Hotel San Francesco Al Monte - Naples

I had heard that Naples was kind of rough, and I would have to agree with that, however our hotel was beautiful and I would definitely recommend it.

YV too far from bed. Absence of set of drawers;no shelves in bathroom

There is no doubt that the hotel enjoys an enviable location with fantastic views across the city. Our room had the added benefit of a terrace to enjoy the view though the compromise is the location away from most of the city attractions. However, regret that many of the features expected of 4 star accomodation were missing - no hotel information provided either at reception or in the room about facilities or local area, hotel facilities were basic - no decent bar, the restaurant was ok but very overpriced and there was little or no help available from staff who spoke little Englich and seemed less than helpful. This should be rated as 3 star accomodation.

I recommen the hotel

Fantastic hotel in stunning location in Naples. Directions on getting here not great get funicular and get off and stop Corso V Emanuelle - easy after this. Top floor is stunning with pool but this is not accessible to guests after 5pm which is a pity - weddings were on every night during my visit - although we did crash one of them ! Dinner in hotel was an experience for location and service despite somewhat bland food. An ideal wedding hotel

Wonderfully relaxing after chaotic days in Naples. Excellent restaurant. Standards of attention to guests should not be compromised, however, when the hotel caters the many weddings it is host to. Also, guests on upper floors with windows only should not be allowed to flick cigarette ashes and butts out their windows onto the terraces (and drying bathing suits) of guests below!

Take the funicular up to the hotel from the city area, 1 euro Great view of harbor and city from room

We have stayed at this wonderful hotel once before and were not disappointed this time. Just wandering around the hotel and the roof garden is an experience in itself. The old convent has been sensitively restored with original features retained. The room was very comfortable, with a free minibar (nice touch) - the only surprising thing was the lack of storage space. Breakfast on the terrace is amazing with views over the whole of the city and Vesuvius. The restaurant is also excellent and good value. The surrounding area is very Neapolitan, fairly rough, but not without interest.

Very good hotel, next to the funicular-quick way down to shopping stores..Beautiful view of the bay of Naples-Restaurant is very good.. Garden and pool on top floor was being prepared for a wedding..fantastic.

Very nice place with ideal situation to historical dowtown. Certainely one of the best view over Naples.

Unbelievable breakfast buffet with a view of the bay and Vesuvius. Excellent.

El encanto de este hotel reside en su ubicación en un antiguo convento (del cual se conservan todavía numerosas estructuras) y en las vistas que ofrece sobre la ciudad de Nápoles. En el último piso, hay un jardín maravilloso. No os lo perdáis! Hemos valorado estos aspectos mucho más los comforts standars de esta categoría de establecimentos.

A Fabulous hotel with breathtaking views (literally, watch out for the lift). Expensive for its out of town location but worth it if you do'nt mind the trek back, by tram-lift of cab (hold on!). The staff were very friendly our room was spacious & clean with excellent views of the bay of Naples.

My wife and I had a wonderful time staying in this hotel. It was a bit more than we budgeted for but it is a great place to stay. We had a good view of the city, the bay and Vesuvius. The rooms could not be any better, clean, spacious, more than what we actually needed. We felt spoiled. The breakfast selections were okay, we thought that the variety could have been more on the selections of food and that the quality could have been better given the price we paid but not horrible. Front desk staff very pleasant and helpful. Would definitely come back again. JL

wonderful hotel .. famtastic history & views .. marveloous food

Having booked accommodation over the internet before I was well aware that sometimes the description and actual offer often don't match but here we were really happy and pleasantly surprised as the hotel even surpassed the websites we had seen. The hotel is totally unique and memorable, the views are great, the staff really helpful and the price good. It is worth asking for a room with a balcony (as there are only 2) as they took this into account and we managed to get one, and also to check out the offers on their site which show special offers (for extra nights at low costs etc) We would recommend this hotel very highly!

Very nice and quiet location near to the lively city centre of Naples with splendid views from the room as well as from the terrace of the restaurant. The choices of the menu were limited in itself but if ordered a day before the staff could arange almost everything. The kindness of the waiters in the restaurant will remain in our minds for a long time. One day we will return for a next stay.

The building was really interesting one because it was renovated monastery. The room was spacious and we enjoyed the view of Naples from our room. The bathroom was comfortable. Especially the Jacuzzi bath was extremely wonderful, though only my father and my mother in law used it. As the last day was my mother's birthday, we (were five people) went to the restaurant in this hotel that night. The restautrant served scrumptious food. And a bottle of sparkling wine...it was a gift from this hotel...although I did not tell the hotel about my mother's birthday. We spend fabulous and unforgettable days here. We had to use bus or taxi to tourist attractions in Naples from the hotel, however, this hotel is worth staying to enjoy Naples.

Hotel très agréable, vivant et remarquablement bien situé. Le centre historique est facilement accessible à pied et le funiculaire à deux pas. Une mention spéciale pour le personnel (nombreux) de la réception, plein de ressources, d'une grande gentillesse, efficace et toujours disponible. Quelle que soit la personne à laquelle nous nous sommes adressés, nous avons toujours été très bien conseillés : appel de taxis, choix de restaurants, à côté de l'hôtel ou plus loin, et coups de fil pour réserver si besoin, organisation d'excursions à Pompéi et Herculanum, et même vente de billets pour le funiculaire... Au printemps et en été, la terrasse du 7e étage, qui se prolonge par un vaste jardin suspendu à flanc de colline, doit être une des plus belles de Naples.

We had an excellent time at the San Francesco al Monte. Our room was first class, with views across the Bay and of Vesuvius. The hospitallity was as stated hospitallity, and recharged daily. In the resturant we still enjoyed wonderful views and the choice for breakfast was good, however the dinner menu could have more Italian dishes rather than standard international hotel fare. The hotel location was good, with close proximity to the veniculare station, making it easy to decend to the centre of main part of town, the Castle, Royal Palace and Tour Bus, plus the fact that the 1 euro ticket also allows you to catch the local bus to the Railway Station, this made our trip to Pompeii equally easy. Overall we both rated our stay as excellent and will be recommending it to our freinds, and we ourselves will be returning very soon.

Lovely hotel; nice, friendly, respectful staff. Excellent service. Very comfortable room. Beautiful view from our balcony and from the roof terrace. Because there were not many guests when we stayed, they put us in a "superior" room with balcony at no extra charge -- we had only booked a standard double. The hotel's restaurant is exquisite and we had three outstanding dinners there, but it's a bit too special for every day (in our opinion). To get a more everyday sort of meal, ride up to the top of the Centrale funicular to Vomero where there are pizzerias, resturants and bars. At present the Montesanto funicular is closed for renovation. This makes access to the railway station (for excursions to Pompeii etc) a little awkward. You can walk down the Montesanto steps and catch the metro at the bottom, or ride to the top of the Centrale funicular and then take a long metro ride from there. This hotel is so nice that it is worth putting up with this slight inconvenience! The only other downside is that you can't access the Internet from the hotel. You do have a television in the room with CNN, Sky News and so on, but no Internet.

We enjoyed our 3 days' stay at the hotel, which is very interesting and full of history. It was also well kept, clean and comfortable. The staff were very helpful and friendly, espcially the recption staff. The location is a little out of the way, with no decent restaurents nearby.

Room location was just above restaurant. Quite noisy at times. TV has seen better times - some channels not received and handset not working well - TV was just too archaic.

Splendid location. The rooms with overwhelming sea-view are partly not very quiet because of a very busy piano player in the open Hotel yard. The roof terrace is exceptionell and nearly for itself worth the room taxes!

Great place to stay and would return. Wine service was exceptional. Food just OK. Great location.

Very enjoyable holiday. Excellent location. Hotel could perhaps benefit from having tea/coffee facilities in rooms.

Lovely hotel with a great location overlooking the Bay of Naples. Great renovation of an old monastry which provides a calming atmopshere away from the hectic life of Naples. Not cheap, but you get what you pay for. Good restaurant dining on the terrace for nightime views of the city. Definately to be recommended.

The hotel was absolutely superb. It is an old monastery which has been wonderfully transformed, managing to retain a lot of original features (including an authentic smell evocative of Anne Radcliffe novels). The room was very spacious (room number 514)and had views out across Naples and Vesuvius. The staff were very friendly, the breakfast was lovely, and the minibar complimentary. The only downside is the situation - if you don't want to eat in the hotel there isn't very much locally unless you like pizza.

I must start with the conclusion that this hotel does not deserve a four star. Well, if people think that do not expect too much from hotels in Naples, I do not think so, because you pay a lot (this hotel was 280Euro/night for a double room) and the hotel I changed offered us very good service. First of all, what you need from long hour sight-seeing in Naples and/or its vicinities such as Capri and Amalfi, is nice relaxing bath/shower. But 3 times out of 5 nights stay, you expect cold water. The hotel explains that there is a person who check the level of pressure every 30 minutes, it is definitely not. After asking for hot water and receptionists' several times explanation to wait for another 30 minutes, we could not after all have bath. In the morning, only expect on e person to be able to have a shower but your partner would not. This occured us many times. Then secondly, maintenance. We asked two times to change bulbs which needed to change but after two days, there was no change without explanation. Thirdly, the worst thing is the attitude of receptionists. They try or pretend to try at least. But it is not sincere at all. You call reception several times for different objectives. If it is request for something which they cannot, they dislike to take your phone and whatsmore, what you get is laugh "oh this is them again!" It is very nice. Then more and more such as a waiter who is not properly dresseed in the breakfast place, etc. I am sure you would like to have good experience in Naples. Then what I recommend you is to stay in a proper hotel, I mean at least a friendly hotel, if you pay a lot. I must say, for this hotel's honor, there were nice receptionists who gave us proper explanation. But we dissapointed a lot, especially it was our honeymoon.

My wife and me spent 4 days at this hotel, and we are recommending it to all our friends. It is placed on a hill, near to the city center (easily linked by the "Funicolare"), and the vue from the room and from the hotel public outdoor areas (restaurant / breakfast and swimming pool) is wonderful. The employees were very polite and gave us all the information we requested, concerning Naples and Capri, the monuments and all the services (including the private transfer coach that you can hire to get the airport, at the same rate than the ordinary cab service). Our room - at the end of 5th floor - was probably the largest we have ever had in a hotel, even if we did not book a suite: there was even too many space (also considering the double wardrobe) for only two people. The bathroom was absolutely excellent, and obviously very clean. Furthermore, and this was really the first time, the beverages in the fridge were complimentary. The hotel is an historical place, as specified in its site, but you have to go there to understand what it means: between the floors, you are going to discover plenty of secret places and rooms. It was absolutely unique and interesting. Finally, the rate (please notice that the Internet rate is about 40% lower than the official one) was not the lowest available in Naples, but it was surely lower than what you are going to pay in Italy for the hotels of this category. Considering luxury hotels, we think it is cheap.