14 romantic hotels

Italy

Monte San Savino, Tuscany
Castello di Gargonza
On the crest of a mountain enveloped by forest sits a fairy-tale castle, with a 13th-century hamlet curled around the base of a crenellated tower. The hilltop village is Gargonza, fought over for centuries by the Florentines and Sienese, host to an exiled Dante in the early 1300s—and now entirely for rent. Gargonza's 35 houses, which like the castle are built of pale stone, serve as apartments, and most feature working fireplaces, kitchenettes, and 17th-century-style furnishings. There are also eight simple rooms (no kitchens or fireplaces). Converting the place into lodging for tourists was the only way Count Roberto Guicciardini—whose ancestors have been lords of the castle since 1700—could save the decaying village after the last of its farmers and artisans abandoned Gargonza in the 1960s. The central courtyard, with an old well and geraniums spilling from arcaded balconies, is a sort of open-air living room for guests. Likewise, the old olive-press building functions these days as a common room with sofas, a TV, and the breakfast buffet. Just outside the town's medieval walls is a swimming pool surrounded by fragrant rosemary and olive and cypress trees, and the excellent restaurant. Owner Neri Guicciardini, one of the count's sons, adds innovative flair to Tuscan classics. West of Monte San Savino, less than a mile off the road between Arezzo and Siena, 011-39/0575-847-021, gargonza.it, from $170; from $230 in B&B and apartment; from $1,091 weekly apartment rentals.

Positano, Amalfi Coast
Albergo California
Maria Cinque makes a point of chatting with every one of her guests. She's particularly delighted to meet Americans, as she and her husband, Antonio, lived in the Bronx for nine years. They returned to Italy in 1974 to run a family hotel a five minutes' walk from the center of Positano—and to teach their children "what it means to be Italian," in Maria's words. Six of the 15 guest rooms are in the original 1777 Palazzo Bruno, including four upstairs rooms with 18th-century ceiling frescoes. Many regulars prefer ground-floor rooms 51 to 55, however, because they open directly onto the magnificent, long entrance terrace and enjoy postcard views of Positano framed by ivy trailing off the shady trellis. Rooms without sea views (they actually look out to a wall) cost $65 less—an option certainly worth considering, since all guests have access to the terrace. Each of the California's rooms is spacious and seems even more so owing to minimal furnishings. At sunset, small groups gather on the terrace to sip wine, plan the next day, and pinch themselves, realizing that they've got the same view as the chichi Le Sirenuse hotel down the street for one third of the price. Via Cristoforo Colombo 141, Positano, 011-39/089-875-382, hotelcaliforniapositano.com, from $223, breakfast included. Closed mid-November to mid-March.

Siracusa, Sicily
Hotel Gutkowski

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The hotel with the best combination of style and value in all of Sicily is on a coastal road in Siracusa's historic center of Ortigia. Gutkowski's owner, Paola Pretsch, converted a pair of powder-blue houses overlooking the Mediterranean into a 25-room hotel. She decorated the properties along minimalist lines, enhanced by traditional touches, with mod furnishings near old stone doorways. In the main building, the rooms with direct sea views are 3, 4, 8, 9, and 15—the last reached via a terrace. In the annex up the road, the views are best from second-floor rooms 24 to 26. (From the first floor, only the sea horizon is visible above stone fortifications across the road.) The scrumptious breakfast consists of homemade cakes and cookies, fruits and cheeses, organic marmalades and honey, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. Lungomare Vittorini 26, 011-39/0931-465-861, guthotel.it, from $163.

England

Penzance, Cornwall
Mount Haven Hotel
Orange Trevillion was drawn to Penzance, at the west end of Cornwall, because of the town's proximity to St. Michael's Mount, an ancient craggy island that looks a lot like a lopsided volcano. "It's a sacred place," says Trevillion, an eccentric with carrot-colored hair (of course) who believes that four of the Earth's energy lines come together there. Formerly the site of a Benedictine priory and rumored to have once been home to a giant, the island got its name when a fisherman claimed to have seen the archangel Michael there many years ago. Trevillion and her partners bought Mount Haven in 2001. They knocked down walls and reconfigured the old coach house to maximize views of St. Michael's Mount and the ocean. Most of the 18 rooms look out on the water. They have a distinctly Asian feel, with silk bedspreads and throw pillows covered in embroidered fabrics from Trevillion's frequent trips to India. (Room 6 is the quietest, away from both the front desk and the terrace.) Even the restaurant—where many dishes are flavored with curry and lemongrass—has views of the mount from one end. But the best seats are on the terrace: You can see the island rising steeply out of the water, with a medieval castle on its tip-top. (Owned by The National Trust, the castle is open to the public.) At low tide, when people stroll across a granite causeway to visit, it appears as if they're walking on water. Farther west beyond Mounts Bay and Penzance—the city made famous by Gilbert and Sullivan—is Land's End. 011-44/173-671-0249, mounthaven.co.uk, from $88, breakfast included.

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