Taste, style and wonder within the walls of Palazzo Avino

It is now clear that a hotel is not just a place to sleep. Until not too many years ago, even just a decade or so, that was exactly how it was. The hotel and its services were strictly reserved for those who booked a room. A home away from home, as they used to say. Unfortunately, things have changed, and crossing the threshold of a hotel is the right thing to do! Especially when it comes to hotels that are the glory of Italy, that are world-famous for their beauty and location, for the history they exude and for the excellence they hold, from food to art, from traditions to contemporary design. These grand hotels are visited, not as museums or monuments, but as places of delight, of sociability, of pleasant conviviality, for a coffee, an aperitif at sunset, a candlelit dinner, a pizza in front of the sea.

Palazzo Avino in Ravello has plenty of reasons to cross the threshold! It is a concentrate of the passions of the young owners, Mariella and Attilia Avino, who never stop experimenting and updating their idea of hospitality. And every year they open with something new, adding another piece to their never-ending project. Well, the structure itself is a masterpiece, a 12th-century palazzo with antique pink façades, set in a terraced garden overlooking the sea surrounded by the verdant Monti Lattari. Certainly waking up in front of this landscape is quite satisfying for a traveller: it follows you everywhere, when you open the windows, while you are having breakfast among the banana trees and kenzie, when you are sunbathing or swimming in the pool. It never leaves you, it fills your eyes and by transitive property your soul. Sighing and repeating "How wonderful!" may seem redundant, but it comes naturally. After the reception, which looks like the choir of a church, down three steps between two ancient stone lions, you end up in a room with white walls, like pages of a book with words written in neon: Earth, Sailors, Tides, Comets, Heir....Sono from Joyce's Ulysses, here transformed into art by Joseph Kosuth to help that stream of consciousness that arises between reading and contemplating the sea outside.

Mariella is elegant, with shiny black hair and fiery red lipstick. Fashion is her passion, an inspiration also for her work in hotels, small collections, collaborations with big names, all sartorial. After the capsule collection of suites with designer Cristina Celestino, they started working with architect Giuliano Dell'Uva from Naples, an expert in local craftsmanship. He has put wicker back into the Art Café, as it was once used, and recovered hand-painted antique tiles for the lift floor. But lucky is he who happens upon the Infinito suite with its private terrace (and Jacuzzi) at the top of the turret overlooking everything and a white and green ceramic bathroom as big as the bedroom. The motif on the living room floor, on the other hand, is an abstract work of his that is also featured in a hanging drawing. And why go out having the ultimate privacy here? No one sees you while you see everything from up there at an altitude of 350 metres + 4 storeys. But Mariella's taste has a deputed place in the Pink Closet, a concept store where she selects niche brands, such as the Florentine new entry Loretta Caponi, and customised objects, such as Villeroy & Boch porcelain and ceramics from the Vietri masters, up to Madame Pauline Vintage bandanas. The good fortune of this 'wardrobe' full of sought-after and often glittering objects is that it is located outside the hotel, at the entrance to Ravello, where everyone passes by and the shop window certainly does not go unnoticed.

A toast by the sea. Done. A Martini cocktail too. But once is not enough because they have a hundred on the list. A starry dinner....helpful, say many. But all doubts are dispelled when the tasting at Rossellinis begins. One dish is better than the next, with a peak of enthusiasm upon the arrival of the buttons filled with bread and lemon cream. Wonderful, soft, the taste of the Amalfi Coast. Of stars, in my humble opinion, it deserves even more, for the truth of the flavours, for the freedom to choose from the menu, for the sensitivity of chef Giovanni Vanacore. The Avino family, always present, but discreetly. From grandfather Giuseppe with his inseparable dachshund, to the new generation that has just turned one year old. Maria Vittoria is still in training, but will sooner or later join her sisters Mariella and Attilia. Perhaps not all that glitters is gold, but creating a world in pink is contagiously optimistic..

PS: As André Gide used to say? 'Ravello is closer to the sky than it is to the seashore'. You get to the sea quickly, 15 minutes by shuttle bus. The clubhouse, however, is only for guests staying at Palazzo Avino. Between terraces and gardens, it goes down to the steps to dive into the water. Of course, white and pink beach umbrellas, diligent lifeguards and lounges to stay in the shade. Last stop is the restaurant for a 'pasta a vongole' or a wood-oven Margherita. Another little piece of happiness.