[RAVELLO, ITALY] ––  Years ago I finally realized what I really like: cliffs, overlooking a distant ocean, preferably with a pool clinging to a steep hillside.

From then on, it’s been my focus on choosing where I go on vacation. (You’ll see this as a common theme throughout this site!)  Palazzo Avino fits all of those criteria. Plus, small, quiet and really expensive. After a recent remodel, it is on almost every Top Ten list of all hotels in the world. They have some rock star-great rooms and terraces, with prices to match.

Years ago I finally realized what I really like: cliffs, overlooking a distant ocean, preferably with a pool clinging to a steep hillside. This has all of those things.

Sitting high on a hilltop in Ravello, dubbed one of the most beautiful cities in Italy, sits Palazzo Avino. (When I was there in ’04 it was called Palazzo Sasso, also famous in its own right.) But it looks pretty much like they kept all the good stuff. It truly does feel like you are royalty, in a grand villa, clinging to the side of a steep mountain, the ground dropping dramatically beneath you, leaving nothing between you and the views.

When you walk through the front door and into the insanely sunny lobby of Palazzo Avino hotel in Ravello, it’s like one of those movie scenes where someone dies and walks into a Great Light. Blinding fuzzy halos make you squint and reach for things, but you can see something heavenly pulling you forward…

…and then the view hits you… BAM. This incredible restaurant HAS to have the best views of any restaurant I’ve ever seen. Even if you’re not staying here, come for sunset dinner. It’s a Michelin-starred restaurant and the food and service are impeccable. Come, just for this. Get the lobster linguini.

If you can believe it, the original building of the hotel was built in the 1200s and has been added onto and adorned ever since. A mix of Moorish architecture and Amalfi style and tile.

Words can’t describe what a sunset by the pool feels like. Not to mention the views of the ocean, thousands of feet below.

The Rooms at Palazzo Avino

Because of its location, Ravello’s status as a wealthy enclave, this is tres cher, but worth every penny. You only need to spend a night, two tops, here so why not splash out on the best to take advantage of, arguably, the Best View in the World. I splurged on a big suite, #7 I think, It’s actually tucked in under the restaurant. It comes with its own huge terrace, right along the cliff.

I think of this room nearly every single day, twenty years later.

And Then You Have Ravello Right Outside Your Door

Hidden on a hilltop 1000ft about the sea, Ravello is a perfectly preserved small village, seemingly free of ugly things. It’s even a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as is the whole Amalfi Coast. No modern shops or tacky t-shirt stores, no garish fluorescent signs. Lightly populated with mostly private apartments and villas clinging to the edge, a perfect main piazza with a smattering of movie set cafes, and only a couple of fine hotels. It just sits there, smokin’ a cigarette, looking pretty.

This is the real reason why we’re here in Ravello. This postcard-perfect town sits high above the sea. Perched on the steep cliffs, amazing views of all the Amalfi Coast, for kilometers in every direction. You almost don’t want to leave the hotel, but you have to pull yourself away to see the magic of Ravello.

Gore Vidal famously had a villa here for years. And many other celebrities, too. From St. Francis in 1222 to Ricard Wagner, MC Escher, to Greta Garbo and Virginia Woolf. Heck, Dwight Eisenhower plotted the battle on Monte Casino from here.

— Last Visited September 2004 —

More Information on Palazzo Avino and Ravello

The restaurant is equally perfect. You’ll want to have every meal there, although don’t miss the awesome cafes in Ravello. Here is the Palazzo Avino website.  And here’s a great website about Ravello, restaurants and other hotels. Here’s an overview of Ravello and Palazzo Avino on TripAdvisor. A brief review in Conde Nast Traveler, and a snappy review in Tatler. Here’s the review for the Avino in The Telegraph. And this article in Forbes explains the name change and recent renovation. And a cheeky review on the Avino from Mr & Mrs Smith. And here’s a link to the amazing Le Sirenuse hotel down the hill in Positano. And another post on Ravello I made.