ITALY
RAVELLO
PALAZZO SASSO

No matter what wonders of location and architecture are offered by an hotel, to deserve the word ‘great’ it must have something more. It must have members of staff who are prepared to go that extra mile – or sometimes, for me, quite a few extra miles. That is why I so often make a point of bringing to your attention the names of those individuals who have given me particularly good service. And that is why I sought out my camera and took a photograph of Antonio Ferrara, and why I now present his portrait to you. The Palazzo Sasso is one of the undoubted stars of the Amalfi Coast. Part of its building dates back nine hundred years, and it is named after the family which owned it from the 18th century. It is elegant, refined and luxurious. It occupies a position one thousand feet above the sea, and from its windows and terraces is a panorama which makes even an old curmudgeon like your correspondent glad to be alive. Mr Ferrara is the Front Office Manager of the Palazzo Sasso.

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ITALY
VENICE
SAN CLEMENTE PALACE

Oh, to have my very own island in the Venetian lagoon. Thence, on a sunny morning, I could sail over to the Grand Canal to look at a few priceless paintings in the Ca’ Pesaro before a leisurely lunch in the most beautiful city in the world. In the afternoon heat I could return to my retreat and sit in a shady corner and sip Pimm’s Number One (do you remember when there were numbers One to Six, each with a different spirit base?) and marvel at the sparkling brightness of its cubes of ice, as an evening of good food and fine wine approached. An idle day dream? Not at all. I have done it. For I have been to stay at the San Clemente Palace.

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ITALY
NAPLES
THE GRAND HOTEL PARKER'S

Naples is a wonderful city. True, in the last one hundred years, it has not been an affluent place. Yet that has been its blessing. It has meant that it has escaped the attentions of those barbarians of the twentieth century – the architects and the town planners. Many of its buildings might be a bit decrepit, but at least they have not been demolished to make way for concrete monstrosities. Of course, one has to be careful how one gets about. Neapolitan taxi drivers are notorious for – how shall I put it delicately? – the ‘enthusiasm’ with which they extract the maximum amount of cash from their passengers.  I have been a victim of their remarkable calculations more than once. But those of us who love art will not be put off. We know that we will always find something new and glorious to see here. (On my most recent visit I popped into the Palazzo Stigliano to look at Caravaggio’s last painting, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula.) And there is another draw, too – a truly fine hotel. The Grand Hotel Parker’s even has a charming story about its name.  

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