Villa Santa Maria - Luxury Country House, Amalfi

Great hotel with great service.

Great place for a quiet and secluded stay on the busy Amalfi coast. Difficult to find with lots of steps down and up but once there, it's beautiful. Especially the " beach" direct on the water for great swimming and boat pick ups to go to waterfront restaurants. A great alternative to a larger hotel stay.

Our stay was amazing. When we got there someone was ready to carry our bags down to the hotel. Then we were greeted with a refreshing drink and snack. After checking in it was now after 3 PM so the local kitchens where closed till 7pm. Luisa made us a fabulous caprese salad and served it with two glasses of wine. It put us right into the vacation mode. The resort is very peaceful and the staff are extremely attentive to your needs. We went there to get away from all of the heavy tourist areas and just rest and this place delivered. If you do not like stairs to the street or water then this place is not for you. All the tourist buses were going into town which is a short walk down the road but we did not bother.

So the Santa Maria was in a great spot. Not too close to Amalfi - to be bothered by traffic and city noise - and the views were fantastic. Cute, quaint little room that was just enough for two people on their Honeymoon. The ONLY major draw back -- the amount of stairs. Not just to get from street level to the lobby, but even to the hot tub / sauna / coast line. Probably just a nature of the location, but definitely took us by surprise. MAKE CERTAIN you can handle walking and alot of stairs. If you can, this place was great. The service / staff were great and informative. Also, two little restaurants were right up the street so didn't have to venture too far to get a good meal. Ah... and forgot to mention, yes, the stairs were intense but there was a "bell hop" who grabbed our bags and brought them down and up when we arrived and when we left (he even parked our rental car in a safe spot too!). TIP THAT MAN. They say don't tip in Italy, but he handled two 50lb+ bags on 75+ steps like they were grocery bags. Awesome.

The hotel is far from amalfi. If you stay here I definitely recommend a car. We parked along the side of the road. There are many steps down to the hotel so if you have difficulty with steps I wouldn't advise staying here. There was a porter who brought our bags down when we checked in and carried everything up when we left. We could not have done without him. Our room was extremely small but it was clean. The hotel grounds are absolutely beautiful we walked down to the little deck and had a swim. The water is crystal clear. Again many steps down to the water!! The views are breathtaking. Breakfast was ok croissants and coffee, cheese, fruit etc. Hotel staff was nice. I probably wouldn't stay here again because of its location but if you want somewhere quiet and relaxing this is it.