The walk back up those 156 steps will have you ready for breakfast on your return. There is a lap pool up on the hotel's deck, but you most be brave enough to take your swim amidst a buzz of hotel patrons sipping cocktails and cappuccinos there. The food here shines. Before class each morning, guests are treated to a lavish buffet breakfast featuring local cheeses, assorted housemade breads and rolls, fresh juices, fruits both fresh and poached, cereals, cold sliced meats, and hot sausages and eggs, along with the usual coffee drinks and, for those wishing to get an early start on the day, wine and champagne. The hotel's restaurant, La Sponda, offers an a la carte menu, along with a chef's menu that might include braeseola with carciofi, a secondi of rigatoni ai funghi or pizza margharita, a main course stew of local fish and seafood served with buttered spinach and potatoes, and a dolce, all accompanied by the requisite wines of southern Italy.
Service is always professional but a bit cool and formal.
This large, elongated lemon with an intense, sweet flavor is named for the hand-wound spool of yarn it resembles. It is similar to a Meyer lemon in taste. Limoncino liquor, a local favorite made from the sfusati, is served icy cold from the freezer in a frosty glass on request. The olives served change with the season, and these were local specimens from Gaeta. Unfortunately, nobody was able to provide enough information about them to help us locate more.