falling in Love tinkled on the piano in the background. How apt: it’s impossible not to fall in love with Casa Angelina — the ambience, the serenity, the details. It exceeded all my expectations and then some. My new hero on the Amalfi Coast, one that I only wish I’d called on sooner.
Read more about Casa Angelina or see more hotels on the Amalfi Coast
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