Santa Caterina Hotel — Restaurant in Amalfi

If you’re considering this hotel then chances are you’ve seen it all over your social media. To be fair, they’ve killed it with their instagram. It’s all smokes and mirrors - the property is much smaller than it looks, right by a busy road and surrounded by ugly fencing.

I’m on a flight so I have time to write a detailed review.

Price One word = absurd. The hotel is pushing 4 stars at best. It is wild that they have the audacity to charge EUR750 for the most BASIC double room in super off-peak season. The prices go upwards from EUR1200 in summer. The room reminded me of the accommodation I stayed at in Alicante on my first ever girls trip when I was 17. Broken bedside table, no space to open your luggage, ants in the room, old and tired looking.

Location The hotel is not walkable to town. The nearest town is Amalfi and while it might look walkable, the hotel is located on a busy dual carriage without a footpath. You must rely on their free shuffle to and from the hotel into Amalfi. Good luck my friend. There is only one shuttle bus and the road regularly has traffic - I waited 50 minutes for a shuttle.

Lounge / bar On our final day, we didn’t want to risk being caught out by the shuttle bus so we waited at the hotel after check out for our transfer. There is very little “lounging” space in the hotel . We were confronted by staff twice to order drinks from the bar even though we had been paying customers for the past two nights. Aperol was listed on the menu for 15EUR so I mistakenly ordered it assuming this was the price of an aperol spritz. I was shocked when the bill was 56 EUR for two aperol spritz. They did not bring us the aperitif nibbles.

Luggage storage The luggage “storage” was our suitcases being stored in the corner of a corridor, the one nearest to the hotel door and right by a lift. It might be unlikely that anything would happen to them but it would be very easy for someone to take the suitcases if they wanted to.

Service / discrimination Our honeymoon was not acknowledged all the other five star hotels we stayed at during our time in Italy although we left a note on our booking. In comparison, when we were paying for our room upon check out, a Caucasian lady was checking in and the receptionists fell over backwards to fuss over her birthday. We are probably too low class with our EUR800 room.

Exploitation The hotel is determined to squeeze every last euro from you, once you are trapped (see location comment). In the room a 330ml coke costs 8.50 EUR. The meals for room service are from the restaurant and charged at full price plus an extra 10 EUR per person - don’t worry they offer half size portion for 80% of the cost plus that 10 EUR..

“Beach club” The beach club is their major selling point. Let’s be honest it’s for photos. Great if you need to show off to your thousands of instagrammers, not so great if you want to spend some hours there as it’s crowded.

The opening hours are disappointing for the beach club and gym. It doesn’t open until 8.30am including the gym (or later - I can’t remember exactly). Every other hotel I have ever stayed at opens the gym either 24 hours or c.6am - at a minimum people should have the option to the gym before breakfast.

Restaurants The restaurants were both wonderful if you’re willing to spend. We dined at both (note location comment and feeling trapped). Luckily we loved both meals. However please be aware that at Glicine the women are given menus without prices (husbands menu had prices). Don’t tell me that it’s a part of the old world charm. If you pass everything off as old world charm, you are laughing at the pay gap and a whole host of sexism concerns. Let’s hope that if two women were to dine, the dinner would be free.

Breakfast Brilliant. See I can give...

Wow!! We haven’t even finished our trip yet but I had to write a review to say how amazing Santa Caterina and our experience has been. I was in contact with the hotel and concierge leading up to our stay regarding a boat day to tour the Amalfi coast towns, airport transfers, cooking class recommendation and adding additional nights. We were given upgrades for our two rooms to ones with extremely large terraces and even more amazing sea views. Every staff member you encounter is cheerful and welcoming. The hotel is beautiful inside and out with many beautiful hidden pathways. The views are to die for. All of our meals (breakfast lunch and dinner and appertivos) have been delicious, fresh and local. One particular exceptional staff member is one of the concierges- Gennaro. He has gone above and beyond for us! He coordinated a fabulous day on the water touring the coast and towns and organized a reservation for lunch at Conca del Sogno, waited for us at the dock as we returned, made fabulous dinner recommendation and reservation, and facilitated a seemless COVID test for my fiancé who is leaving for the US early. The hotel doctor administers the test here and Gennaro even went by scooter to pick up the test so we could have it this evening. He remembers us each time we walk past the desk and makes you feel so special! It’s truly refreshing to receive this type of service. We have stayed in many 5 star hotels - Four Seasons, Ritz, Belmond Mandarin Oriental and on club levels both in Europe and US /North America but those have honestly not come close. The small number of rooms ensures you are treated as family. We have most certainly found our returning spot for vacation :) also the beach area is amazing and was why we selected the hotel in addition to the complimentary shuttle which is...

If you respect yourself - then you should avoid this hotel. I have been to a hundred hotels in the world, but I have never seen such disrespect and insolence.

We came for dinner and we were asked to scan passports and bank cards. I'm sorry, what right has another person to take my card details? We agreed, gave the data, the administrator took the card and went to another closed room. He did something for 5 minutes without our visibility and then came back with a scanned passport and card. When asked why you were doing something with the card without our supervision, he began to be indignant and raise his voice. Without a normal response, ripped up the scanned documents in front of us and said that we can not dine here.

Further, when we asked him to explain what right he had to do so he did not, in response started yelling, interrupting and behaving inadequately. For 15 minutes he was spitting, twitching, pushing us and even tried to pull out my phone, the photo of this inadequate can see below. This man has no right to work with people, he is inadequate. Even his helpers and guards tried to calm him down because he would not listen to us and interrupted all the time.

Horror, there are no words. At the end we said we were from the Ukraine and we will not tolerate this attitude, in response, he began to either gloat or apologize. I will never go to that place again. Be prepared for the fact that if this administrator does not like your question, you will be thrown out and berated from...