Il San Pietro di Positano is a family-owned hotel built down the cliff of the Laurito headland, about 1.5 km east of Positano, below the small chapel of San Pietro that marks its entrance on the coast road. Carlino Cinque, whose first hotel was the Miramare in Positano, spent six years cutting rooms, terraces and a grand hall into the rock on ten levels, following the shape of the hillside and refusing straight lines. He opened it on the feast of San Pietro, 29 June 1970. His family still owns and runs it, and the MICHELIN Guide gives it three Keys, its highest hotel distinction.
Every room has a private terrace facing the sea, and no two are furnished alike. The Classic rooms start at about 22 m², terrace and bathroom included, with a shower; the Deluxe rooms, from 26 m², have a table and armchairs outside. From the 40 m² Elite rooms up, the terraces add sunbeds and the bathrooms grow, in Italian marble or terracotta tiles made by local artisans. The Signature and Prestige rooms, from 60 to 90 m², were designed by Fausta Gaetani's studio, and the 120 m² Virginia Suite fills a whole floor with its own way into the pool. Breakfast, included, is a buffet at Zass with bread from the hotel's own bakers.
What you book it for is never needing to leave. A lift cut through the rock runs from the lobby to the hotel's cove in about 45 seconds: a sun deck, sea platforms, a bar and a tennis court between the cliff and the pebble beach, all for resident guests, and the Carlino restaurant, which takes a few outside diners. The other way down is 400 stone steps through ten terraces of organic gardens that supply the kitchens. Above, a pool on a terrace looks across to Praiano. From May to mid-October a free two-hour cruise leaves the dock at 11:30 every day but Sunday, with a swim stop and a drink, and there is free yoga or Pilates on the beachfront lawn in the morning. Dinner is at Zass, which holds a MICHELIN star under Alois Vanlangenaeker, its chef since 2002.
The trade is the price of the view. In June the entry Classic costs about €3,530 a night for a room that is small once the terrace is counted, and space only arrives at the Elite level. Positano is a free shuttle ride away, or 33 minutes on foot along the coast road, and the hotel is open only from April to October, to guests aged 10 and over. For couples who want the sea, the gardens and a starred dinner without moving, it is the hideaway to book.
