5-star hotel
Hotel La Palma Capri
If the Grand Hotel Quisisana is the island’s stately dowager, Hotel La Palma is her spirited, chic granddaughter who just returned from art school in London. Reclaiming the shell of Capri’s very first hotel (the Locanda Pagano, est. 1822), the Oetker Collection has stripped away the dust to reveal a bright, kinetic masterpiece. Designer Francis Sultana’s interiors are a confident departure from the usual heavy Italianate baroque; think breezy Mediterranean minimalism spiked with bespoke Bonacina rattan furniture and whimsical ceiling frescoes by Roberto Ruspoli that nod to the island’s Cocteau-esque past. The 50 rooms feel less like hotel quarters and more like a curator’s guest suite, featuring Aqua di Parma amenities and tactile linens that invite barefoot lounging. While the pool deck is intimate—a polite way of saying small—it serves as a perfect theater box for watching the Via Vittorio Emanuele fashion parade below. Dining is a serious affair at Gennaro’s, where Chef Gennaro Esposito’s zucchini cavatelli justifies the carb-load, but the real scene is at Bianca Rooftop at sunset. Verdict: The new sovereign of the Piazzetta scene.
