Hotel Aequa — Hotel in Vico Equense

I stayed at Hotel Aequa for a week in August. I booked a single room, and had a room on the third floor. It was a decent size, with a king-size bed (made up of two single beds joined together). The mattress was on the firm side, but comfortable. The pillows were good. The room appeared to have been recently repainted; it was white, with dark blue highlights (headboard, wall mirror frame). The floor was grey wood effect laminate. There was a floaty white curtain over the window, and an excellent electric shutter which meant the room was dark at night. There was no view out of the window. There was a small double wardrobe, a small 3 drawer chest, 2 bedside cupboards, a single chair, a small fridge and a wall mounted TV with Italian channels on it, plus a portable luggage rack. There was a sliding door into the bathroom, which was excellent. There was a toilet, bidet attachment, sink, and large modern shower. There was also a window, as the room was at the end of the corridor. There were tiles in blue, gold and red. The air conditioning was quiet and worked well. There was daily maid service, which was perfectly adequate but not outstanding (room cleanliness was at 90% rather than 100%, for instance there was black mould on the extractor fan in the bathroom, which I wiped off with a cloth). The room was very quiet, although towards the end of the week a couple with a child were in the room opposite, and I could hear the child crying at night, so I don't think the room was well soundproofed, I was just fortunate I had quiet neighbours! At the end of the third floor corridor, outside rooms 316/317, was an unexpected bonus in the form of a large terrace with 3 or 4 sets of tables and chairs with spectacular views, where you could sit with a glass of wine and watch the sunset. Having said all this, my friend was in a single room on the second floor that was smaller, with a queen size bed, tired and shabby decor, and noisier air-con, so not all the rooms are to the standard of the one I had on the third floor. The swimming pool (the main reason we booked this hotel) was outstanding. A lovely well-maintained pool with room for about 50-60 sunbeds and chairs around it. To guarantee a spot by the pool I would recommend queuing at the pool gate at 9.20 (the gate opens at 9.30). Sunbeds then become free again in the afternoon as about a quarter of the people there just spend the morning there. There is a lovely garden with lemon trees behind the pool where you can eat lunch in the shade. Lunch is very reasonably priced (around €9 or €10 for a salad or club sandwich & fries etc). You can order drinks to have by the pool from the pool attendant, Roberto, who is very helpful. There's also a dining room inside the hotel where a traditional lunch is served daily, this was very popular with the Italian guests (the majority of hotel guests were elderly Italians, with a smaller number of families and couples). There is a fantastic covered terrace outside with amazing views across the bay of Naples and Vesuvius where you can eat in the evenings. The menu is good and reasonably priced. There's also a terrific restaurant opposite the hotel called Tito's where we ate three times. Breakfast in the hotel was OK, with a decent selection of meats, cheeses, pastries, breads, yoghurts, fresh fruit and muesli, but would have been greatly improved by a wider choice of cereals (there was just one, plus muesli) and fresh fruit salad. I only saw a small bowl of this appear on one morning and it was all gone when I got to it! Why not make up a large bowl daily? Fresh melon appeared on one morning, and again, was gone by the time I got to it. The fruit juices were watered down from concentrate, judging by the taste, and not very nice. But this was minor. The hotel staff were all polite, friendly and super helpful and I couldn't fault them. Service was excellent. Location was good (5 mins from station). Tip: don't fly into Naples on a Sunday, transport is chaotic, non existent in the morning and taxis are very, very expensive! Fly on a...

We stayed at the Aequa Hotel for 11 nights in September. This is a family owned hotel which is rated as 4* but in the UK it would be more of a 3*. For the first week we were with a tour group from Travelsphere. We then stayed on for a few more nights to explore the area further. |The little town of Vico Equense is a good place for a base as it has a railway station, bus station plus a small harbour. We were given Room 203 on the first floor facing the hotel garden and pool plus a lovely view of the sea beyond. The room was large, a bit basic and a little rustic but it was comfortable anc clean with a big double bed plus a single bed (which we found useful to lay our suitcases on). There wasn’t very much storage for clothes etc for nearly 2 weeks but we made do. The room had a fridge with a few small bottles of mineral water (chargeable at €1.50 per bottle. If you go to the local supermarket you pay just 33 cents for a litre bottle which you can store in the fridge), tea and coffee making facilities which were replenished daily. This was at no charge for the days we were with Travelsphere but when we were under our own booking we had a daily charge of €9 per day for tea and coffee making facility. |The one big complaint with the room (who someone else on Tripadvisor mentioned) is that there are very few electrical sockets in the room. The two behind the desk were used up for the room fridge and the kettle. We therefore had just one each either side of the bed for charging phones, cameras, etc. meaning we had to unplug the room phone to use its socket. Another problem was that we couldn’t get our room safe to work. We complained four or five times about it but no one bothered to get it seen to. We were there for 12 days with no working safe. Really annoying as we felt that the guy on reception didn't really care about us and I am sure he had no intentions of getting someone to look at it! |Bathroom was roomy but a bit dated. Nice big bath towels. Shower over the bath. A few complimentary toiletries replenished each day, |We had a nice balcony with a table and two chairs. |The room maids did a fine job each day and the waiting staff in the restaurant were a friendly, obliging lot. The guys on the reception though were another story. Although polite, they were very aloof and not very accommodating except for one who I think was called Giacamo. |Hotel had a nice pool with loungers and free pool towels. However these pool towels were not made of towelling. They were more like a tea towel fabric. Useless! |Although there are barking dogs during the day and music from local bars in the evenings, our room was very quiet at nights. |Breakfast had a reasonable selection of cold buffet but hot buffet looked decidedly unappetising. We had dinner included for our first week which was a three course meal each day. It was lovely with a lot of fish on offer. |In the restaurant at dinner you could order a bottle of wine and any left over was kept by for your next evening. The waiters would just write your room number on the bottle and store it away for you. However, keep track of how much you drink plus any drinks by the pool as you don’t have to sign for them. Our bill at the end of the stay was fine but it is easy for mistakes to be made. Definitely try the Limoncello Spritzer while in Italy. They are great. |For our second week we were on a bed and breakfast basis and we ate out every night. There are lots of nice eating places very close by. I recommend Bistro la Piazzetta down a little alley near the hotel or Cerase which was down the hill on the way to the railway station. |The reception staff will give you brochures on local tours if you wish but it is probably easier to go to the Tourist Information...

Me and my wife Fabienne loved staying here and felt really at home. Although we were in a foreign country (one that we love, incidentally!), we didn't feel intimidated by the different culture, but on the contrary we embraced it, and I was so happy to practice my Italian, aided by my wife who is an interpreter, in that beautiful, expressive language, and the hotel staff gave me tips on the language too. What a lovely hotel, with weddings taking place at the weekend, and this gave us an opportunity to observe the celebrations, even fireworks on the eve of the first wedding there. Hotel Aequa is a perfect base for sightseeing, with beautiful views from its terrace across to Vesuvius in the distance, and down into the Vico Equense Bay, with a train station and bus pick up point a 10 minute walk away. Visits to Pompei a 25 minute train ride and a few stops further on is Herculaneum (we actually enjoyed the latter surprisingly more) with beautiful gardens and tree lined walk ways draped with purple bouganvilleas and all manner of flora and fauna! We enjoyed a lovely day out to Capri, a boat ride across the water, I really like Positano, we got there by coach along the snaking mountain road with spectacular views onto the Amalfi Coast Bay. Lots to do in the area and a visit to Naples and Catacombs can be enjoyed too (I'm told it's very busy there!). The scented air of Herculaneum makes you picture the time of the Roman habitation there, as you see down below (about 5 metres) in the beautifully preserved buildings, villas and sea port where the ships would dock, this was dramatically enveloped by the ash and fallout from the eruption of Vesuvius at the same time as Pompei. So many quality restaurants are around the main thoroughfare in Vico Equense and busy square and fountain further up. There was a market on over the weekend where we acquired produce from places like Calabria (pesto, liquorice liquor). Fabienne found some fine cheeses there. Around the square, quality local bakers can be found displaying superb cakes, pastries and the like. Not to mention of course the famous Italian gelato! Please go and visit this beautiful, archetypal part of Italy. You won't be disappointed. I'd like to offer a special mention here for the hotel staff at Aequa Hotel, and room service who attended to our every need, but an iron would have been useful! Thanks Hotel Aequa!...