Hotel La Palma

Character and identity

Set on Via Vittorio Emanuele, Capri town's main shopping artery, La Palma is Oetker Collection's reinvention of the island's oldest hotel (originally an 1822 guesthouse for Grand Tour artists). The look, by Maltese decorator Francis Sultana, is art deco crossed with neoclassicism in chalk whites and aquamarines, palm-motif terrazzo, plaster staircases, and frescoed vaults by Roberto Ruspoli. There are 50 rooms and suites across three floors, a first-floor pool, the relaunched Da Gioia beach club at Marina Piccola, and Gennaro's, the restaurant from two-Michelin-starred Neapolitan chef Gennaro Esposito. Staff in chambray linen and Panama hats set a deliberately Gatsby-era register.

Who's it for

Bottom line

The real reason to book is Esposito's kitchen and the Da Gioia lounger, both of which solve Capri's two hardest problems: where to eat and where to swim. Splurge on a third-floor suite or the Junior Suite Prestige Loggia overlooking the pool, accept the five-night high-season minimum, and consider shoulder season once La Bianca rooftop and the spa are fully operational.