Panorama Palace Hotel

“Old World Class”

I think the best phrase I can use to describe the Panorama Palace Hotel is “old school.” This is meant as a compliment. The place seems to revel in both some old-style touches and more importantly old-style service which is sadly lacking in some establishments in this modern age. This old school v… more

I think the best phrase I can use to describe the Panorama Palace Hotel is “old school.” This is meant as a compliment. The place seems to revel in both some old-style touches and more importantly old-style service which is sadly lacking in some establishments in this modern age. This old school vibe begins when you check in. The reception desk looks like something out of a bygone era, with its collection of open mail boxes for each room behind the counter. Check-in is fairly easy, submit Passports and sign a registration form. Again, reminiscent of a bygone era we weren’t asked for a credit card. I’m sure that they take them for room payments but our room was part of our vacation package so the room was prepaid. I was advised that the room tax and any other incidentals such as room service or drinks and meals billed to the room would be settled by cash. On checkout this was the case. As I didn’t see any nearby ATM machines this should be considered beforehand by those travellers who refer to go “cashless.” Once checked in we were handed our room keys. Instead of a modern card key we were handed an old-fashioned pair of keys on a ring attached to a large brass oval with our room number embossed on it. The safe key was again a separate actual key. As there was only one room key and we couldn’t slip it into a credit card slot in our phones, whenever we left the hotel, we turned it in at reception and it was placed carefully in “our” mail box until we returned. Panorama Palace Hotel is located in Meta, a town just to the east of Sorrento. It is located on top of a cliff approximately 20 metres (120 feet) above the Bay of Naples and the beach, Lido Metamere. A series of switchback roads and tunnels literally carved into the rock lead from the hotel on top down to the seafront and elsewhere. It's located at the eastern edge of this seaside town in a quiet residential area. Sorrento lays about 6 or 7 kms to the west but a public bus stops just down form the hotel and takes about 30 to 35 minutes dependent on traffic. The local commuter railway station is about a 20-minute walk away and the train then takes 8 minutes to Sorrento. There are of course taxis as well, but the cost is prohibitive. We were quoted 80 Euros one way. The hotel is a large whitewashed building of four floors. It is listed as a four-star property. There are apparently several rooms types and they can be booked as room alone or with half board (breakfast and supper included). There are a total of three dining rooms, although only one was open during our visit. In addition, there are two bars one off of the large lobby area and another across the street with a cliff top patio and fantastic view of the bay. There is, an enclosed solarium an outdoor pool, and a roof top sunbathing deck. As our stay was in October, we really didn’t take too much advantage of these last two. There is also apparently parking available, I am presuming in an underground garage built into the cliff. Aside from reception there were several rooms in the lobby area, including a TV room, although there was a satellite TV in our room and presumably all the others. The hotel seems to cater to bus tour groups and I saw notices for travel companies on the walls. There was also an up-to-date schedule for the local bus which was very helpful. Departing from the old world charm the entire property had free WIFI, and it was reasonably fast and without interruption. We were given small slips of paper at the front desk with the needed log in information when we checked. Later I discovered this would only work on one device. I asked at the desk and was given another slip for my second device and the receptionist pointed to a small basket full of the slips with WIFI info on them if I needed more at a later date. Overall, the décor theme was quite nautical, with bits of old sailing ships and shells decorating nooks and alcoves everywhere. This seemed to compliment the pastel colours of the interior. Exploring a bit, I came across a large model sailing ship in one of the closed dining rooms. There were two room keys because there were two doors. Off the main hall was a locked door that led to a small alcove with two rooms opening off it, one of which was ours. We had a corner room on the third (European second) floor facing west. This provided a spectacular view of the Bay of Naples, the beach several hundred feet below us, and nearby Sorrento. This view was through the two windows, both with retractable metal shutters, and Juliet style balconies when the windows were opened. I’ve seen reviews that complain about the lack of air conditioning however we never bothered to check to see if ours worked, but just left the windows open to enjoy the sea breeze. The room itself was enormous, well over 30 square metres. The queen-sized bed against one wall seemed tiny in comparison. There was a desk, a wardrobe with the small key operated safe and even an alcove to store our empty suitcases. There was a small older model TV with cable and local channels and a fridge stocked with a couple of bottles of water. There were several outlets including a pair on either side of the bed to charge phones. The bathroom was long and narrow and perhaps a bit dated, but functional. There was a tub with hand held shower in an alcove which could pose problems to those with mobility issues. The toilet had an older wall mounted cistern. There was an ample supply of toiletries and towels although the later were made of some odd thin material but they did work. During our four nights stay we experienced no issues with either lack of hot water or water pressure. Aside from the odd placement of the bathroom, my only issue was apparently the water was shut off a couple of times during the nights we stayed there. Perhaps there was routine maintenance scheduled. It did come on again in the morning, but it posed a bit of an issue refilling the high wall mounted cistern after a late-night visit. Our stay included both breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was the standard European hotel continental fare, a selection of breads, pastries, fruits, cereals and cold cuts served buffet style. There were machines to dispense various juices and coffee as well as bottled water. The waiter also brought us fresh cappuccinos presumably form the bar off the lobby. Dinner was a set menu, alternating chicken, pork and fish main courses with either soup or a pasta dish as entree. The first night it was chosen for us, and after that we chose our options from a menu provided the night prior. Drinks including water and wine were available but not included in the cost of our meals. The dinners were ok, not the best meals we had in Italy by far, but filling and the service was exemplary and more than made up for it. As I noted the hotel does appear to cater to tour groups and I would say most of the other guests we saw were part of one group or another, mainly Italian or German form what I could gather. Both our first and last nights there we met other Canadians who were apparently on a similar package to ours and were able to exchange tips and information. Our four-night stay was not without incident although for the most part this had nothing to do with the hotel itself. Our second day I came down with a bit of a head cold and begged off dinner. My wife went to the dining room alone and when the waiters found out I was ill, insisted on bringing back a tray to the room with assorted toasts and a pot of tea. After I recovered, the next night my wife tripped on some uneven pavement and hurt her foot. That night it was my turn to go to dinner alone and again the waiters asked after her and as she had already ordered dinner the night previously insisted on bringing it up to her on a tray. The night I was under the weather our safe failed to open, no matter how we jiggled the key. My wife had maintenance look at it and they ended up drilling the lock out so we could access the Passports and other documents inside. After the maintenance guy left, a maid came up to quickly clean up any mess made by his drill. This was in addition to her daily visits to tidy up and replenish our towels. While we were out the next day the local locksmith replaced the lock and we picked up a new key when we returned. The front desk also offered to store any valuables in their safe for us in the interim. Chatting with the staff, my wife discovered that it is a family run hotel. This did not surprise me. Their attention to the little things to make our stay as pleasant as possible was very evident. This and that spectacular view more than made up for the outdated (but still functional) bathroom and the commute into Sorrento for out scheduled trips. My wife is already talking about another visit to Sorrento and to be honest I wouldn’t mind staying here again.

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