We stayed here for 6 nights in the second half of October. When we first booked all of the sea view rooms were full so we took a partial sea view room - no 22. The room was on the small side but very clean and well appointed with a huge balcony where breakfast is served. The bathroom was a reasonable size with the shower being positioned in the bath. Whilst the shower pressure was good, the shower nozzle was located along the side of the wall in the middle of the bath which made it more difficult to manoeuvre. There was however a hand-held shower nozzle. Bed was comfortable, there was a safe and the hotel has free wifi which worked well.

The most disappointing aspect of this room however was the view. Yes you could see the sea to the left hand side of the dark pink Hotel Sirenuse (which is located directly in front of Villa Rosa but on the other side of the road) but you could have been looking at any body of water. On the right hand side of the Hotel Sirenuse you got a reasonable view of the upper part of Positano.

We enquired as to whether any of the full sea view rooms would become available during the course of our stay and whether if that happened it would be possible to switch rooms (and obviously pay whatever extra). It transpired that this was no problem and the delightful Stefana showed us a full sea view room on the next level and a superior room and a suite, both on a further level up that would become available. We ended up staying for 2 nights in the partial sea view room and 4 nights in the full sea view room. It is amazing what a difference that change in rooms made to our stay. Watching the sunrise and sunset over Positano, whilst sitting on your balcony having breakfast or later in the day with a glass of wine was magical. The full sea view room we were given was slightly larger than no. 22, although I noticed that some of the full sea view rooms were the same size as no 22. All of the balconies on the first level (where room 22 was) and on the second level (where our second room was) appeared to be of the same size - very large. Again our full sea view room was very clean and well appointed. This room however had a shower recess which was much better than the in-bath version.

A continental breakfast is served on trays on your balcony. You fill out a room service type menu the night before stating what time you want it delivered and it arrives punctually at that time and is set up on the table on your balcony. The choice is not extensive but what was available we thought was more than adequate. There was cereal, fruit juice, yoghurt, fruit, croissants, jam/preserves, tea/coffee.

We thought that Villa Rosa, for the cost, was exceptionally well located being on the one way road heading out of Positano rather than on the road coming down into Positano. Obviously there are better located hotels near the beach but these also, on the whole, appeared to be far more expensive than Villa Rosa. Villa Rosa was located about 150/200 metres down the hill from the main road and the bus stop to Sorrento/Amalfi and up the road about 300/350 metres from the main square and the main pathwayleading down to the beach. It was about a 10/15 minute walk from the hotel to the beach and the jetties where the boats run to Capri/Amalfi etc. Surprisingly there were not as many steps as I imagined there would be on the route from Villa Rosa down to the beach as you could walk down the road from the hotel to the main square and then much of the pathway down to the beach was sloping (relatively steeply in some sections) with an occasional set of stairs. In contrast, there appeared to be many stairs from the beach to reach hotels that were located on the road leading down into Positano and the road itself wound around quite a bit.

We drove to Positano and the hotel arranged parking (because we had a small car it was E20 a night). As previous reviewers have noted there are a lot of steps to be navigated at Villa Rosa as it is on the high side of the road and there are no lifts. There are however staff to carry your bags from the car to your room and back again. The hotel has a camera on the outside with views of the road so they can see you pull up and also see when restaurant shuttles arrive to pick up guests (so you can wait in comfort inside the reception). Whilst there was no parking at the hotel, we were able to pull over to the side of the road to unload and then the hotel staff took our car away to where it was being garaged (they also brought it back again when we were leaving). The stairs! There are 35 stairs from the roadway to the entrance to Villa Rosa. You then, for some strange reason, have to descend 16 stairs to get to the reception and waiting area. Rooms on the first floor (including room 22) were a further 17 stairs up from reception and to reach the second level, where our full sea view room was located, was an additional 19 stairs. Further stairs needed to be negotiated to get to the next level where the superior rooms and suites were located. Remember though that this is Positano and the views are worth the effort.

Whilst the views were the best aspect of Villa Rosa all of the staff were exceptional. At all times they were exceedingly pleasant and helpful, whether in offering advice re ferries, buses, places to visit or booking restaurants and arranging - free- return transportation to them. Thank you very much Stefana, Linda, Massimo and your colleagues for helping to make our stay so wonderful.

Would we stay at Villa Rosa again - in a heartbeat.