What it is

A 1962 design legend by Midcentury starchitect Gio Ponti, with 96 rooms, a lush botanical garden and a private beach (and solariums!) accessed by tunnel.

What it isn't

A peasant’s plot. The land Parco Dei Principi sits on was owned by Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, King of Naples, in the 1700s, and later played host to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

What we think

Sweet dreams are made of this: a heavenly seafront hideaway favored by royalty, and tailor-made for making you feel like King (or Queen) of the world. Milanese architect Gio Ponti—the man behind the Superleggera chair, still sold by Cassina—designed the interiors, and they’re as eternally cool now as they were then, evoking visions of a sun-kissed Steve McQueen in his vacation linen. Minimalist guest rooms frame the sea or park view in style, with blue and white tiled floors, Jetsons-worthy furniture; ask for a Junior Suite with an overlook of the ocean and a private terrace. Instagrammers delight in the hotel’s tree-flanked salt water pool, designed by Ponti himself, because it appears cantilevered over the sea.

You're here because

You’ve got a thing for exploring gardens in foreign lands; the hotel’s is nearly 8 acres and manicured for romance, thanks to flourishing aphrodisiac plants once grown on-site by Jesuit friars.

The Moment

After an evening swim in the glass-clear water as yachts bob in the distance, you feel a bit like you’ve entered a James Bond movie (the Sean Connery era, of course) when you pull up your brass bar stool at The Lounge Bar. The walls are still sheathed in ceramic pebbles—embossed by Fausto Melotti—laid out by Ponti in graphic diamonds. Such resplendent beauty deserves a toast, and today you’re going with a Limoncello Spritz, the local favorite. What else?

Restaurants & Bars

The Gio Ponti restaurant - Italian classics with an incredible view

Poggio Siracusa - seafood specialities right on the beach

Lounge Bar - a beautiful space for cocktails surrounded by ceramics designed by Gio Ponti

Location

Perched on an ocean cliff fronting the Gulf of Naples in Sorrento, just a few blocks walk from Museo Correale di Terranova—where paintings by Van Dyck and Caracciolo hang in an 18th-century villa.