La Costa Bella Hotel?

[Momof2]

We are trying to decide between 2 different dates to do this trip and each one offers a different hotel in Sorrento. One is the Hilton, which I guess is the one usually used, but the second week offers the Europa Palace. Could anyone who's done this trip share their thoughts on either of these hotels? Thanks!

 

[Beth]

We really enjoyed the Hilton. To sit on your balcony and look out at the Bay and Mt. Vesuvius was just amazing to me...

The room in which you'll have breakfast each day was just SO lovely. It was surrounded by windows.... oh it was wonderful.

The walk into town was a little bit of a hike. Especially on our last day there... when I decided I wanted to run back in "real quick" to make one last purchase... an item I had seen in a window the night before - after the store had already closed.

...But it helped work out that wonderful breakfast!

All that said... I would stay there again in a heartbeat!

 

[Momof2]

Thanks Beth - I think the Hilton is the one we're leaning to. Any other tips about the trip that might be helpful to us? We're going in June. Thanks.

 

[Beth]

Here's a really small one.

My DH and I had never travelled abroard before.

Something that we knew nothing about was their aversion to washcloths. ?!?

In the bathrooms in both of our rooms (and also the one Alitalia put us up in the last night, when they screwed up our flight!) - there were only bath towels (really nice larger ones) and hand towels. There were no wash cloths. I struggled to bathe with those large handtowels... they were so heavy when they were wet.

If/when we go again... I will bring a couple of washcloths... and will just leave them behind. Silly... I know.... but it would have been an easy thing to prepare for had I known ahead of time....

Also:

-- I never used, nor felt I needed, a moneybelt. Didn't take up a lot of room in the suitcase... but I didn't need to bring it, at all.

-- Disney provided us with ponchos and umbrellas when we needed them - so don't worry about bringing those. They also gave us little personal battery-powered fans.

-- Be prepared for the possibility of returning to the US one day later than you expect.... as I've read MANY reports of folks - not just on our trip - who had their flights screwed up by Alitalia. It was an unfortunate ending to an otherwise AMAZING trip!

-- This isn't just an ABD thing... but I wish I had remembered to make some address labels before my trip for the postcards I sent back. It would have saved me some time.

-- GO swimming in the Mediterranean! Some folks in our group chose not to.... but it was one of the highlights of our trip! This body hadn't seen a swimsuit in years, and probably "won't, again" for a long time... but I did it, anyway - and it was wonderful!

-- While you could probably accomplish this with Photoshop... I wish I had thought to bring some cheap Santa hats... I would have put them on with my DH when taking our picture in front of the Coliseum or Mt. Vesuvius, and used that picture for my Christmas card this year... I still used our Italy pictures... but they weren't real "seasonal."

-- Speaking of Christmas... I've always enjoyed purchasing a Christmas ornament from places we've visited in the past... I searched and searched for some while we were over there. On our free night in Sorrento... we were wondering around to find a place to eat, and ended up finding a little place on one of the dark side streets. I sat down to eat, and looked across from us, and - lo and behond! - there was a Christmas shop! I wish I could tell you the name of the street... but maybe you could ask a local? I bought two "lemon" ornaments, and they're hanging prominently on my tree right now!

-- The main shop in Sorrento that ABD takes you to... on the corner in Piazza Tasso - we bought a lot of stuff from them and had it shipped. I do highly recommend them. We had an issue with a custom piece that we had ordered... and they called me, and emailed me - no problem.

-- As far as shopping... we found some good deals on pottery in Positano. I wouldn't plan on buying much in Capri... it's pretty commercialized.

-- In Amalfi. We chose to tour Sant'Andrea Church during our free time. ABD told us that they didn't take the group on that tour, because of the excessive amount of steps... but I highly recommend it. The crypt is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

As I think of more... I'll try to add it. Have a wonderful trip.

 

[awatt]

We thoroughly enjoyed the Hilton. Clean beautiful room with an outstanding view. Modern and more "Americanized" than the usual European hotel.The breakfast was something each morning. Kids enjoyed taking a break from touring in the pool, which was a good size. Would gladly stay there again.

I wrote a trip report (August or September) on this board which may have some helpful info for you.

Agrre with the above poster re teh pottery in Positano. Fell in love with teh store "MAria Grazia" and wish I had more room in my suitcase.

 

[Momof2]

wow - thanks so much for all that info. I've started keep some notes and you both gave me some great stuff! I did go ahead and book the trip that has us at the Hilton. Now it's on to the airfare. I'm planning to do it myself, not through ABD, so perhaps I'll try to stay away from Alitalia. Beth - I also try to collect an ornament when we travel - I'll be looking for that shop. Thanks again!

 

[awatt]

I found the trip report:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1553986

 

[Momof2]

Great trip report - thanks for sharing it! We're really looking forward to our trip. Still waiting for a call back from ABD - there was only 1 room available in hotel for us to arrive 1 night early - they need to talk with hotel directly and see if they'll release another. We really want the extra day at the beginning of the trip. Any other Alitalia experiences - seems its the only airline to fly non-stop from Boston, so we might just take the chance.

 

[Beth]

Our problem with Alitalia was on the "return" trip.

When we arrived at the Naples airport, it was total chaos. Apparently, the flight had either been cancelled or significantly delayed, and we weren't going to make our flight out of Rome. But there was no one to give us a definitive answer (language barrier hurt us). Lots of passengers were angry and yelling - it was just a bad scene.

So Alitalia got us buses and bussed the whole flight to Rome, assuring us they would "hold the plane." We should have known that was a lie...

Anway - the bus thing was scary... because everyone was crowding around - it was hot - we were all guarding our luggage... There were 6 of us from our tour in the predicament - so we all looked out for each other. We were very afraid that we wouldn't all get a seat on the bus. So, here we are loading all our luggage, then we couldn't be sure we'd get on the bus. And - who was to say that our luggage would ever make it from the bus to the plane in Rome - given all the disorganization we'd already witnessed?

Anyway - we all made it on... but, of course, when we got to the airport, the flight was gone. Then, there was total confusion over whether or not we needed to be dealing with Delta or Alitalia. Some of our tickets said one... some said the other.

We finally realized it was Alitalia, so we got in "the line." We were in "the line" for four hours. They finally got us re-ticketed for the next day, and put us up in a hotel overnight in Rome. Which sounds wonderful... but it wasn't. Especially after having such wonderful treatment and hospitality with Disney all week. It was a disappointing way to end such a great trip.

Anyway - ALL this to say... I would highly recommend you consider taking the train from Naples to Rome. I was told by one of the ABD people that Disney doesn't recommend the train because it doesn't meet the "Disney experience" standards but - let me tell you! - NONE of what we experienced was very "Disney-like."

There were several people from our tour - including our two guides - who took the train back.

I would highly recommend you consider it...

Just my two cents...

 

[Momof2]

Beth - did you have ABD book your flights or did you do it on your own? Alitalia is the easiest way for us to get there, but since we have to make a stop on the way home regardless of airline, I wonder if we should think about using different airlines each way.

 

[Beth]

I used ABD to book our flights.

You're absolutely right... Alitalia has the most flights to choose from.

We flew out of MCO on Delta. They ended up re-ticketing us to fly from FCO to Newark, then Newark back to MCO, on Continental. (We were supposed to fly thru JFK.)

The flight back was actually very smooth. I had heard horror stories about Newark - but it was a breeze. They had people standing all over the place to answer questions and point you in the right direction. It was so refreshing after the previous 24 hours.