Villa Cimbrone

The property is documented from at least the eleventh century and passed, over the centuries, from noble families of Ravello to the monastery of Santa Chiara and then to the Amici family of Atrani; in 1861 the historian Ferdinand Gregorovius, visiting, wrote that the belvedere brought on "the wish of being able to fly". But the villa you visit today was born in 1904, when the Englishman Ernest William Beckett, later Lord Grimthorpe, bought it from the Amici and entrusted the works to Nicola Mansi, tailor, barber and builder of Ravello: together they rebuilt it mixing mock-Gothic, Moorish and Venetian, and laid out the gardens with the long Avenue of Immensity leading to the Terrace of Infinity.

At nine the gates open and the visitors arrive; at half past six they close, and the Terrace of Infinity belongs to whoever is sleeping here.

Beckett kept an open house: among his guests Virginia and Leonard Woolf, E.M. Forster, John Maynard Keynes, Lytton Strachey, and later D.H. Lawrence, T.S. Eliot, Winston Churchill, Henry Moore. On his death in 1917 he was buried at the foot of the Temple of Bacchus in the garden, with verses by Catullus on the frieze. Greta Garbo stayed several times with the conductor Leopold Stokowski in the late 1930s, and a plaque records 1938; in 1953 John Huston shot scenes of "Beat the Devil" here. Since the 1970s the villa has belonged to the Vuilleumier family, who turned it into a hotel.

Gore Vidal, who lived in Ravello for decades, said of the view from the terrace that it was the most beautiful place he had seen in all his travels.

Getting there

Villa Cimbrone is in Via Santa Chiara, at the highest point of the Ravello promontory, and cannot be reached by car: from the car park under Piazza Duomo (140 spaces) you continue on foot for 10 to 15 minutes, through lanes and steps, following the signs. Naples airport is about 60 to 65 kilometres away, an hour or a little more along the coast; Salerno, with its railway station, about 35; the port of Amalfi, from which you climb seven kilometres of hairpins, is the landing point for anyone arriving by sea from Salerno or Naples. The hotel also lists a helipad.

The 19 rooms

The hotel occupies the villa with 19 rooms in three categories, Classic, Superior and Deluxe, furnished with period pieces, stone or majolica fireplaces and late nineteenth-century Vietri ceramic floors. It is not a hotel built to look old: it is Beckett's house with its rooms, ceilings and views, and the rooms differ above all in that, as well as in whether they face the sea or the gardens.

Il Flauto di Pan and the kitchen

The hotel's restaurant, Il Flauto di Pan, holds a Michelin star, confirmed in the 2026 guide, with Campanian chef Lorenzo Montoro building his menus on the coast's produce and the villa's own kitchen garden. It is open during the hotel's season to non-residents too, and is one of the most sought-after tables in Ravello: for hotel guests booking is easier, not automatic.

Pool and private gardens

The outdoor pool, with a whirlpool corner, is surrounded by avocado trees and sits in the part of the gardens reserved for guests, together with the English gardens around the villa. The rest of the park is open to the public.

The public gardens, and the hour they become private

The gardens, about six hectares, are the reason Ravello is Ravello: the Avenue of Immensity, the Temple of Bacchus, the Cloister, the Crypt, the Tea Room, the Rose Garden, Mercury's Seat and the Terrace of Infinity with its row of marble busts suspended over the sea. They are open to visitors every day from 9 am to 6.30 pm (last entry at 6 pm), with a paid ticket, and occasional early closures on event days which the hotel announces on its website.

This changes the meaning of a stay: by day the terrace is shared with anyone who has bought a ticket, before nine and after half past six it belongs only to those sleeping at the villa. It is the difference between visiting Villa Cimbrone and living in it for a few nights.

When to go

The hotel is seasonal: it opens at the end of March and closes at the end of October, like most of the coast. May, June and September have the best weather and fewer crowds on the paths; July and August are the hottest and busiest months, in the gardens too. The Ravello Festival, in summer, fills the town with concerts and visitors: worth considering when booking, one way or the other.

Who it is for, and who it is not for

It is the right choice for a couple who want the most celebrated villa on the coast from the inside, with its private hours, a starred restaurant in the house and Ravello on foot. It is not the right choice for anyone who wants the sea below the room: Ravello sits about 365 metres above sea level, the beaches of Amalfi and Minori are reached by car or bus, and the villa itself is reached only on foot, with steps, a detail that matters for anyone with walking difficulties or a lot of luggage.

Rates and conditions

Room rates are published and booked on the hotel's official website and change with the season; we do not quote them here because they would change before this page did. The gardens charge an entrance ticket, but it does not apply to hotel guests.