Le Sirenuse

The San Pietro may be flashier, but nothing beats archrival Le Sirenuse for traditional, dignified luxury. In 1953, two years after it opened, John Steinbeck described it as “an old family house converted into a first-class hotel.” More than half a century of overexposure later, that impression remains at this storied hotel, now in its second generation of Sersale family management. Nearly all the rooms in the poppy-red, 18th-century villa, with museum-quality antiques and hand-painted ceramic-tile floors, have a private balcony or patio overlooking the bay. Diversions include an alfresco champagne-and-oyster bar, a pool and Aveda spa, and a vintage wooden speedboat for tooling up and down the coast in 1950s-starlet style. The Neapolitan menu at the restaurant, La Sponda, was devised by Don Alfonso, southern Italy’s first chef to garner three Michelin stars (for his restaurant in nearby Sant’Agata sui Due Golfi).

Room to Book: Settle for a partial rather than full sea view for savings of nearly $300—but don’t bother with rooms without any sea view, despite deeper discounts.