Villa Punta Tragara

Hotel Punta Tragara
Via Tragara, 57
80073 Capri (NA) Italy
Tel. 081 8370844 (Automatico)
Fax 081 8377790
hotel.tragara@capri.it
www.hoteltragara.com

The outer terrace of #44 (there was a large inner one four steps lower for sunning), with the views left and right from it.

Punta Tragara is the pink villa in the upper left of the first photo. Second photo is the cold saltwater pool. Third is Russ at the luncheon terrace in front of the warm saltwater pool.

The number of pictures here should give you a clue - we'd go back tomorrow, in the dead of winter (even though it's closed from November through March), on our knees, anything to return to this enchanted spot. The suite was a little dark (but had two very large rooms) because of the two balconies, but we didn't spend much time inside. (Most of the suites - check the website - are bright and cheerful.) The luncheon terrace and adjoining sunning areas overlooking the Med, the wonderful meals in the dining room, the excellent lunches at warm poolside, the wonderful people (although the front desk couldn't find our reservation when we called from Positano, perhaps because we didn't know the Italian word for 'hyphen' in spelling our name)--- all are supporting cast for the island of Capri, which we are not the first to recommend. (See Places to See - Capri.) The suite was a little over $400 a night, in 2002. In 2006, in high season, rates run from $400 for a room to $600 for suites such as this one, but, by spring of 2008, with the euro soaring and the dollar - thanks, White House - in steep decline, suites were running $1380 a night - next time we'll take just a room at $780 and spend all our time outside.

To quote from Escape to the Amalfi Coast: Ingeniously stitched onto the cliffs is the sculptural Hotel Punta Tragara, which the great architect Le Corbusier placed just so, to exploit the hypnotic power of the stone trio (Faraglioni rocks in the sea). Some guests never budge from their private balconies above the rocks --- they can't ---except perhaps to drift down to the hotel's poolside restaurant, a dazzling study in indolence and wealth. Slip into a chair at one of the water's-edge tables, breathe in the jasmine-scented air and, maybe, adjust your pareo. Under the unwavering gaze of the Faraglioni, you've just gone native, Capri-style.

The Grand Hotel Quisisana and Scalinatella are highly touted in travel literature. The Quisisana looks grand, but it's right in the heart of shopping and cafes, an area crowded by the masses of day trippers during the day and sometimes noisy at night. And the views are over relatively unexciting parts of town to the ocean. The Scalinatella has incredible rooms, but your sunning at poolside will be in open view of, and a weak stone's throw away from, hundreds of tourists who have taken the ferry from Sorrento for a day on the island. The pool is not special, nor are the views.

We'll take Punta Tragara any day.

NOTE: In her recent book A Year in the World (excellent chapters on Capri and other Italian locales), Frances Mayes notes that both Quisisana and Scalinatella are owned by the same company, which features bust, portrait, and statue of Mussolini on its grounds. Call us political, if you like, but we would not stay in any hotel which glorifies Fascist dictators whose actions in WWII cost millions of lives.

SHOPPING

The travel guides will tell you the truth - there are no bargains on Capri. You can find some wonderful items, especially sweaters and lingerie, but not at bargain, or even acceptable, prices. This is the place to buy souvenirs, trinkets to send to relatives if you're not going to Florence this trip, and pretty somethings like a scarf just to keep the shopgirls from having you thrown out. Standing in the main square, you have your choice of streets. With your back to the road up from the harbor (or funiculum), look off to your right. Go down that street. It will take you along so-so shops to the famous Grand Hotel Quisisana. To the left, toward Syrene and Punta Tragara, are famous shops (See Born to Shop). Straight ahead of you are shops with what pass for bargains in Capri, as well as the street which descends toward the Marina Piccola and souvenir shops.

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