Amalfi / Clifftop west of town

Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel

★★★★★

High on the cliff just west of Amalfi town, a former monastery founded in the thirteenth century has become one of the most atmospheric hotels on the coast. The Convento di Amalfi was for centuries a Capuchin friary, and in the nineteenth century it became a celebrated hotel on the Grand Tour route, visited by writers and composers who came for its silence and its views. Today, after years as the NH Collection Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi, it has been rebranded and reopened under Minor Hotels' luxury Anantara brand as the Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel. The heart of the property is still the monastic architecture: a whitewashed Arab-Sicilian cloister with interlaced arches, a small chapel, vaulted corridors and the Monks' Walk, a terraced path through gardens and lemon groves along the cliff edge. Rooms and suites, many converted from the friars' cells and enlarged, look out over the sea and the coast toward Atrani and beyond, and the infinity pool perched on the cliff is one of the coast's most spectacular places to swim. Restaurants and bars take advantage of the panorama, and a spa adds a modern layer of comfort. Getting in and out is easier than the perch suggests: a lift carved into the rock connects the hotel with the coast road, from where Amalfi's piazza, cathedral and ferry pier are a few minutes' walk. As with most hotels on the coast, it operates seasonally, so check dates for winter travel.

Why choose it: the Convento gives you the drama of a clifftop setting without the isolation, because Amalfi — the coast's best-connected town, with year-round buses and seasonal ferries in every direction — is a short stroll from the lift. You can spend the morning by the pool, lunch in Amalfi's piazza, take the bus up to Ravello for the gardens and be back for sunset on the cloister terrace. The history and architecture make it feel unlike any other hotel on the coast: few places let you sleep in a medieval friary with a view like this.

Practical notes: the transition to Anantara brought refreshed rooms, new dining and the brand's service style; expect luxury pricing, highest in summer. Sea-view rooms are the reason to come and are worth requesting. The lift makes access straightforward, but there are still stairs and terraces around the gardens. Check seasonal opening dates if travelling in late autumn or winter, when many coast hotels close.

Base math: Amalfi's cathedral, piazza and port are a few minutes on foot from the lift; ferries to Positano and Capri run in season; SITA buses reach Ravello, Positano and Sorrento; and the Path of the Gods is a bus ride up to Agerola. Choose it for romance, history and Amalfi's convenience in one. If the budget will not stretch to a sea-view room in high summer, consider the shoulder months of May or late September, when the light is softer, the coast calmer and the hotel's cloister and gardens at their most peaceful.