The catch at Palazzo Murat
Five things sit between the photographs and the stay. The hotel is open about all of them, and none is a reason to pass on Positano's garden palazzo, but each one decides which room, which month and how you arrive.
On our shortlists
There is no lift, and the rooms in the old palazzo are up flights of stairs.
Palazzo Murat is a historic residence and has no lift. The Deluxe Sea View and Special Deluxe Sea View rooms are on the second floor of the old palazzo, the Standard Double Room is up two flights of stairs, and the suite with a balcony over the sea is reached by about 20 steps. Outside it is the same story. The hotel is on Via dei Mulini, a car-free lane; cars stop at Piazza dei Mulini, 2 minutes away on foot, and the church, Spiaggia Grande and the ferry pier are all downhill, so every walk back to the hotel climbs. Porters carry the luggage from the hotel's car park on Piazza dei Mulini at no charge.
What to do. If stairs are hard, say so when you book, as the hotel asks, and take a Classic Garden and City View room, at garden level in the newer wing.
The entry rooms look over the garden and the village; the sea starts one or two rungs up, at €412 to €862 a night more.
The Classic Garden and City View rooms, 24 to 30 m², are at garden level in the newer wing, with a private terrace over the gardens and the village. The Special Superior rooms, the same size on the first or second floor, add a terrace with a view of the sea to one side. The Deluxe Sea View rooms, 25 to 30 m² on the second floor of the old palazzo, are the first with a balcony over the sea. For one night on Tuesday 8 June 2027, for two with breakfast, the three were €1,338, €1,750 and €2,200. The gap holds through the season: on 6 April 2027 they were €670, €805 and €1,147.
What to do. If the sea is the point, book the Deluxe Sea View. If the budget stops at the entry room, the view is the garden, the pool and the church dome, which is no hardship.
Late May, June and September cost twice what early April does, and the hotel is closed from November to March.
For the entry Classic Garden and City View room, one night for two with breakfast was €670 from 25 March to 13 April 2027, €769 on 20 April, €950 on 4 May, €1,155 on 11 May and €1,338 from 18 May to 22 June. July and August ease to €1,213, mid September to 1 October is back at €1,338, and the first week of October is €1,213, or €1,092 on a prepaid, non-refundable rate. Positano's tourist tax, up to €5 per person per night from April to October, with under-10s exempt, is paid on top. The hotel opens from late March to the end of October, and 25 March is the first night on sale in 2027.
What to do. Early April costs half of June, with the pool open from April; in high summer, July and August are a little cheaper than June and September.
There is no beach of its own: Spiaggia Grande is 4 minutes down the lane, with paid beach clubs beside the free stretch.
The hotel's water is the outdoor pool in the garden, open daily from 8:00 to 18:00 from April to October, weather permitting, with the majolica dome of Santa Maria Assunta in front and the sea beyond the church. For the sea itself, Spiaggia Grande is 4 minutes away on foot, downhill. Like most of this coast it is a pebble beach, with paid beach clubs, where sunbeds and umbrellas are hired by the day, beside a free public stretch, and the hotel has no beach club of its own. So a day by the sea means the walk down and back up, and for a sunbed, a beach-club bill as well.
What to do. Book a beach-club sunbed for the days you want the sea in July and August, and keep the afternoons for the pool; on the day you leave, the garden and pool are open to you until 14:00.
Arrival is on foot: cars stop 2 minutes away, parking is paid, and porters from the ferry cost extra.
Via dei Mulini is pedestrian, so taxis and cars stop at Piazza dei Mulini, where the hotel has private parking, charged by the day and booked in advance, and its porters bring the luggage to the door free of charge. Arrive by ferry and the pier is 5 minutes away on foot, but the porters there are private, paid separately and not part of the hotel's service. From Naples airport it is 73 minutes by car off-peak, and the City of Naples sets a fixed taxi fare to Positano of €145 per car, with tolls on top. The SITA Sud bus stop at Sponda, for Amalfi and Sorrento, is 7 minutes up the hill.
What to do. Book parking with the room, and if you come by ferry, travel light or budget for a porter up from the pier.
Who should skip it
Anyone who needs a lift or a step-free room, wants the sea from the entry room, or wants a beach below the window with sunbeds included. Also anyone on a tight budget in late May, June or September, or planning a stay between November and March, when the hotel is closed.
Who should book it anyway
Anyone who wants to live inside Positano rather than look down on it. Behind the gate on Via dei Mulini is a family palazzo with a garden of citrus trees, palms, roses and bougainvillea, begun as a vineyard in the fifties and still supplying the kitchen, and a pool facing the majolica dome of Santa Maria Assunta. Breakfast, included, is on the terrace of Le Petit Murat; dinner at Al Palazzo, in the MICHELIN Guide, is laid in the garden; and Spiaggia Grande is 4 minutes away on foot. Book a Deluxe Sea View, come in April, and the stairs are a fair price.
The catch elsewhere on the Amalfi Coast
- Le SirenusePositano
The cheapest rooms, the Courtyard Rooms of about 22 m², look onto an inner courtyard with a limited view; the sea view starts at the Classic Sea View, on the lower floors
- Il San Pietro di PositanoPositano
The entry Classic room is about 22 m² including its terrace and bathroom, with a shower; the hotel lists sunbeds on the terrace only from the 40 m² Elite rooms up
- Caruso, A Belmond HotelRavello
The entry Superior Room with Garden is on the ground floor of the Garden Wing and looks over the garden or the village, not the sea; the sea view starts with the Deluxe Sea View Room, about €200 to €900 a night more
- Borgo SantandreaConca dei Marini
Among the coast's dearest: about €2,745 a night for a Superior room in June, with breakfast
- Monastero Santa Rosa Hotel & SpaConca dei Marini
The entry Superior Rooms are 26 m² with a single sea-view window and a shower; a bathtub starts with the Deluxe Room and a terrace with the Queen Terrace Room
- Hotel Tramonto d'OroPraiano
Rooms are compact: the Superior with a partial sea view is 20 m², and the sea is seen only in part, from its 4 m² balcony
- Hotel Marina RivieraAmalfi
On the coast road: rooms at the front hear the buses by day, so ask for a higher floor
- Hotel Santa LuciaMinori
Rooms on the street side face the SS163 coast road and pick up traffic noise
- Palazzo PascalScala
The entry Classic Room is in the Dependance, an annex about 50 metres from the main building: about 18 m² with a window and a partial sea view. A private terrace starts with the Deluxe Rooms, about €105 a night more, and the palazzo's suites with the Superior Suite, about €200 more
Things to do from Palazzo Murat
The nearest of the experiences we would book, by car from the hotel.
The coast from the seaAmalfi Coast and Positano small-boat trip with snorkelling
From €994.9(2,700)4 min by car
Capri, by boatCapri and the Blue Grotto by small boat, with pickup in Positano
From €1604.8(290)4 min by carMeeting point in Positano
The golden hourPositano sunset cruise to the Furore fjord, with prosecco
From €704.8(310)5 min by car
The coast by roadPrivate vintage Fiat 500 tour from Positano or Praiano
From €2995(140)5 min by carPickup included
Questions people ask
Good questions about Palazzo Murat
What are the downsides of Palazzo Murat?
Five things sit between the photographs and the stay. The hotel is open about all of them, and none is a reason to pass on Positano's garden palazzo, but each one decides which room, which month and how you arrive. There is no lift, and the rooms in the old palazzo are up flights of stairs. The entry rooms look over the garden and the village; the sea starts one or two rungs up, at €412 to €862 a night more. Late May, June and September cost twice what early April does, and the hotel is closed from November to March. There is no beach of its own: Spiaggia Grande is 4 minutes down the lane, with paid beach clubs beside the free stretch. Arrival is on foot: cars stop 2 minutes away, parking is paid, and porters from the ferry cost extra.
Who should not book Palazzo Murat?
Anyone who needs a lift or a step-free room, wants the sea from the entry room, or wants a beach below the window with sunbeds included. Also anyone on a tight budget in late May, June or September, or planning a stay between November and March, when the hotel is closed.
Our verdict
Positano from the inside: a family palazzo with a garden, a pool and the beach four minutes away, for those who would rather walk to the sea than look down on it. Check availability for the Deluxe Sea View.
Last checked: October 2026