Residence Villa Rosa

You have to be a good driver if you stays in Villa Rosa. The roads leading to the villa is hilly, winding and busy. We stayed in Apartment 5 with a huge terrace. The room is OK and comfortable and the view is spectacular. No washing-up liquid is provided in the kitchen and the set up of the bath room is not user friendly, e.g. no shower curtain, no hooks, no place to put your towels, etc. There is only one location on the terrace where the Wi-Fi reception is OK.

We were disappointed with the size of our apartment as there was no seating and the terrace was overgrown, small and completely shaded all day. It was clean and the bed was large and comfortable, and the pool area was lovely (apart from the sun loungers which kept collapsing!) but we felt completely let down by the lack of space for relaxing, i.e. a comfortable chair to sit on - which I think you need in a self-catering apartment! The lack of space meant that we had to go out every night as there was nothing to do / nowhere to sit in the apartment. The shop is said to be 15 mins away but this is an uphill walk on the coast road and there are no pavements so be warned! The bus is easy and quick but these Villas are not for those that don't like to walk. Atrani is the nearest town and can be accessed down 500 steps so my advice would be to walk down and across to Amalfi, go to the shops there and get the bus back up the hill. We were in apartment 9 which is the smallest by a long way and there were others which looked lovely and some had amazing terraces so my advice would be to be careful which one you book. Also be warned the owner of the place does not speak one word of English which made checking in and out very difficult too - we had to resort to google translate in the end!

Residenze Villa Rosa took my breath away from the moment I arrived. Perched on a near cliff-face overlooking terraced lemon groves and the sea. In the afternoon you could hear goat bells chiming in harmony and the scent of jasmine drifts in through the windows from the beautifully kept gardens that surround the apartments. Now it's true, if you have any kind of mobility problem this probably isn't the place for you. On arrival you either have to negotiate a steep path down from the gate from the road (where a bus from Amalfi can drop you off), or up 300 steps from the village of Atrani, but it's totally worth the effort. Once you arrive you feel that you've left the tourists behind and you're seeing the real Italy. It's incredibly romantic. Amalfi is 20 mins walk away with its huge selection of restaurants, but Atrani has some great little family run places to eat which are more authentic and cheaper. I stayed in Room 5 which has a large studio room, a comfortable bed, a great little kitchen, spectacular views and the biggest private terrace that I've ever seen. To stock the kitchen I just walked 10 minutes up towards Ravello to the Spar supermarket, and then on the way home I was coming downhill with my shopping. My one word on warning would be that Franco (who is wonderful) who runs the place doesn't speak a word of English. Having an Italian phrasebook in hand for check-in will make your life a lot easier. Really cant recommend the place enough. Thanks Franco!