Come Back to Sorrento

If you’re heading to the Amalfi Coast this summer, you’ll probably find yourself in Sorrento on you way in or out. Here’s how to make the most of it.

Pavia here. As much as I love having strong travel opinions, I also love being proven wrong.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved hating Sorrento. I end up here regularly — on the fast ferry or the slow train from Naples, at a rental car office, at the drugstore to stock up — on my way to and from town I like better on the Amalfi Coast. Sure, Sorrento is beautiful. That expansive cliffside promontory tumbling down to the deep blue sea is the stuff postcards are made of. But Sorrento is jam-packed with noisy Americans, day trippers from mega cruise ships, and tacky shops selling tacky shlock to tacky cruisers. You get the picture. Sorrento is the inevitable, unavoidable town best left behind as quickly as possible.

Well, I’m here to eat my words. I spent a few days in Sorrento earlier this summer and saw a side of the town that made me reconsider everything. Buongiorno, Sorrento. I’m your new fan.

Let’s go way back. According to Greek legend, Sorrento was founded by Liporos, who named it after the Sirens who failed to seduce his grandfather Ulysses during his Odyssey. It was then further developed by the Ancient Romans, who built temples and planted vines in their beloved Surrentum. For centuries thereafter, the area remained a playground for the nobility of the ensuing kingdoms of Sicily, Naples, and Italy. They created the palaces and churches and lifestyles that in turn lured the acclaimed artists, musicians, and writers of their eras. The Europeans on their Grand Tours came next…and that more or less brings us up to today.

Or, I should say, it brings us to night, because spending a few nights in town, after sunset when the crowds had left, was the key to my Sorrento renaissance.

Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria is located in the center of town off Corso Italia in Piazza Tasso, but it feels like a serene world apart. The stroll from the entrance to the hotel — past manicured gardens, shady palms, colorful flowers, orange and citrus trees, and Roman ruins — reset my spirit so quickly that the flight from London, the commute from Naples, and the slow-moving tourists were all but forgotten by the time I reach reception. I walked into the glass atrium — a wall of old family photos arranged gallery-style to my right and the Bay of Naples spread out before me on the horizon. I was in Vittoria, one of three historic villas that were combined in 1834 into this hotel by the Fiorentino family, who not only continue to run the hotel but also have a home on the property. If I owned this place, I’d live here, too.

The style throughout this wonderful grand dame hotel is warm, old-fashioned glamour. The Wagner Suite I stayed in had a spacious marble bathroom with a deep tub, Murano chandeliers, velvet chairs, and a splendid terrace overlooking the marina. It’s one of many suites named for the musicians who worked or vacationed here over the years — Pavarotti, Caruso, and Dalla among them.

The musical theme continued over dinner with owners Guido and Ornella Fiorentino at the hotel’s wonderful, Michelin-starred Terrazza Bosquet, where amuse bouches and petit fours were served on a tray that evoked a music note. This was but one of the playful, inventive elements of chef Antonino Montefusco’s meal: The most memorable was a dessert tower of coffee “air” that bubbled up from a tricked-out moka pot. (Mere words can’t do this one justice.)

Breakfast served under the arched, frescoed walls of the ballroom overlooking the sea was worth getting out of bed for. And the hotel has elevators, but taking them would have robbed me of the beauty of the painted flowers, majestic statues, and ornate bannisters that decorated the noble staircases in each of the connected villas. If your Sorrento involves any time at this hotel, you’ll love your Sorrento, too.

Ornella and Guido had thoughts about what I should do in Sorrento, and I’m glad I followed their lead through the back streets for a memorable day-into-evening meander.