There's a reason Italy's Amalfi Coast is on most travellers' bucket lists. Endless views of precarious cliffs, rocky shores, multicoloured towns and terraced vineyards serve as the backdrop to a peaceful locale, where boat rides, fresh seafood, mountain hikes and ocean dips are the order of the day.
It's in this sublime setting that you'll find Casa Angelina boutique hotel. Carved out of the small town of Praiano's dizzyingly steep cliffs, the building's sleek white exterior provides a striking contrast to the region's signature grey dolomite rock.
With a focus on minimalism and contemporary design, the hotel makes for an unexpected change to the traditional aesthetic of the region, and while it's all-white interiors could have erred on the side of clinical, this doesn't happen here. The design thoughtfully sets out to create a soothing, informal yet chic atmosphere.Whether you're in the glass elevator heading down to the beach, or walking along the hotel's many passages and terraces, the clean lines and brilliant white of Casa Angelina's design are broken by an impressive and vivid art collection. Works by Etienne Pirot, Patricia Valencia Carstens and Tim Cotterill are dotted throughout the property.
But it is the many gloriously eccentric and brightly coloured glass sculptures that really catch the eye. The works, by Cuban artist Alfredo Sosabravo, are the result of a collaboration between the artist and master glass blowers ARS Murano.In 1998, the studio was given the opportunity to translate Sosabravo's drawings into glass sculptures - no mean feat, considering the detail and personality inherent in his work. Oddly beautiful and delightfully unexpected, the quirky artworks perfectly embody the friendly and inviting mood of the hotel.There really is no need to leave Casa Angelina, thanks to its swimming pool set beneath a lemon grove, its beautiful spa and wellness centre, its lounges, cigar bar and two restaurants. Meals are a highlight, enjoyed suspended between sea and sky on the hotel's rooftop restaurant, where you're treated to views of nearby Positano, and the famous island escape of Capri just across the bay...