Character: Exquisitely furnished rooms in this exclusive enclave make it feel like you are the guest of a king!
Advantages: Fantastic service and an even better location.
Location: Inside Naples' Galleria Umberto I, across the street from Teatro San Carlo, only minutes' walk from Palazzo Reale and the many downtown sites. The docks and rail station are a very short cab ride away, and you can take the cable car up to the Archeological Museum. Click here to see a map.
Ask any Neapolitan and he will tell you that while the city's lively alleyways are its lifeblood, the Galleria Umberto I is the heart whence that blood flows. Built in 1890 as a monumental symbol of the total renovation the city was undergoing, you might think of it as one of the world's first shopping malls -- except that this one, like its sister in Milan, is an astounding showplace of fine marbles, intricate mosaics, soaring Renaissance arches, and extravagant Baroque arabesques which instantly drew the city's crème de la crème to its fashionable shops and cafes. These days, you can—and should— still marvel at the architecture. Yet the Galleria also lets you be part of an equally fascinating bit of flesh-and-blood architecture: a true human kaleidoscope swirls around you, on its way to the opera, to work, to a rendezvous. Perhaps they are well-dressed, perhaps dishevelled; the weird as well as the mundane, the casual and the poised. From the perfectly nondescript to those who look like extras in some bizarre film, they all have their own reasons for being drawn to what is still a most remarkable structure. And now, for the first time, you can actually reside within this unique microcosm, because you can stay right inside the Gallery itself. Occupying one of the original buildings, this brand new hotel offers an authentically historic setting with modern amenities and a world-class location. Words and pictures cannot describe the beauty and charm of this tiny hotel, which is managed by the friendliest staff in Naples. There are only 10 guestrooms, so please book way in advance! |
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