Sorrento
Villa Waldorf
A cliff-top villa above the Bay of Naples, with 270-degree views of the bay and Vesuvius
- 6 bedrooms
- 6 bathrooms
- 12 guests
- 1801 m²
Rising from a cliff above the Bay of Naples in Sorrento, Villa Waldorf enjoys a legendary 270-degree view across the bay to Vesuvius, arguably one of the most beautiful outlooks anywhere, from inside and out. Its story reaches back to the first century AD, when Agrippa Postumus, grandson of the Emperor Augustus, made it his residence. In 1905 it was acquired by Lord William Waldorf Astor, who enlarged the estate, laid out a splendid garden where a Dominican monastery once stood and added a Pompeian-style villa adorned with Ionic columns and neoclassical frescoes.
The six suites of the main villa were each individually designed by a celebrated interior decorator, furnished with fine antiques and objets d'art and paired with sumptuous marble bathrooms. Throughout the interiors runs a museum-worthy collection of Greek and Roman antiquities once owned by Lord Astor himself, and in the gardens ancient columns, statues, fountains, urns and sarcophagus fragments, many originally from Pompeii, lie among the plants. The main villa sleeps twelve, the Torre adds room for eight more, and for celebrations the estate can host up to two hundred guests, with sixty seated for dinner indoors.
Days unfold at an easy pace: a meal prepared by a private chef on the spacious terrace, a stroll through the 20,000-square-metre botanical garden with more than a thousand plant species, a swim in the natural grotto carved into the cliff, or a plunge straight into the sea. From the private pontoon, boat trips set off for Capri and Ischia, while Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum make for rich cultural excursions. Naples international airport is around 50 kilometres away.