San Francesco al Monte

This is a special place to be sure. It’s a stunning convent turned hotel that retains the character of its origins with an intricate layout, intriguing artifacts and displays like the gigantic nativity-like representation of Neapolitan ancient folk life next to our room. The hotel is perched on a hill overlooking the historic center and because of its height there are spectacular views from the sea-facing rooms and the two fabulous terraces on the hotel’s top floors, one with the restaurant and the other with the pool and another restaurant. The views are the best part. But the rooms, or the one we were assigned did lack a bit in modern amenities: no charging ports, a postage stamp sized tv, low water pressure in the tub and shower, and slow to warm water. They did service the water pressure as soon as we told them and fixed it for the handheld but the overhead was still weak. All this would be ok for a 3 star or even 4 star hotel if the prices weren’t so steep- high even for a five star designation which, as unique as the premises are I don’t think this hotel quite deserves. The location is also tricky: it’s technically very close to the historic center but to get there or get anywhere you’d want to go you have to either take the funicular ( like a bus or metro designed to track up and down the hill) or climb down several very steep sets of stairs. For us, elderly and disabled, stairs were not an option. For others, that might not be an issue, but for us it meant planning around taxis and the funicular instead of the more relaxed exploration we had imagined when we booked, with the hotel presumed proximity to the parts of Naples we wanted to lazily explore being a big reason for choosing this hotel. The breakfast was excellent, with everything you could imagine available at the buffet, and everyone was extremely courteous, friendly, and professional among the staff. We ate dinner at the hotel only one night. The food was good, not exceptional, and the views from the terrace spectacular, but with so many options in Naples and considering the elevated price, especially by Naples standards, we ate elsewhere for the rest of the stay. We did enjoy cocktails on the terrace in the evening. The pool isn’t heated and late May wasn’t sufficiently hot to warm it naturally, but it was nice to have a place to lounge and many guests swam, not minding the cool water. This hotel is an interesting place for its unusual architecture and decore, worth a quick visit at least, but the price to value factor here felt off, too high for what you get, and the location, being in a safe quiet area, but not close enough to attractions, makes it unlikely I will stay again.