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Authentic Amalfi Coast escape: Hotel Villa Maria Pia Praiano tour & review

by Lina Clémence July 1, 2025

written by Lina Clémence

Last Updated on June 30, 2025 by Eve Dawes

Where to stay in Praiano on the Amalfi Coast

Hotel Villa Maria Pia Praiano on the Amalfi Coast was the hotel we ended up staying at after days of searching for the best hotel in Praiano. We’d narrowed the town down to Praiano for it’s size, how unspoiled it still is, the amazing views, sea access and small-town atmosphere. The best hotel is subjective as we all have different priorities, likes and dislikes. Let’s just say we are thorough when choosing! We even have spreadsheets with ratings, amenities and pricing, etc. We chose this hotel as it had great reviews, a water taxi service (charges apply) and we got a great deal booking on our Capital One credit card. Here’s my honest, unsponsored Hotel Villa Maria Pia Praiano review and hotel tour.

This article is not sponsored, we paid in full, but it does contain affiliate links.

Our room is the closest to the sea with the parasol up

Hotel Villa Maria Pia Praiano Deluxe Sea View room

We booked the deluxe room, which is 215 sq ft and built literally on the rock. Which means the access is from the outside not the inside. A huge perk of this room Is it’s own private terrace. Be prepared for lots of steps! Even if you’re in the main building you’ll have to use them to get down to the pool or to the water taxi. To give you an idea, there were 58 stairs to our room from the elevator and breakfast, and there’s 181 steps from the last floor the elevator stops at down to the water.

Hotel Villa Maria Pia amalfi coast fridge safe

Room amenities:

Toiletries
Bathrobe & slippers
Bidet, toilet, bath or shower (this room had a shower)
Towels
Hairdryer
Vanity mirror
Private terrace with loungers, table and 2 chairs and parasol
Air conditioning and heating
Safety deposit box
Hypoallergenic
Tile/marble floor
Desk
Soundproofing (we didn’t find this effective)
Private exterior entrance
Flat-screen TV with Satellite channels
It says there is a mosquito net but we never found it
Telephone
Tea/Coffee maker
Minibar
Wake-up service
Wardrobe or closet
Carbon monoxide detector

Is Hotel Villa Maria Pia, Praiano a good location

Location wise we thought Hotel Villa Maria Pia was ideal. We loved Praiano as it’s not as big and busy as some of the other Amalfi coast towns and it feels authentic. While still having several restaurants and bars like Il Pino, Costa Diva and Il Pirata in walking distance. Just don’t try to do them in heels. Most of the Amalfi Coast is not heel friendly!

There’s also a small mini mart a few minutes walk away. Just make a left out of the hotel and walk past the next hotel. As well as a couple of beach clubs. When they call them beach clubs on the Amalfi Coast, they use that term lightly. Most are rock slabs with water access with no beach in sight.

one fire beach club praiano — One Fire Beach Club Praiano

Hotel Villa Maria Pia Praiano review | Pros and cons

Let’s start with the pros, which there are a lot of.

There is a small pool and I mean small. The private pool in our suite in the last hotel was bigger. The pool tended to be quieter in the morning and busier in the afternoon. So if you’re wanting to snag one of the 2 loungers, get there early. Otherwise, there are a couple of other areas to sunbathe and you can just walk down to the pool whenever you want to cool off.

sun loungers terrace Villa Maria Pia Amalfi Coast hotel

The views are stunning from pretty much everywhere at Hotel Villa Maria Pia in Praiano. Whether that’s on the breakfast terrace, sunbathing terrace, the pool or your room if you book a sea view room.

They were installing a brand new outside gym while we were there. This is a cool feature as long as you don’t mind getting a good sweat on!

Hotel Villa Maria Pia outdoor gym — Book Villa Maria Pia hotel

Hotel Villa Maria Pia, Praiano has it’s own dock for a convenient water taxi pick up and for jumping off into sea to swim to the cave or cool off. Just be prepared for all of those steps down and back up! Unfortunately there is no other way down besides the stairs and no wheelchair access. When looking at Amalfi Coast hotels, this is something definitely worth taking into account as a lot are like this.

I’m a cat lover so the cats were a big plus, and they’re super cute and friendly. The hotel offers a free shuttle when it’s available around Praiano. They also managed to get us good table reservations at the local restaurants.

The hotel and our room was kept spotless. Lastly, it seems like such a small thing but the pegs and clothes line to dry your handwashing, swimwear and towels etc was a thoughtful and useful touch.

Hotel Villa Maria Pia Praiano | The cons

There’s lots of positives and reasons to choose this hotel and I hate to be negative but when you’re spending your hard earned money I have to be honest.

The AC didn’t work the 1st day and half of the 2nd day and it was 26 degrees in the room according to the AC unit. Now things break, that wasn’t the issue, it was how it was resolved. To cut a long story short, we had to ask 3 times over 2 days to get it fixed as messages weren’t getting passed on between them. The response we got wasn’t sorry, but that we were lucky it wasn’t July and 32 degrees! It finally got fixed but they also turned the AC off everyday in our room when they came to clean. So when we came back it was always over 26 degrees and we left the card in the slot specifically so it didn’t go off.

There are other loungers on other decks but there are only 2 by the pool and like I said there’s a lot of steps. So if you have a leg injury or need an ADA compliant hotel, I don’t think Hotel Villa Maria Pia is going to be ideal for you.

I’m not sure what the other room types are like but the Deluxe Sea View rooms say they are soundproofed but they are loud as they’re tiled. We could hear the people dragging furniture around and walking over the floor above and next door. So definitely bring earplugs if you’re a light sleeper.

Hotel Villa Maria Pia, Praiano review | Breakfast and dining

I don’t know if we were just early but there was no service or coffee offered at breakfast on any of the mornings. We always had to go and find someone to ask. There was a lack of warm service in general, besides a couple of exceptions like the friendly man working on installing the gym and one of the young men in the day at the bar.

bar breakfast Hotel Villa Maria Pia praiano

It’s a basic continental breakfast that’s offered. Which includes cereal, fresh pastries and bread, cheeses, meats, yogurt, boiled eggs, fruit and juices. It’s nothing special but it does the job and the views!!! I could stare at them for hours.

continental breakfast Hotel Villa Maria Pia amalfi coast

They don’t have a restaurant for dinner but there are a few fabulous restaurants in walking distance that we loved.

Dinner in Praiano

I’ll do a separate, more in depth article on where to eat lunch and dinner but just quickly:

Water taxis VS taxis

My advice is to book water taxis for the day or when you’re casual and coming back in good time, and to book a taxi for when you’re dressier, going out for dinner or coming back a bit later. Because yes the water taxi is quick, cheaper (50 Euro to Positano vs 70 Euro for a taxi), scenic and easy. However, you’ll flash if you’re wearing a dress or skirt and it will mess up your hair as it’s windy when you’re sailing along. There is also no shade and make sure you have shoes that won’t fall off when you’re getting on and off the boat.

We also struggled to get a water taxi back to the hotel. The hotel had told us to call when we were done and they’d be there in 5 minutes. However, when we tried calling at 8:45pm no one answered so we had to find a taxi and pay more. It’s much easier to book a taxi in advance than to find one and taxis are very expensive.

Hotel Villa Maria Pia Praiano, Amalfi Coast review & tour

Join me for a review and tour Hotel Villa Maria Pia in Praiano on the Amalfi Coast! This authentic Italian hotel offers breathtaking waterfront views, a cozy small pool, and true Amalfi charm. In this video, I give you an honest review and a full hotel tour, sharing what it’s really like to stay at one of the most authentic hotels on the Amalfi Coast.

Hotel Villa Maria Pia Praiano review

Tips for staying in Praiano and getting around the Amalfi Coast

You really want to stay in the town you’re staying in as much as possible or book tours. As water taxis and taxis will add up quickly and we don’t recommend hiring a car and trying to drive here. The roads are very narrow, windy and there is very limited parking. If you do want to explore, I’d recommend hiring a driver for the day like we did.

Pack or buy mosquito repellant as there are quite a lot of mosquitoes.

Don’t bother packing heels unless you’re not planning on leaving your hotel or resort. There’s lots of steps and cobblestones. I wore my slide sandals all vacation. Even my espadrilles wedges only got worn once.

Book Hotel Villa Maria Pia

Overall, I’d still recommend this hotel in Praiano as it is a great location, they have their own dock for water taxis and swimming, it’s very clean, the shuttle around Praiano is convenient and the views are beautiful.

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July 1, 2025 0 comments

Arab Beauty

a wellness escape by mountains & lakes – The Tezzy Files

by Lina Clémence June 22, 2025

written by Lina Clémence

I escaped the Dubai heat for a week to Carinthia, the southernmost state of Austria renowned for its breathtaking beauty featuring over 1,200 lakes and snow-peaked mountain ranges.

Everything here is so vividly bright and beautiful; brilliant blue skies, emerald-green valleys, and lakes so clear and vibrantly turquoise, you can swim and drink from them. By winter, many of the mountain ranges open as ski resorts, but their beauty is surpassed even through the summer, with scenic hiking and biking trails, and a comfortably breezy yet sunny climate that doesn’t surpass the mid-twenty Celsius range.

How to get to Carinthia

Carinthia is the least populated state of Austria and is so down south that it is closer to get to via Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia where we landed on a 6-hour flight on Fly Dubai from Terminal 3, Dubai. From there, we took the scenic realm via road to Klagenfurt, the capital city of Carinthia.

Klagenfurt town center

We stayed at Garner Moser Verdino, a comfortable 4-star IHG property conveniently located in the heart of Klagenfurt, and in walking distance from the town square and the Lindwurm Dragon fountain, an ode to the mythical creature who is believed to have been the reason behind the city’s creation.

Legend has it that this city was built on marshy plains that was plagued by a dragon, and this is why Klagenfurt was known as the ‘wailing crossing’ (Klage means ‘wailing’, and Furt means ‘crossing’). The local Duke built a tower for safety and hired Knights to slay the dragon. They used a bull with a sharp hook inside it as bait, and when the dragon fell prey, it was victoriously slaughtered by the Knights.

Special thanks to Mr. Markus Strutz from the Carinthian tourism board who shared the story of this mythical dragon with us, and gave me this cute dragon keepsake!

The dragon and the tower have since become symbolic for Klagenfurt, and when the skull of a rhinoceros was excavated in the 16th century, it was the legend of the dragon was sealed as a memorial fountain built in the town square in 1583 from a solid piece of slate from the local Kreuzbergl mountain.

The old town of Klagenfurt is quintessentially European with cobbled streets, narrow alleyways, charming little cafes, and stores selling curios, chocolate and other local merchandise.

Other noteworthy monuments of Klagenfurt include a 400 year-old statue of Empress Maria Theresia, the mother of Austria who famously abolished torture, and made it compulsory for children aged 6 and above to get an education, the Golden Goose building which dates back to 1489 and continues to be used as a meeting place for the city council. Not related to the highly coveted sneakers, this building features a striking sculpture of a golden goose at its entrance.

At the centre of the bustling town square of Klagenfurt is the Plague Column, first erected in carved wood in 1681 as a gesture of thanks to the ruing council for minimizing the Black Death toll of Europe by keeping the city closed off. It was later recreated in 1683 with marble with a cross ascending into a crescent symbolizing victory over the Ottomans.

The legend of the Wörtherseemandl

Another sculpture that caught my attention was that of the Wörtherseemandl.

We came across this ancient bronze fountain featuring a staunch little man holding his index finger up in pure reverence. This is the Wörtherseemandl, a mythical Carinthian figure. Legend has it that this little man created Lake Wörthersee, the largest clear-water lake in Carinthia that attracts tourists the world over for its scenic beauty, swimming facilities and water sports.

The story goes, thousands of years ago, a very wealthy city was located where Lake Wörthersee now flows. The inhabitants of this city were so wealthy, they became pompous and lost touch with the church. One Christmas Eve, when the entire population gathered for a festive feast at the town hall, a short, bearded stranger paid them a visit. He put his index finger up in warning, pleading with the congregation to attend Christmas mass, for disobeying would lead to dire consequences. He was laughed at and ridiculed, and deeply insulted, he left the hall only to return at midnight with a small barrel under his arm.

When the crowd began to mock him again, the little man retorted, “If you will not have it otherwise, death and destruction come upon you and your sinful city!” He smashed the the barrel, and masses of water poured out. The banquet hall was suddenly submerged in an endless flow of water that no one could stop. The little man suddenly disappeared, and the entire population drowned.

The water from his barrel completely submerged the city and is known as today’s Lake Wörthersee. The fabled little man is called Wörtherseemandl (which translates to ‘thelittle man ofWörthersee’).

This bronze fountain depicting Wörtherseemandl is a significant monument in the town centre of Klagenfurt, and it is believed that if you hold his upheld finger, make a wish, and throw a coin into the fountain, your wish will be granted.

Lake Wörthersee

Lake Wörthersee is the largest lake in the Carinthia district and listed as one of Austria’s most scenic spots. It boasts of crystal-clear water that is so pure, you can actually drink it in the early parts of the year between January to March before it gets an influx of swimming enthusiasts from across the world.

On our first night in Klagenfurt, we dined at Maria Loretto, a family-owned restaurant boasting of panoramic views of the lake where we witnessed a very magical Carinthian sunset.

The next day, we boarded a Nostalgia Bus to the ferry that took us across Lake Wörthersee to Maria Worth where we enjoyed a scenic walk across nature taking in the beauty of the greenery, mountains and lakes, and even visited a church.

The highlight of our time at Maria Worth was going up the Pyramidenkogel, the world’s tallest wooden lookout tower where the panoramic views of Carinthia were even more breathtakingly beautiful! Best of all, I decided to come sliding down the tower instead of using the lift!

June 22, 2025 0 comments