Grand Hotel Quisisana

The Hotel

Quisisana is the grande dame of Capri. The building was opened in 1845 as a clinic by Dr George Sidney Clark — the name means "here one heals" — and was converted to a hotel within twenty years. By the late 19th century it was the property European nobility came to when they came to Capri, and it has occupied that position with only minor interruption ever since. The Morgano family has owned and operated the property since 1908. Address: Via Camerelle 2 — the start of Capri's most famous shopping street, ninety seconds from the Piazzetta on foot.

There are around 150 rooms and suites — a much larger inventory than any of Capri's boutique competitors — split between Standard, Superior, Deluxe, Junior Suite, Suite, and the signature Imperial Suites. Categories vary in décor across multiple historic restoration cycles; the Sea View categories face the Faraglioni and the Bay of Naples, the Garden View categories overlook the property's central garden and pool, and a small set of inland-facing rooms exists at the lower price points. The renovation programme is rolling — different floors are updated at different intervals — which means category-to-category quality varies more than at smaller properties; ask for a recently refurbished sea-view at booking.

The dining and bar programme is the property's true distinction. Quisi is the formal restaurant, with dinner on the central pool terrace in summer. The Krug Room is the property's most celebrated bar — it pours 16 Krug champagnes by the glass, with the wine and champagne list running from €29 Campanian whites to €5,540 1996 Krug Clos d'Ambonnay; the standard pour of Krug Grande Cuvée is €375 a glass. The Gio Ponti theatre, designed by Ponti in 1929, is a Liberty-style 200-seat venue used for events, fashion shows, and the annual cultural programme. The QuisiBeauty spa is small, the gym is adequate, and the two pools — one on the central terrace and one in the garden — are the property's daytime anchors.

Quisisana's defining quality is provenance. This is the hotel that has hosted Capri's social life for 180 years, the property where Sinatra stayed and where the international press camps during the Capri film events, the place that locals point to as "the Capri hotel" without further qualification. The 150-room scale and the rolling renovation cycle mean the consistency is not at the level of a Jumeirah-managed Capri Palace or the boutique tightness of JK Place — but the location, the bar, the theatre, and the 180-year continuous operation are not replicable. For couples who want their Capri stay anchored to the property the island has built itself around, Quisisana is the answer.

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