The catch at Palazzo Pascal
Five things sit between the photographs and the stay. None is a reason to pass on a 13-room palazzo across the valley from Ravello, but each one decides which room you book, when you come and how you get about.
On our shortlists
- Best design hotels on the Amalfi CoastA palazzo restored by the Pascal ceramics family, 13 rooms
- Best value hotels on the Amalfi CoastA 13-room palazzo with a MICHELIN Key and a pool facing Ravello
- Best quiet hotels on the Amalfi Coast13 rooms in a hamlet of Scala, with a pool facing Ravello
- Best hotels with a view on the Amalfi CoastAcross the valley to Ravello, and down to Atrani and Amalfi
The entry room is in the annex, about 50 metres from the palazzo, with a window rather than a terrace.
The Classic Room RIBES, about 18 m², is one of four rooms in the Dependance, a separate house in the garden about 50 metres from the main building, renovated in 2024. It has a window over Ravello and its villas, with a partial sea view, and no balcony or terrace. A small balcony starts with the Premium Room VIOLA, about 19 m², and a private terrace with the Deluxe Rooms SAMBUCO and TIGLIO, about 24 and 25 m², at €480 a night for two against €375 for RIBES on Tuesday 8 June 2027. The palazzo itself starts with the Superior Suite IRIS at €575, and its first suite with a private sea-view terrace, the Deluxe Suite EDERA, is about €270 a night above RIBES.
What to do. Book RIBES as a quiet garden room for sleeping, with the pool and the terraces for the view. If you want your own outdoor space, a Dependance Deluxe Room costs €105 more; for a terrace in the palazzo, book EDERA.
There is no beach, the hotel is about 40 steps above the road, and the nearest bus stop is served three times a day.
Palazzo Pascal stands on Piazza Minuta, in a hamlet of Scala about 400 metres above the sea, and is reached by about 40 steps from the road. The nearest beaches are Castiglione, below Ravello, 7 km and 9 minutes away by car, and Amalfi, 8 km and about 11 minutes. On foot, the Duomo di Amalfi is 28 minutes down a steep stepped path, and a long climb back. The bus stop 30 metres away is served three times a day; the stop about 500 metres away has buses to Amalfi several times a day. The beaches below are pebble, with paid beach clubs beside free public stretches.
What to do. Plan beach days around a taxi or the buses from the stop 500 metres away, and book a beach club in Amalfi for the days you want a sunbed. Ask the hotel about its private parking with a shuttle if you are driving.
Dinner out means a taxi, or a stepped walk down to Pontone, 130 metres below.
The hotel has one restaurant, Gli Ulivi, for dinner, a pool bar for light lunches and the Berry Bar in the evening. Beyond them, the village restaurants within walking range are in Pontone, the hamlet below Minuta, 9 minutes away on foot down stepped lanes and about 130 metres lower, so the walk home is a steady climb in the dark. Scala's main restaurants are a 4-minute drive, Ravello's 5 to 6 minutes and Amalfi's and Atrani's about 10 minutes, all by road. Without a car, every dinner away from the hotel starts with a taxi or a timetable.
What to do. Book Gli Ulivi for the nights you want to stay put, and ask the concierge to book a taxi and a table together for the nights you go out. A torch helps on the steps from Pontone.
The lift reaches only the first floor of the palazzo, and every bathroom has a shower rather than a bath.
Inside the villa a lift serves the ground and first floors; the second-floor suites, the Deluxe Suite EDERA and the Junior Suite ORTENSIA, are reached by a few more steps. The four Dependance rooms are a 50-metre walk through the garden from the main building, and the Courtyard suites, ANGELICA and MELISSA, have their own entrance a few steps from the lobby. Every room and suite, from RIBES to the Prestige Suite FIORDALISO, has a bathroom with a shower, and none lists a bathtub. With the 40 steps up from the road, this is a hotel for guests who are comfortable on stairs.
What to do. If steps are hard, book a ground-floor palazzo suite such as IRIS, ROSA CANINA or IBISCO, or a Courtyard suite, and ask the hotel to help with luggage from the road.
The hotel closes from November to mid-March, and the pool is open in spring and summer only.
The hotel's last night of 2026 is 30 October, and it reopens on 12 March 2027. The panoramic pool opens seasonally in spring and summer, so a stay in March or late October may mean the heated jacuzzi and the Dependance's heated hydromassage pool rather than a swim. Prices are steady once the season starts: the entry room is about €300 a night for two in March and from mid-October, and €375 from late March to mid-October, with no rise in July and August. Scala's tourist tax, up to €5 per person per night for the first seven nights, is paid on top.
What to do. For the pool, come from May to September. For the lowest price, come in late March or mid-October and treat the pool as a bonus.
Who should skip it
Anyone who wants a beach below the room, a lively scene at night or restaurants on the doorstep. Also anyone who finds steps hard, wants a bathtub, or wants a terrace from the entry room, and anyone travelling between November and mid-March, when the hotel is closed.
Who should book it anyway
Anyone who wants the quiet side of the coast. Palazzo Pascal is a family-run house of 13 rooms and suites in a hamlet of Scala, with a MICHELIN Key, a panoramic pool facing Ravello and the sea, and Pascal ceramics in every room. Breakfast is à la carte, inside or out, and is in every rate; dinner at Gli Ulivi uses herbs and produce from the hotel's own garden; and there are cooking classes and tastings in the wine cellar. Book the Deluxe Suite EDERA for its terrace over Ravello, Atrani and Amalfi, come between May and September for the pool, and the trade is easy to make.
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
- Palazzo MuratPositano
There is no lift: rooms in the old palazzo are reached by stairs, the Deluxe rooms on the second floor, and the Standard Double Room, the smallest at about 20 m², is up two flights with a small terrace and no view
- 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
Things to do from Palazzo Pascal
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)11 min by car
Lemons and limoncelloA terraced lemon farm tour with tastings in Amalfi
From €354.8(290)11 min by car
Paddle to the cavesKayak and snorkel to Pandora's Cave from Minori
From €555(270)11 min by car
Cooking classCooking class and farmhouse lunch above Amalfi
From €1295(490)17 min by car
Questions people ask
Good questions about Palazzo Pascal
What are the downsides of Palazzo Pascal?
Five things sit between the photographs and the stay. None is a reason to pass on a 13-room palazzo across the valley from Ravello, but each one decides which room you book, when you come and how you get about. The entry room is in the annex, about 50 metres from the palazzo, with a window rather than a terrace. There is no beach, the hotel is about 40 steps above the road, and the nearest bus stop is served three times a day. Dinner out means a taxi, or a stepped walk down to Pontone, 130 metres below. The lift reaches only the first floor of the palazzo, and every bathroom has a shower rather than a bath. The hotel closes from November to mid-March, and the pool is open in spring and summer only.
Who should not book Palazzo Pascal?
Anyone who wants a beach below the room, a lively scene at night or restaurants on the doorstep. Also anyone who finds steps hard, wants a bathtub, or wants a terrace from the entry room, and anyone travelling between November and mid-March, when the hotel is closed.
Our verdict
The quiet find in Scala, for a 13-room palazzo, a pool facing Ravello and a family welcome rather than a beach. Check availability for the Deluxe Suite Edera.