Positano, located along Italy's Amalfi Coast, is a gorgeous town famous for its colourful cliffside housed and breathtaking views of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Positano's picturesque atmosphere and Mediterranean beauty attract people from all over the world.

The region is well-known for its scenic beaches and rocky coastline that look better in real life than in all the pictures and movies you might have seen. Surrounded by this breathtaking splendour, Positano has a variety of fantastic hotels, ranging from historic houses to cliffside resorts, each offering a distinct mix of luxury and coastal elegance.

Best Hotels in Positano:

Hotel Marincanto

Hotel Marincanto

Approaching through the roof-level car park is not the best introduction, but once you have descended in the lift to the principal floor and its big, airy sitting room looking on to the flowery terrace with fabulous views, the charm and the stunning position start to work.

Hotel Marincanto

The hotel clings to the cliff face on the outskirts of Positano, with the private beach about 10 minutes' walk away down steps passing several terraces. There are terrific views of both town and sea.

Palest colours or plain white, cream curtains and wooden furniture set the tone. Every detail is executed with taste and flair - the effect is fresh and elegant.

Hotel Marincanto

Occasional splashes of colour, for example acid green, or blue-striped fabrics, provide a calm contrast.

Hands-on owners ensure that their staff is always friendly and goes above and beyond for their customers. The relatively small size mean guests genuinely feel looked after, but the service is anything but intrusive.

Hotel Marincanto

There is a wellness centre, an infinity pool and gym, and, as well as the main terrace, there are several mini terraces providing peaceful corners to sit back and relax.

Hotel Marincanto

The private beach, which only a few Positano hotels can provide, is a significant advantage.

The breakfast buffet offers a wide variety of options. The bar offers light meals, salads and beverages. The Terrazza Celè restaurant serves supper with a modern twist on traditional local foods, emphasising presentation and natural tastes.

Le Sirenuse

Le Sirenuse

It's a legend even on this coast of legends, a classic that is more than the sum of its parts. The owners offer elegance, refinement, and pedigree smarts, as they have done for legions of insiders for decades.

The primary component of the hotel was the aristocratic Sersale family's vacation residence, which has grown over time into numerous contiguous buildings. Four Sersale siblings opened the home to visitors in 1951, with only eight rooms and a big balcony overlooking the sea.

Le Sirenuse

Franco Sersale oversaw a massive renovation of the hotel in the 1990s, he was not just a devoted collector, filling the property with fine furniture and artworks, but also an avid globe traveller and photographer.

Antonio and Carla Sersale, the current owners, collect contemporary art and invite one artist each year to create a site-specific sculpture, including Martin Creed, Stanley Whitney, and Matt Connors.

Most rooms are little yet beautiful. A balcony with a table and chairs overlooking the village houses and the beach. White vaulted rooms with a classic tiled floor, sofa and chairs, and a canopy bed with a feather duvet.

Le Sirenuse

Sersale is Swiss-trained and runs a tight ship, all done with great flair. Names are remembered, and the majority of staff members are locals.

Positano is either an amazingly lovely tumble of pastel-hued houses that wrap around the coastline, or an overpriced nightmare for day-trippers.

However, having a refuge to retire to, such as the Sirenuse, makes it much more pleasant. A 10-minute stroll down Via dei Mulini from the hotel takes you to the beach, which is lined with bars, cafés, and restaurants on the black sand. Positano may serve as a base for touring the other villages along the Amalfi Coast by land or water.

Antique chests of drawers, prints on the walls. Bathrooms with grey-white Carrara marble and Eau d'Italie from Sersale's sister Marina. Beautiful tiny cloth-bound volumes (Steinbeck's piece, a colouring book with mignon pencils, and a book on Franco's Bar); a charming beach basket for your stay.

Le Sirenuse

La Sponda, with its 400 candles and bougainvillea-clad dining room, is one of the coast's best supper venues, both for the ambiance and the food—sea bass with candied lemon, chestnut ravioli with white truffles, and amberjack with grape jam. The light-as-air hot lemon soufflé is an excellent way to conclude.

Eggplant parmigiana with grilled octopus at the bar. Breakfast on Vietri's colourful pottery dishes: creamy buffalo milk yoghurt, handmade granola, and sfogliatelle pastries.

Palazzo Murat

Palazzo Murat

Standing halfway down the steep, pedestrian Via dei Mulini, the position is about as central as it gets, which isn't always a good thing in this tourist-heavy town. Once inside, the magnificent garden serves as a barrier between you and the worst of the congestion.

A short trip down the hill, past boutiques, art galleries, and souvenir stores, leads to the major beach; a short puff-inducing walk in the opposite way goes to the nearest car parks and bus stops for Amalfi, Ravello, and Sorrento.

The original part of this 18th-century palazzo (which was later extended into the garden) was once home to Joachim Murat, king of Naples and Napoleon's brother-in-law, and the place exudes grandeur (but not pomposity), particularly in the vaulted public rooms with antiques and fine paintings.

Palazzo Murat

An beautiful wrought-iron doorway leads to the alluring arched courtyard, which is flowing with bougainvillaea and covered by large white umbrellas.

The competent service is accompanied by a pleasant grin, as is the case with many hotels in the region. The concierge can organise airport transfers and trips to the surrounding region or farther afield (Pompeii, Sorrento, Paestum), a journey down the coast on the hotel's own boat is gratis for all guests.

The courtyard must be one of the most beautiful places in Positano, and the garden, with its tiny pool and views down to the sea, is a tremendous bonus in this congested town. There is a small'spa suite' with massages and a Turkish bath.

Palazzo Murat

The old palazzo's great rooms, decorated with four-posters, antiques, and luxurious textiles, feature towering French windows that lead onto creeper-draped balconies. The King is claimed to have stayed in the 'Special Deluxe' chamber with his many lovers (albeit not all at once).

The rooms in the more recent wing that stretches into the garden are smaller and simpler in design (immaculate white with cool tiled floors, new textiles, and painted furniture), but they are nevertheless pleasant - and much cheaper. Each has a little patio that overlooks the grounds or the town and the sea. It's worth paying for a sea view.

Palazzo Murat

The Al Palazzo restaurant's tables are set under a green pergola; it's a lovely place, especially in the evening, with specialties like tuna and amberjack tartare with guacamole, linguine with lobster, and rack of lamb with red sauce.

Many of the fresh ingredients originate from the hotel's own kitchen garden. The pool serves light meals (salads, a pasta choice or two and burgers), and there is also a bar.

Breakfast, served in the lovely courtyard to a backdrop of birdsong where possible, is a treat and includes fresh local cheeses, smoked salmon and swordfish, countless baked pastries and omelettes, poached eggs, and eggs Benedict prepared to request.

Il San Pietro di Positano

Il San Pietro di Positano

Positano became a celebrity in John Steinbeck's eponymous 1953 short tale, and the tranquil little coastal town has never completely left the popular imagination—nor has Il San Pietro di Positano, one of the island's hottest harbour hops since its inauguration in October 1970.

It's no surprise that the worldwide glitterati come here; the village's steep, narrow stone alleyways and stunningly magnificent blue waters are the stuff of dreams (at least for us).

Il San Pietro di Positano

The 56-room hotel, located on a strip of magnificent cliffside real estate above the Bay of Positano, is a rustic Eden awash with aromatic vegetation and lemon trees.

Exquisitely tiled rooms with vivid linen accents and big windows provide stunning sea views, while whimsical touches such as lamps with imaginative centaur motifs and gilded coffee tables provide a touch of luxury.

Il San Pietro di Positano

Some even have private lifts and Jacuzzi rooms. If you aren't a morning person, you could be converted. After starting your day with a platter of delicious strawberries and a thimble of espresso, take a lift down to a private beach—or request a complementary boat trip around the harbour.

Michelin-starred chef Alois Vanlangenaeker and his 35-strong staff work in a 350-square-metre, cutting-edge kitchen within the hotel. He prepares delicacies like codfish gnocchi with octopus and truffle, John Dory with lemon and buffalo yoghurt, and warm rabbit salad with saffron vinaigrette at gourmet restaurant Zass, where most of the fresh produce comes from the hotel's 10,000-square-metre kitchen garden.

Il San Pietro di Positano

Meals are served on a delightfully lovely sea-facing patio or, for a glimpse of the activity, at the chef's table in the kitchen. For a more casual meal, stroll down to waterside Carlino's for delectable, local specialties like mozzarella cooked on lemon leaves and pasta with courgettes or mussels. Just in time for the 2019 season, a food truck in the shape of an Ape.

The sumptuous breakfast buffet - bowls of fresh, seasonal fruit, freshly squeezed juices, local mozzarella, smoked salmon and rare roast beef, creamy locally made yoghurt, homemade breads and jams - will get you ready for the day, and the bar terrace, with its famous majolica-tiled benches, is an unrivalled spot for a sundowner.

Hotel Villa Franca Positano

Hotel Villa Franca Positano

Villa Franca presides over Positano from its own small rocky outcrop at the very top of the town; not ideal if you want to be in the middle of things, but it's calmer up here and the views are indisputably breathtaking.

A free shuttle service (minibus or golf cart) will take you down to Piazza dei Mulini and back up. Alternatively, it's a simple 15-minute trek along the winding main road, or there are steep stairwell shortcuts; the return journey is more difficult.

Hotel Villa Franca Positano

Boutique-y: the style here is traditional Positano (cold white tiles and paintwork, vaulted ceilings, wrought iron balconies) with a clever, contemporary touch. Rosa Taddeo, the current owner, inherited and improved the family company.

Quirky local artwork and colourful ceramics brighten the open-plan living room and bar area, which is equipped with comfortable couches and armchairs and stocked with glossy coffee table literature.

For such a tiny hotel, the amenities are outstanding, including a decent-sized rooftop pool with comfy sunloungers, a small spa, two bars, and a variety of gourmet and informal eateries.

Hotel Villa Franca Positano

Foodies may take culinary and cocktail-making workshops with the award-winning barman, and excursions of local food and wine producers can be scheduled. The pool terrace provides stunning 360-degree views. There is a lot of attention to detail (complimentary sparkling wine or a refreshing lemonade drink upon arrival, for example), and the well-dressed staff is quite competent.

Bedrooms are decorated in a stylish, classic manner, with sparkling white floor tiles and white paintwork accented with subtle grey, black, and turquoise design elements. The main villa's 28 rooms include terraces or balconies as well as far-reaching vistas; the standards are quite tiny.

Superior rooms and above have iPads, Bang & Olufsen speakers, and Nespresso machines. The 14 apartments in an adjacent annexe are larger but slightly blander; they lack sea views but have access to a nice terraced garden. The marble bathrooms are supplied with large amounts of the citrusy in-house amenities.

The breakfast buffet has fresh fruit and buffalo yoghurt, handmade pastries and breads, organic jams, fresh mozzarella, and eggs cooked to order.

Hotel Le Agavi

Hotel Le Agavi

Positano, located along Italy's Amalfi Coast, is a gorgeous town famous for its colourful cliffside housed and breathtaking views of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Positano's picturesque atmosphere and Mediterranean beauty attract people from all over the world.

The region is well-known for its scenic beaches and rocky coastline that look better in real life than in all the pictures and movies you might have seen. Surrounded by this breathtaking splendour, Positano has a variety of fantastic hotels, ranging from historic houses to cliffside resorts, each offering a distinct mix of luxury and coastal elegance.

Best Hotels in Positano:

Hotel Marincanto

Hotel Marincanto

Approaching through the roof-level car park is not the best introduction, but once you have descended in the lift to the principal floor and its big, airy sitting room looking on to the flowery terrace with fabulous views, the charm and the stunning position start to work.

Hotel Marincanto

The hotel clings to the cliff face on the outskirts of Positano, with the private beach about 10 minutes' walk away down steps passing several terraces. There are terrific views of both town and sea.

Palest colours or plain white, cream curtains and wooden furniture set the tone. Every detail is executed with taste and flair - the effect is fresh and elegant.

Hotel Marincanto

Occasional splashes of colour, for example acid green, or blue-striped fabrics, provide a calm contrast.

Hands-on owners ensure that their staff is always friendly and goes above and beyond for their customers. The relatively small size mean guests genuinely feel looked after, but the service is anything but intrusive.

Hotel Marincanto

There is a wellness centre, an infinity pool and gym, and, as well as the main terrace, there are several mini terraces providing peaceful corners to sit back and relax.

Hotel Marincanto

The private beach, which only a few Positano hotels can provide, is a significant advantage.

The breakfast buffet offers a wide variety of options. The bar offers light meals, salads and beverages. The Terrazza Celè restaurant serves supper with a modern twist on traditional local foods, emphasising presentation and natural tastes.

Le Sirenuse

Le Sirenuse

It's a legend even on this coast of legends, a classic that is more than the sum of its parts. The owners offer elegance, refinement, and pedigree smarts, as they have done for legions of insiders for decades.

The primary component of the hotel was the aristocratic Sersale family's vacation residence, which has grown over time into numerous contiguous buildings. Four Sersale siblings opened the home to visitors in 1951, with only eight rooms and a big balcony overlooking the sea.

Le Sirenuse

Franco Sersale oversaw a massive renovation of the hotel in the 1990s, he was not just a devoted collector, filling the property with fine furniture and artworks, but also an avid globe traveller and photographer.

Antonio and Carla Sersale, the current owners, collect contemporary art and invite one artist each year to create a site-specific sculpture, including Martin Creed, Stanley Whitney, and Matt Connors.

Most rooms are little yet beautiful. A balcony with a table and chairs overlooking the village houses and the beach. White vaulted rooms with a classic tiled floor, sofa and chairs, and a canopy bed with a feather duvet.

Le Sirenuse

Sersale is Swiss-trained and runs a tight ship, all done with great flair. Names are remembered, and the majority of staff members are locals.

Positano is either an amazingly lovely tumble of pastel-hued houses that wrap around the coastline, or an overpriced nightmare for day-trippers.

However, having a refuge to retire to, such as the Sirenuse, makes it much more pleasant. A 10-minute stroll down Via dei Mulini from the hotel takes you to the beach, which is lined with bars, cafés, and restaurants on the black sand. Positano may serve as a base for touring the other villages along the Amalfi Coast by land or water.

Antique chests of drawers, prints on the walls. Bathrooms with grey-white Carrara marble and Eau d'Italie from Sersale's sister Marina. Beautiful tiny cloth-bound volumes (Steinbeck's piece, a colouring book with mignon pencils, and a book on Franco's Bar); a charming beach basket for your stay.

Le Sirenuse

La Sponda, with its 400 candles and bougainvillea-clad dining room, is one of the coast's best supper venues, both for the ambiance and the food—sea bass with candied lemon, chestnut ravioli with white truffles, and amberjack with grape jam. The light-as-air hot lemon soufflé is an excellent way to conclude.

Eggplant parmigiana with grilled octopus at the bar. Breakfast on Vietri's colourful pottery dishes: creamy buffalo milk yoghurt, handmade granola, and sfogliatelle pastries.

Palazzo Murat

Palazzo Murat

Standing halfway down the steep, pedestrian Via dei Mulini, the position is about as central as it gets, which isn't always a good thing in this tourist-heavy town. Once inside, the magnificent garden serves as a barrier between you and the worst of the congestion.

A short trip down the hill, past boutiques, art galleries, and souvenir stores, leads to the major beach; a short puff-inducing walk in the opposite way goes to the nearest car parks and bus stops for Amalfi, Ravello, and Sorrento.

The original part of this 18th-century palazzo (which was later extended into the garden) was once home to Joachim Murat, king of Naples and Napoleon's brother-in-law, and the place exudes grandeur (but not pomposity), particularly in the vaulted public rooms with antiques and fine paintings.

Palazzo Murat

An beautiful wrought-iron doorway leads to the alluring arched courtyard, which is flowing with bougainvillaea and covered by large white umbrellas.

The competent service is accompanied by a pleasant grin, as is the case with many hotels in the region. The concierge can organise airport transfers and trips to the surrounding region or farther afield (Pompeii, Sorrento, Paestum), a journey down the coast on the hotel's own boat is gratis for all guests.

The courtyard must be one of the most beautiful places in Positano, and the garden, with its tiny pool and views down to the sea, is a tremendous bonus in this congested town. There is a small'spa suite' with massages and a Turkish bath.

Palazzo Murat

The old palazzo's great rooms, decorated with four-posters, antiques, and luxurious textiles, feature towering French windows that lead onto creeper-draped balconies. The King is claimed to have stayed in the 'Special Deluxe' chamber with his many lovers (albeit not all at once).

The rooms in the more recent wing that stretches into the garden are smaller and simpler in design (immaculate white with cool tiled floors, new textiles, and painted furniture), but they are nevertheless pleasant - and much cheaper. Each has a little patio that overlooks the grounds or the town and the sea. It's worth paying for a sea view.

Palazzo Murat

The Al Palazzo restaurant's tables are set under a green pergola; it's a lovely place, especially in the evening, with specialties like tuna and amberjack tartare with guacamole, linguine with lobster, and rack of lamb with red sauce.

Many of the fresh ingredients originate from the hotel's own kitchen garden. The pool serves light meals (salads, a pasta choice or two and burgers), and there is also a bar.

Breakfast, served in the lovely courtyard to a backdrop of birdsong where possible, is a treat and includes fresh local cheeses, smoked salmon and swordfish, countless baked pastries and omelettes, poached eggs, and eggs Benedict prepared to request.

Il San Pietro di Positano

Il San Pietro di Positano

Positano became a celebrity in John Steinbeck's eponymous 1953 short tale, and the tranquil little coastal town has never completely left the popular imagination—nor has Il San Pietro di Positano, one of the island's hottest harbour hops since its inauguration in October 1970.

It's no surprise that the worldwide glitterati come here; the village's steep, narrow stone alleyways and stunningly magnificent blue waters are the stuff of dreams (at least for us).

Il San Pietro di Positano

The 56-room hotel, located on a strip of magnificent cliffside real estate above the Bay of Positano, is a rustic Eden awash with aromatic vegetation and lemon trees.

Exquisitely tiled rooms with vivid linen accents and big windows provide stunning sea views, while whimsical touches such as lamps with imaginative centaur motifs and gilded coffee tables provide a touch of luxury.

Il San Pietro di Positano

Some even have private lifts and Jacuzzi rooms. If you aren't a morning person, you could be converted. After starting your day with a platter of delicious strawberries and a thimble of espresso, take a lift down to a private beach—or request a complementary boat trip around the harbour.

Michelin-starred chef Alois Vanlangenaeker and his 35-strong staff work in a 350-square-metre, cutting-edge kitchen within the hotel. He prepares delicacies like codfish gnocchi with octopus and truffle, John Dory with lemon and buffalo yoghurt, and warm rabbit salad with saffron vinaigrette at gourmet restaurant Zass, where most of the fresh produce comes from the hotel's 10,000-square-metre kitchen garden.

Il San Pietro di Positano

Meals are served on a delightfully lovely sea-facing patio or, for a glimpse of the activity, at the chef's table in the kitchen. For a more casual meal, stroll down to waterside Carlino's for delectable, local specialties like mozzarella cooked on lemon leaves and pasta with courgettes or mussels. Just in time for the 2019 season, a food truck in the shape of an Ape.

The sumptuous breakfast buffet - bowls of fresh, seasonal fruit, freshly squeezed juices, local mozzarella, smoked salmon and rare roast beef, creamy locally made yoghurt, homemade breads and jams - will get you ready for the day, and the bar terrace, with its famous majolica-tiled benches, is an unrivalled spot for a sundowner.

Hotel Villa Franca Positano

Hotel Villa Franca Positano

Villa Franca presides over Positano from its own small rocky outcrop at the very top of the town; not ideal if you want to be in the middle of things, but it's calmer up here and the views are indisputably breathtaking.

A free shuttle service (minibus or golf cart) will take you down to Piazza dei Mulini and back up. Alternatively, it's a simple 15-minute trek along the winding main road, or there are steep stairwell shortcuts; the return journey is more difficult.

Hotel Villa Franca Positano

Boutique-y: the style here is traditional Positano (cold white tiles and paintwork, vaulted ceilings, wrought iron balconies) with a clever, contemporary touch. Rosa Taddeo, the current owner, inherited and improved the family company.

Quirky local artwork and colourful ceramics brighten the open-plan living room and bar area, which is equipped with comfortable couches and armchairs and stocked with glossy coffee table literature.

For such a tiny hotel, the amenities are outstanding, including a decent-sized rooftop pool with comfy sunloungers, a small spa, two bars, and a variety of gourmet and informal eateries.

Hotel Villa Franca Positano

Foodies may take culinary and cocktail-making workshops with the award-winning barman, and excursions of local food and wine producers can be scheduled. The pool terrace provides stunning 360-degree views. There is a lot of attention to detail (complimentary sparkling wine or a refreshing lemonade drink upon arrival, for example), and the well-dressed staff is quite competent.

Bedrooms are decorated in a stylish, classic manner, with sparkling white floor tiles and white paintwork accented with subtle grey, black, and turquoise design elements. The main villa's 28 rooms include terraces or balconies as well as far-reaching vistas; the standards are quite tiny.

Superior rooms and above have iPads, Bang & Olufsen speakers, and Nespresso machines. The 14 apartments in an adjacent annexe are larger but slightly blander; they lack sea views but have access to a nice terraced garden. The marble bathrooms are supplied with large amounts of the citrusy in-house amenities.

The breakfast buffet has fresh fruit and buffalo yoghurt, handmade pastries and breads, organic jams, fresh mozzarella, and eggs cooked to order.

Hotel Le Agavi

Hotel Le Agavi