An Extraordinary Hotel Experience on the Amalfi Coast of Italy
When people think of the Amalfi Coast of southern Italy, they cannot help but be enchanted by the scenic natural beauty of a jagged coastline dotted with charming villas nestled along cliffs overlooking the rich blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. A popular summer destination for wealthy jetsetters worldwide, the Amalfi Coast was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. Both Italians and outside visitors from all walks of life make a special point to vacation there for swimming, sunbathing, boat rides, enjoying great food and doing all other fun things in the height of the tourist season.
This isn’t my first time travelling to this magnificent part of Italy, having been there over 20 years ago while on a bus tour to visit Sorrento on the northern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula, along with the nearby small island of Capri where the Roman Emperor Tiberius was known to have spent his summers. However, I hadn’t previously been to the Amalfi Coast located on its southern side just west of the small city of Salerno, about 45 minutes south of Naples by train. Therefore, when I first learned about the possibility to attend a March 2024 physics conference in the coastal town of Vietri sul Mare, situated about 15 minutes drive west of Salerno, I knew immediately that I had to be there!
While March isn’t the ideal time to visit the Amalfi Coast for tourist reasons and I wouldn’t have any time to explore Vietri sul Mare because of my commitment to attend the conference, I still managed to gain an extraordinary experience for myself because of where I stayed, namely the Lloyd’s Baia Hotel located along the Gulf of Salerno at 2 Via Enrico de Marinis, Vietri sul Mare SA 84019 (https://www.lloydsbaiahotel.it/en/). This hotel served as the host venue for the physics conference with both large and small meeting rooms available for attendees to present their research findings and engage with their colleagues in a comfortable and professional working environment.
As for the hotel rooms where we stayed for the night, people like myself who chose the option to have a panoramic view of the Mediterranean Sea were gifted a spectacular scene of the open waters while facing the southern skies, in which we could watch passenger ships quietly sailing towards the nearby ports along the coast. When you get to see the richness of the Amalfi Coast from the vantage point of a balcony window with the warmth of the morning sun upon your face, it’s very hard to not be enraptured by what I was able to experience!
Besides having a main restaurant for guests to have a buffet breakfast, Lloyd’s Baia Hotel also has a Michelin-starred restaurant called Re Mauri that specializes in local seafood cuisine where we had lunch, along with a full bar and lounge for guests who want a cocktail or coffee. For guests who would prefer having their breakfast in their rooms, Lloyd’s Baia Hotel also offers room service, something which I tried out one morning to experience the service for myself. I was very impressed with both the quality of what I received for my breakfast and also the professionalism of the staff who took care of my order, bringing it to my room at the precise time I specified.
As for the food overall, the array of both savoury and sweet options offered for breakfast, plus the abundance of cakes and pastries made available for us during the coffee breaks, was exemplary. We couldn’t have asked for any better treatment. Near the end of the conference, we had an evening banquet at Re Mauri and were given a remarkable dining experience that included swordfish as our main course, something that I had never eaten before and enjoyed very much. Following dessert, as an extra special treat we were entertained by a professionally trained soprano who performed a number of beautiful operatic songs in Italian, with her husband providing accompaniment on a grand piano in the restaurant. It was certainly a magical way to end the formalities of the evening before the final morning of the conference and check-out to follow thereafter.
For the next time that I’m able to visit the Amalfi Coast of southern Italy, I would be very happy to return to Lloyd’s Baia Hotel and spend some quality time to simply explore the region for a while.
Author’s Note: This article was first written in June 2024 and submitted to Luxe Beat magazine for future publication.
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