PRICE:
Frommer's Exceptional

This is the finest hotel in town, surpassing the Vesuvio only because of its more tranquil and scenic location on a hillside avenue. It was created in 1870, when architects cared about the beauty of their work -- neoclassical walls, fluted pilasters, and ornate ceilings. The hotel became part of World War II history when it was the Allied headquarters in the mid-'40s. The guest rooms are traditionally furnished, some quite formal; each is in a different style, such as Louis XVI, Directoire, Empire, or Charles X. Most guests seek out one of the front rooms where narrow terraces open onto bay views. The delicious food at the hotel's rooftop restaurant, George's, competes with anything available by the bay. Chef Vincenzo Bocioterracino wins our hearts and our stomachs with such delights as coin-shaped pasta with zucchini flowers and candy-sweet cherry tomatoes, or caramelized pears with a grape gelato.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Italy 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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