Clients Review Positano, Capri Vacation and Donna Rosa

A letter from clients…

THANK YOU for giving me, Amir, and our families a vacation we will never forget. Everything, literally everything, turned out perfectly without a bump in the road. Sure we had our fun freak out moments worrying about luggage and layovers while in Europe, but it was an adventure and it all was fantastic.

I wanted to briefly outline a few highlights.

The Covo Dei Saraceni hotel in Positano was magnificent. There was not one thing wrong with this hotel, it is gorgeous, way bigger than the pictures on the website. Our suites were MASSIVE, the bathrooms were MASSIVE, and the service was impeccable. We got to be friends with the hotel front desk staff, and the nightly bartender Rosario.

Before dinner each night we met in the unbelievably gorgeous hotel lobby bar where Rosario took such good care of us, free appetizers, free limoncello, etc. that we all got teary eyed saying goodbye to him. The restaurants in the hotel are superb. This hotel is known for having the best pizza is all on Positano….ask any local and they will tell you it’s the best pizza in town, which is an awesome perk and it was certainly delicious.

The best part by far about the Covo Dei Saraceni is the location. It is obviously right on the water amongst all the shops, restaurants, cafes, ferry boats, etc. We were SO GLAD we did not pick a hotel up in the hills of Positano.

The Covo had magnificent views just like all the others, but it’s central location is unmatched. Every tourist we met in other hotels all complained about how far up the hill they were staying. They would have to pack for the day to walk down to Positano and return each evening….but we could pop in and out of our hotel at leisure, and it really made a huge difference.

As for our transfers: Let’s just say, we were EXTREMELY pleased to be greeted on arrival at Naples by the most gorgeous Merecedes shuttle we’ve ever seen. This same shuttle took us on all transfers and it provided such comfort and made us feel so luxurious! We of course became friends with our two drivers, Ociel and Gianluca. This may be the most important thing I say….you MUST make sure whoever does the private boat tour you arranged, they also get the boat and tour we got from Barbara and her husband Antonio.

First of all, their boat is a mini-yacht with showers, a bedroom, and it was enormous and luxurious. We were shocked that it was for us! Barbara and Antonio were the best guides we could ask for.

They took us all over the Amalfi Coast, where we stopped in Amalfi, went into two huge caves/grottos, we stopped at the town of Minori for more shopping, they stopped in a bay at Amalfi by a natural waterfall for us to jump out of the boat and swim for an hour (which was unbelievably cool and amazing), and they ended the tour by putting us in a smaller boat to be boated off to a private restaurant for lunch that only locals know about….and the food was incredible.

We returned at 5pm to Positano, and this was, by far, everyone’s most favorite day. On the tour, Barbara served us bottles of wine and provided us appetizers she made from her garden which were not to be believed. We cried saying goodbye to them too…..this day was a dream.

We loved being driven to Pompeii as we got to see a lot of Sorrento along the way! Gino was an amazing tour guide and he showed us the “highlights” for two hours and it worked out perfectly. I’m really glad we went to Pompeii.

On our first “free day” there we walked up and rented a private guided boat to Capri. This ended up being a wonderful experience, but at first it was a bit tricky.

You see, whatever they “sell” you at the boat stands isn’t always what the boat/driver then assigned is able to provide.

We didn’t know that it was a full hour from Positano to Capri, and we wanted to be back to Positano by 2pm for some pool time. The vendor said no problem at all, but when we got to the boat/captain, he said that was impossible to accomplish in that time period and pretty much tried to kick us off. He said we wouldn’t be able to get off the boat at Capri either, which made us upset because we wanted to be able to at least walk around a bit!

At the end of the day, we both comprised, were able to see some beautiful sites in Capri and walk around and even had lunch, and the captain was very friendly as well. My advice to you is that make sure the vendor (who just wants money to sell a boat) is very clear about what can be accomplished or not. nWe still have a fabulous time on this excursion.

Last, if you ever get a call from a client wanting to do the Amalfi Coast, I HIGHLY suggest having them stay the entire time in Positano. It is smaller, quaint, manageable, and everything is at your fingertips. Capri would have been too secluded on the island, and Amalfi was way too crowded with cruise ships and tourists and it felt like NYC.

Positano wasn’t like that at all….it’s so worth saying there the entire trip and then making day trips like we did….many visitors of Positano we talked to on the trip said they had wished they stayed there the entire time as well.

Obviously, the food is out of this world wherever you go.

One suggestion is Donna Rosa, which is on the top of Montepartuso on the cliffs of Positano. It’s the best meal I’ve ever had in my life! Linda, I again cannot thank you enough for such a perfect experience.

It literally was a dream trip for our families and we couldn’t be happier. We may even make this an annual trip and not stay as long, so stay tuned!

Justin & Amir O.
The trip was arranged by Linda Lewis