Staff ring a bell when you arrive at Monastero Santa Rosa, a 17th-century-monastery-turned-luxury hotel built into the cliffs on one of the most famous stretches of Italy’s famous Amalfi Coast. And it’s one of the noisiest moments of a stay at the opulent five-star property — the rest of the time it’s as though you have the entire 20-room monastery to yourself. Which is all pretty mind-boggling, given it’s right in the heart of one of Europe’s busiest coastlines.
Indeed, cars and motorbikes race along the famous narrow road that clings to the coast of Amalfi — avoiding hiring a care is pretty much number one on most of the area’s bucket lists — yet you’d hardly know it as you lounge in the sprawling Mediterranean gardens that stretch across four levels below this magnificent building perched on the cliffs. Peace is the order-of-the-day here, from the sound of birdsong and trickling fountains at breakfast to lemon-scented spa treatments in the shade of a pergola. It’s little wonder it consistently ranks among the best hotels in Italy — and indeed the world.
