Villa Ginevra

POSITANO

At a glance

"Positano bites deep," wrote the American author John Steinbeck. "It is a dream place that  isn't quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone".

Once important in the powerful Maritime Republic of Amalfi, Positano is today the most internationally celebrated and elegant town on the coast. Distinctly Moorish in architectural style full of colourful boutiques and attractive restaurants, the town literally cascades down steep mountainsides and fjord-like valleys into the Tyrrhenian Sea and its legendary islands of the Sirens raccounted by Ulysses in his Odyssey, the mini-archipelago of Li Galli. It is a holiday town that for decades has been the retreat of celebrities such as film director Franco Zeffirelli and has inspired innumerable representations in words, photographs and fine art.

Villa Ginevra is built into the hillside and has superb views over Positano and the ever-changing blue-green expanse of the Mediterranean seascape. The house is ideal for those who wish to use the car during their stay, with a garage on the premises providing secure, much-prized parking so hard to find in Positano. The size and the shape of the rooms vary widely, but each is comfortable with a mix of furnishings and many antique pieces. Set in the side of a hill, it has several entrances on different levels, all with terracotta tiled floors.

Entrance garden with an open staircase (6 steps) leads to a cosy sitting room with fireplace. The kitchen has a cooker, oven, fridge, washing machine and door to the rear. Six steps down in one direction lead to a bathroom with shower and an adjacent sitting room with a single sofa bed, TV and a full bookcase. One twin bedded room and a large double bedroom with extra single bed and bathroom en suite with bathtub are situated along a corridor from the living-dining areas.

Both bedrooms open onto a terraced garden perfumed with sweet-smelling lemon trees and bright flowers. From the sitting room a flight of seven steps leads to a mezzanine floor, furnished with a table with chairs; a door opens onto a loggia terrace and pergola with attractive columns and colour-bursts of flamboyant bougainvillaea. This area is furnished for al fresco dining or simply relaxing and enjoying the superb view.

From the mezzanine floor a set of 13 steps leads to the second floor where we find a double bedroom with a French doors leading to a small wrought-iron balcony, a single room (suitable for children)  and a bathroom with shower.     

As everywhere is Positano, the villa is accessed via (31) steps from the main road. Alternatively from the garage an internal staircase of 27 steps leads directly to the sitting room. Facilities include washing machine, TV, phone, garage. Maid service available on request.

It is a 15 minutes walk to the centre and ten more to the main beach "Spiaggia Grande". A short bus ride takes guests to the top of the village (every 15/30 min) and from here buses to Sorrento (1 h.) or Amalfi (1 h.). On the main beach at the little port numerous ferries and hydrofoils ply daily between Positano and Capri (50min), Naples (50 min), Amalfi (30 min) and Salerno 1 1/2 h). Within a few minutes walk there is a variety of shops, bars, internationally known boutiques and various restaurants.