Hotel Royal Positano

We booked this hotel for a last-minute trip, mainly because it had a pool though, to be honest, if you’re coming to Positano for four days, a pool isn’t really essential. The pool itself is quite worn out, but still functional. The hotel overall is a bit run-down, but the rooms are spacious and clean. The staff have a bit of a Fawlty Towers vibe, which oddly adds to the charm. The real surprise, though, was the food dinner was absolutely incredible.

Leaving a detailed review - hopefully this will be helpful. To start, our expectations were very low given the questionable reviews. I think this is important to do if you want to have an enjoyable stay. Despite reviews, we still booked here because it was the most affordable we could find that’s still in Positano - we chose to prioritize convenience/location without it being absurdly expensive. I think most reviews are low because it doesn’t match the price paid/4 star hotel standard but if you don’t want to pay the crazy prices in town, it’s the best value you’ll get (at least for us - we went peak season July for 4 nights). Overall it was a safe room to sleep in, get free breakfast, and convenient location (though you still have to climb stairs or take the bus but that’s a given all around Positano) Pros: - bus stop is right in front of the hotel making it convenient to get down/up to city center & beaches + around the town - Decent sized rooms (we booked a family room for 4 people) - Comes with breakfast - though basic and same everyday it was one less meal we had to pay for - House cleaning everyday - but some small stains on bedding - AC worked well - Nice views Cons: - rooms are dated and need updating - Some mold in the bathroom & minor smell - Ants in the room - Slight weird odor in one room (potentially from the AC) Tip for arrival with luggage: take the bus, don’t walk up! It’s super difficult. We made the mistake and decided to walk up, trusting google maps, which turned a 15 min walk into a 30 min hike up with all our luggage. Google maps marks the hotel location slightly different area so it leads you to a different entrance/route. If you’re walking, route to “Pensione Villa Verde Positano” and this will take you to the hotel entrance. The location on Google maps takes you to the street above the hotel, and you have to descend a lot of stairs from there to get to the hotel.

Disappointing Stay at a Severely Neglected Property We stayed at this hotel for 4 nights, and unfortunately, our experience was far from the 4-star standard it claims to uphold. The property appears to have not been meaningfully updated in decades—and the condition reflects that. Our room lacked internal curtains, providing little privacy.There was zero soundproofing—you can hear everything from neighboring rooms and above.Towels were old, thin, and fraying, while bedsheets were questionable in cleanliness. The bathroom in our room was so small. The furniture was extremely dated and worn. The coffee table was rotting, and seating was stained, discolored, and even ripped. Provided toiletries were cheap sachets—not what you’d expect from a hotel claiming 4 stars. Only one bottle of water was provided for our entire stay. When I requested more, I was told to get it myself from the restaurant—where I was then charged €5. Stay away from this place.