Melanie Rapuano

If you want to stay the very epicenter of Sorrento above all the bars, restaurants and action, this B&B style hotel is for you (please note, it is not a hotel as you'd envision... it is a very old, somewhat dilapidated apartment building with a 3rd floor converted into what is like a hotel, but is definitely a B&B facility where they installed a modern elevator). We did stay one night of our 3 nights in Sorrento, but after having almost no sleep whatsoever, we got back on the Hotel tonight app (see my review of the Florence hotel) and found Hotel Ambasciatori about 0.5 miles away and stayed there our final 2 nights. This place was mostly clean and again had nice staff, but was not for us in any way. The beds were the most uncomfortable I've ever felt in my life, but we could have gotten around that for 3 nights if we had been able to sleep at all. On our first and only night, the music, parties and screaming right below our hotel went on until 5 AM. Yes actually 5 AM... I'm the last one to complain about partying or having a good time outside in nice weather, I love all of that and did it for years, but the fact that screaming, yelling and insanity can occur unchecked until 5 AM is insane... we tried earplugs, putting pillows over our ears, and anything else but essentially we slept from around 5:30 to 7:30 AM. Not exactly a fun night of vacation. If you love all of that happening around you, there's nothing else really wrong with this facility except the horrible beds/mattresses. We absolutely loved Hotel Ambasicatori which we moved to, and will stay there again if we make it back to Sorrento

Perfect blend of great location with being quiet at night. Very nice front desk who answered any questions and concerns. No real amenities but overall a great hotel that I would recommend most people traveling to Venice to stay due to being clean, comfortable, accessible and friendly to tourists

Of all hotels booked through the Kimkim service, this was by far the worst, and while I feel bad to give a one star to anyone, it has to be done here. The front desk gentleman was very sweet, very helpful especially when we told him we need to leave, but that's where it ends. The location is very rough, but that could be dealt with, had anything else worked out. The rooms are extremely dated and unclean, or at least, ours was. We checked in, so tired from a train ride with our 2 minor kids and having to carry our 8 bags about 1/3 mile down the street (due to no fault of kimkim's, our driver couldn't pass a broken down bus and couldn't reach the front of the hotel... but definitely should have and could have driven us around from another street instead of hurriedly telling the 4 of us with our 8 bags to get out of the van and find the hotel down the street).... when we got to the room we found someone else's hair on one bed and some eyelashes on another. The bathroom had obvious mold, and the room overall was just a very 1 or 2 star type of old, outdated, unclean look and feel. My wife said "if we're staying here for 4 nights, we have to make sure we are almost never in this room we have to be out of the room all day and evening and just here to sleep and leave".... so with all that, I logged onto an app called Hotel Tonight and found The Hotel Savoy in the middle of the city of Florence. I'm not going to review that hotel here, but it was the best hotel experience either of us had every had in our 42 years, in every way.

Nice staff, nice place, nice location. Nothing outstanding here, but a very good either 3+ star or you could say, 4 star, hotel experience. As is definitely a theme of Italian hotels we noticed, once again a very friendly and helpful front desk and staff. They offered champagne and/or sodas for us and juices for the kids upon check in and then every day after that, and they made great cappuccino and espresso for no charge, while staying there. Rooms were clean - we had 2 rooms instead of 1 room due to the rooms being very small and we are a party of 4... for the first night, the AC was making insanely crazy loud noises in one room so we all slept together in one room, then the hotel moved that for us, and we were more comfortable the second and final nights. I will be requesting credit for that one night via American Express because why would anyone pay for a room that was unusable for one night? Other than that, a very pleasant stay, good location for shopping and restaurants/gelaterias and I do recommend this hotel overall

Loved it! Driver Simeone was super friendly and got us everywhere we needed to be quickly and in comfort. He recommended what ended up being one of, if not the, best meal of our lives at La Buca San Antonio in Lucca. This wasn't a guided tour, and for once, we actually appreciated that and enjoyed having it that way. Great experience!

The history of this place is amazing and the tour guide was great, it's just a really tough day especially in the summer and as I understand, it gets way hotter in July and August. This tour would be great I imagine in March or maybe October/November... but 3 hours of walking around ruins in the heat, despite the incredible learning experience, is just tough for anyone. It's not the tour or kimkim's fault that we have a 7 and 11 year old, but they absolutely lost it about an hour in, and I can't recommend anyone attend this tour with someone under 20 years old. We thought the drive was an hour each way with perhaps 90 min or at most 2 hours of walking around, but it ended up being just about 3 solid hours of no shade, outside heat tour... so all that is a bit tough... but anyone interested in the history of this once-civilization should definitely go. I'm still glad I went and saw it all for myself

Phenomenal tour and activity. If you get car sick (my daughter does), make sure to either sit up front or take Dramamine or ginger before being picked up as the drive can get tough. That aside, which is no one's fault just a warning to future travelers, it's a picturesque perfect way to spend a day in Italy. We ended up spending hundreds of euros buying some wines and olive oils because they were just that amazing - they don't pressure you or anything, we just couldn't resist

Not a child friendly tour despite its name. Not a great experience. Brutal heat, crazy lines (I understand its the most visited sight in Europe, but people should be aware of this), and just way too long for what could've been accomplished in 45 minutes. I'm not sure why the title says 2 hours, when the guide actually said it was a 3+ hour event, but we did eventually inform her that we were done and wanted to end early. Look - seeing the colosseum in person, both for the adults and kids, was amazing. The history of what went on there (both from what we knew, and things we didn't know such as the fact that much of the gold, marble and materials used to construct it was stolen by the Romans from the Jews ... no surprise, more suffering and mistreatment of Jewish people even 2,000 years ago), it was all amazing to learn and see in person, but an overly long experience with an unbelievably loquacious tour guide, made it less memorable for us all. We were then taken to the gardens area near the forum, which we didn't find interesting or meaningful, and requested to end the tour so could get lunch. There must be better ways to check out the colosseum

What could be more fun than making pizza with professionals in the birthplace of pizza!? My wife and I, and of course our 7 and 11 year olds, absolutely loved every moment of this. It was the right amount of time - about 90 minutes altogether - and tons of fun. Also, extremely delicious, that goes without saying. No matter what, while in Sorrento/Naples area, DO THIS! Especially if you can get Luigi as your host - he's awesome, and funny, makes a great experience even better

We loved the location of Hotel Ruzzini Palace; staff were exceptional and very friendly. The hotel has a cozy bar offering great cocktails -- the perfect place to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail and unwind at the end of each day. Great breakfast with plenty of selections.

We loved this hotel because the views were unmatched! From our seaside room, we could see Napoli, Mount Vesuvius, the Sorrentine Peninsula and the Bay of Sorrento. That itself was an experience we will never forget. The rooms were spacious as were the bathrooms (ample vanity top). Loved that the beds were situated in the center of the room to take advantage of the unbelievable view. Plenty of storage space and plenty of space to move around within the room. (Note that we would not want a room that was NOT seaside as those overlook the parking lot and have no view.) Although the hotel feels a bit dated stylistically, it is clean and again, the views -- day and night -- more than make up for it. The Bar and Restaurant areas are large with floor to ceiling windows as well as outdoor seating. The pool and garden areas are beautiful. We enjoyed soaking in the Sorrento sun while enjoying the view. The only downside to the hotel is that it is not easily accessible to town. The hotel does run an hourly shuttle service that often does not have enough seating for those who wish to use it during peak hours...in those cases, the shuttle runs a loop to ensure that all guests are accommodated. We always took a cab back from town rather than waiting for the shuttle. We would definitely return to this hotel!

Very spacious rooms; ours had a terrace. Kind, friendly staff. The Kraft hotel has breathtaking 360 degree view of Florence and its surrounding areas from the top floor terrace that feels like a garden. Such a great place to enjoy a meal and/or drinks. The espresso martinis were exceptional! Located near the US Embassy, we appreciated that this was a quieter neighborhood...an approximate 15 minute (easy) walk to the Duomo area.

This was an interesting hotel that felt more like an Airbnb. This was our least favorite hotel, but I suspect this was based on our own personal taste and preferences. We had 2 rooms -- ours had the large terrace which was nice, but the room felt cramped with minimal storage space (hard with 2 suitcases and carryons) and a bathroom with no counter space at all. The breakfast area was undergoing construction so all breakfasts were delivered to the rooms. Ours was delivered 20 minutes late -- ordinarily not a big deal except that we were being picked up for a tour. The main desk closes at 8pm which means that the front doors are locked as well. Also, there were no stairs to the 2nd floor; only a small elevator that accommodates no more than one person/one suitcase or 2 people. There was a staircase next to our room but it was locked. From a potential fire perspective, this made me nervous.

Love this! Giovanni was a great guide who led us on a walking tour of the popular sights and quiet neighborhoods. We especially liked walking through the market. He was so knowledgeable and friendly. Pace of the tour was not rushed; it was low key and very personalized. We enjoyed cichetti sandwiches and my husband's first Aperol spritz in a quieter neighborhood square...enjoyed the accordion player which was a bonus! Giovanni then took us to an authentic Venetian restaurant...both he and the owner offered up lots of meal suggestions before we were free to order as we liked. Ended our tour with tasty gelato!

Mario Messineo was our tour guide. He met us at the hotel and from there, we proceeded to the Accademia. There seemed to be some confusion about our tickets as he did not have them with him when he picked us up; we had to stop to get them. No big deal. We were able to skip-the-line. The tour was good though it was at times difficult to hear Mario given his soft spokenness and the noise of others. Headphones might have been helpful.

This was one of the highlights of our trip. We started with a tour of San Gimignano. Hilaria was our guide and she was so informative about the village. She worked to tailor our time around what we wanted, so we began with a stop for coffee, toured the village and came across one of her friends, a musician who played a hammered dolcima...magical! Wish we'd had more time here. We then ventured to Terra Di Sovernaja, a family owned winery led by so Federico Montagnani. We tasted 3 whites and 3 reds as well as 7 different olive oils from the winery. As proof that we enjoyed this tour, we ordered several cases of wine and olive oil to enjoy at home. This experience was made complete with a traditional Italian meal created by his mom, Nonna Silvama! Our final stop was to Il Colombaio where we enjoyed wine tastings with a focus on chianti Classico...again ordering several cases to enjoy at home. This was a stress-free trip with a private driver safely transporting us throughout the day.

Personally, we felt a visit to each of these towns was too much for one day. At our request, we spent about an hour at a ceramics factory to purchase items to ship, so that admittedly cut into our time, but even so, we didn't have enough time to really experience and appreciate each of these towns. The time spent in each of these 3 villages was no sufficient for anything more than shopping and/or eating. If we were doing this again, we would opt for 2 days.

Such a fun experience! We started with a tour of the lemon grove -- didn't previously realize how much there was to know about growing lemons! Enjoyed a leisurely "lemon tasting" that included limoncello, lemon sorbet, lemon marmalade and assorted appetizers. This lemon tasting was an unexpected surprise. From there, we enjoyed a private cooking class with Rosaria. There was a lovely outdoor kitchen with our own private dining area. We made ravioli and gnocchi, eggplant parmesan and tiramisu for dessert. While the menu was "standard" and nothing out of the ordinary, per se, the overall experience exceeded our expectations. A special thanks to Chef Rosaria and to Francesca, our lemon grove guide. We left with small gifts, including a bottle of limoncello, assorted marmalades, and cooking aprons.

We enjoyed the golf cart tour, although it broke down 5 times in the middle of busy traffic! Not our driver's fault, but it was a little scary. Great way to see all the sights, stopping just a few times for pictures.

We toured the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and Basilica with Barbara, our private guide whose knowledge of all things Vatican and enthusiasm for same was astounding! Although ours was a private tour, Barbara used headphones with us so that we could clearly hear her among the crowds.

Great location, comfortable rooms, and very friendly staff. The breakfast was hearty and a great way to start our busy days.

Easy walk from the train station and near the beach. The restaurant across the street was one of the best we tried in Italy. Loved that the hotel offered free beach towels and bike usage.

A little out of the way but walkable to all the sights. Hotel check in is across the street at another property which was a little confusing but we figured it out.

Location is good for exploring Salerno but the property is aging. Our room had water damage on the walls and a shower that leaked. Breakfast was good. Lots of street noise at times from our room. Staff was efficient but aloof compared to staff at other properties.

This experience was a little weak. We enjoyed that it was a private experience but it was quick. We were just told the ingredients, instructed how to make it and then ate it. Enjoyed the local wine.

Incredible sights made all the more spectacular by our wonderful private guide Paolo. He made the place come to life and delivered his tour with passion and care. Wonderful experience!

The group tour of the Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel was very impersonal. The guide did not connect and the entire experience seemed rote and without feeling. The guide company was not real clear about what we were doing and were slow to get things started. Overall this was a painful experience.

Loved the private guide who got us in quickly. He was a little had to understand but it was helpful to have his insights

This was one of our favorite experiences in Italy. Incredible staff, amazing views, delicious food. This was amazing.

Rafaela was incredibly knowledgeable and fun to be with. Pompeii is incredible and she made it even better. There was a mixup on the times of our tour so she was rushed and we didn’t get a full 2 hours but we made the most of it.

The location of this hotel was great. Close to shopping and restaurants and it is inside the Galleria Umberto. Unfortunately the room quality is not really 4 stars.

It was raining! But our guide was able to accomodate and was able to lead us through it.

The site itself is amazing, but it was our local guide that made this place even better. We were able to navigate the ruins in the rain and the entire group was engaged the whole time because of how the guide shared the site's history and highlights.

This was a highlight... who does not LOVE Napoli Pizza??? Learning how its made from scratch in Napoli is a great experience.

There are no words that can describe the beauty and charm of the Amalfi Coast. Our guide and driver were locals that knew the areas very well and knew the spots to visit. It was a wonderful day excursion, we will be back to stay in the Amalfi Coast.