Sorrento

Just come back from a week in Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast. This was my first trip there. It’s quite a place – not as big as I expected – but very friendly. The holiday got off to an awful start when we queued 4 hours to check in with Thomson Airways. Their computer systems were down right across the country. Everyone was very patient – very British in fact – but I find it astonishing that a company the size of Thomson has no resilience or back up in their systems . As a result we didn’t arrive at our hotel until around midnight – long after the restaurant had closed. However, the hotel had kindly prepared a cold room service meal for our arrival, which was both very thoughtful, and very good. The hotel was the Hilton Sorrento Palace and whilst it was very nice and in a terrific, commanding spot high up the cliff on the outskirts of town, it was very American (glass and concrete) and really didn’t blend in with the style of the local architecture.

I have high standards when it comes to hotels, so it is disappointing to report that the hotel restaurant ran out of two out of three main courses on Sunday night – and it then took an hour to serve the remaining main course. Other than that, the service was excellent. There were no English speaking channels on the in-room tv except CNN and Bloomberg and internet access was incredibly expensive – 17 Euro per day for wif-fi or 35 cents a minute in the business centre. When will these places learn that these services are becoming an increasingly important part of the regular traveller’s requirement?

We experienced a couple of rainy (but warm) days, which gave us plenty of scope to people watch. What is it about Canadians and fashion sense? Other than that, we did a lot of lying in the sun, reading (Bill Bryson’s ‘The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid), and generally relaxing. We did a tour of the stunning coast line, but unfortunately didn’t manage to get to Pompeii. That will be next time.

Coming back, I was very amused by the check in procedures at Naples. We were left waiting on the coach for 90 minutes outside the airport and only allowed in shortly before our flight was due to depart. All of which meant we marched straight through check in, security, passport control and straight onto the flight. No time for shopping. These days, when airports depend up tourists spending, it was odd we were not offered the opportunity to get rid of our few remaining Euros! Their loss.

All in all, I'd recommend Sorrento if you want a friendly resort, with plenty of historical sites and good weather. Just bear in mind it will take well over an hour from Naples airport on a very busy road - and that's without hold ups.