Hotel Parsifal — Ravello, Amalfi Coast, Salerno, Italy

Thanks to some friends from Egypt who steered us away from Amalfi town, we stayed three nights mid-July 2023 in a superior double room at Hotel Parsifal ($198 /night) including breakfast. Hotel Parsifal is located in Ravello which is up the hill from Amalfi about 30 minutes and is a much quieter option to busy, touristy Amalfi. After Rome, and the Italian railway strike delaying our arrival, we were happy for the peace and quiet. And all the happier because we were upgraded to an amazing room with a big private terrace. It had to be the best room in the hotel. The views were breathtaking as they are from just about anywhere on the Amalfi coast. A great memory and an easy choice for us to include in our “best of Europe!”

Unknown to us before our arrival, Ravello has a summer music program and we instantly bought tickets to a concert while we were there. Pure magic! And so was all the food. Next level delicious! See the pics below, both the first carousel of the hotel and the second of our activities.

Room Mate Anna — Barcelona, Spain

Room Mate brand of hotels is a new find for us. Their chic Anna hotel in Barcelona was a wonderful first one to discover. More please! It’s ridiculously stylish, expertly managed and in a great location. It’s snug but we never really noticed or cared because of how exceedingly well designed absolutely everything is. We stayed four nights mid-June 2023 for a first-time visit to Barcelona in a junior suite at Room Mate Anna ($398 /night) including breakfast. And the breakfast buffet was practically a spa experience it is so well done. A new well-traveled friend later said when we told him where we’d stayed said, ‘oh that’s one of the best hotels in Barcelona!’ Thought so.

Grottamiranda Naturist Resort — Brindisi, Puglia, Italy

We stayed 14 days in late July in an apartment at Resort Naturista Grottamiranda ($161 /night without breakfast). Died and gone to naturist heaven. Pierre and Martine are fabulous hosts and their beautiful historical property was a delight. It’s small scale, exceedingly quiet and the perfect vacation within our vacation where we mostly stayed at the property simply recovering from a busy travel schedule and recharging our batteries. We prepared our own breakfasts and some dinners while taking advantage some nights of the special events or their salads and other options available some evenings but not all.

We rented a car one day, once we were rested, and went to Lecce about an hour away and explored. There’s more nearby villages to explore for next time!