During our second trip ever to Italy in August of 2011, we had the wonderful chance to stay in Villa Degli Dei. Our first year visiting Italy (we are from New York), we stayed in Hotel Posa Posa, which is located in Positano, but right outside of the central marketplace. That is a great hotel to! We also stayed in a villa in another part of Italy, but that's a whole other story.

Anyway. After a week in Capri, we came to this villa. At first it was confusing. The reason being because you must first go to the sister hotel, Eden Rock to sign in and get yourself situated. There are no staff in the villa itself, besides the maid that's only there in the morning.

This is a great place for people who want to be alone, or want to really "live with the Italians."

After the Eden Rock, they can provide taxi services, or you must either walk (approx. 1,100 steps, or take the bus which runs every hour). After the 20-30 minute drive up, you must walk an additional 100 or so steps. On they way, you will pass the most amazing restaurant ever. I forget the name, but it will be the first restaurant on your right as you head towards the villa. It is in a cave, and they serve lunch and dinner. They are also a small grocery store during the day. You cannot beat their prices, and their food is so delicious. I had to order two pasta dishes because I couldn't get enough of it. It was and still is, the best pasta I have ever had. Everything is traditional, homemade Italian. Definitely try their pasta, pizza and sausage. Their homemade wine is also amazing! Although, it is a little light, so you will probably find yourself ordering two liters. Since we ate there almost every night, we got familiar with the servers, and the owner. We later found out that they were related to us, which was a very pleasant surprise. This made everything even better!

Besides that restaurant though, you will see another, a few more steps down the path on the right hand side as well. Unfortunately, we didn't get to try this place out, but we will next year.

The villa is a short walk after that restaurant, and you are greeted by a lovely naked lady on ceramic, and a gate which adds some extra comfort and security, because for first timers, since it is so quaint, this may scare a few people. To the left of the entrance into the villa is a lovely little cave, where you can pray or rest, along with a water fountain. There is a small fountain with the Virgin Mary I believe which was just beautiful.

Now, back to the villa. The villa is wonderful. There is a spectacular courtyard with tables and chairs, plants and of course tiny geckos. Beware though, because at night there are these slugs which come from somewhere, but end up on the walls, ground and almost everywhere outside. Don't let this scare you away though.

In order to enter the main building, you must have a separate key to open the lobby door. After that, you will find a few brochures on the desk and than the steps leading up to your room. The rooms are nice and big, cozy and you have your own kitchen and balcony. The bathrooms were clean, and the showers/bath were fine. Bring your own soaps and shampoos since they do not supply them. You are basically renting out your own apartment for a few days, weeks or even months, so you must clean up after yourself as well if you use the kitchen area. This means washing the used pots and pans. They offer free Wi-Fi which was great because it can get boring at night, especially if there are only a few English-speaking TV channels on.

Overall, we had an amazing time at this villa. We are most likely going to stay here again next summer.

Villa Degli Dei in Nocelle is in a perfect position for anyone wanting to walk the Pathway of the Gods independently. The village of Nocelle is high above the coast with terraced gardens and everywhere is reached by a series of stone steps. We had to tear ourselves away from the staggering views we had up and down the coast from our terrace - and every day the light was different. A great place for photographers too!
There is an excellent trattoria only steps away and a little shop for self-caterers. We were in heaven.
The villa itself is simply but tastefully kitted out and has a large tiled bathroom - hard to find fault at all. The only improvement for me would have been to have had pepper, salt, oil and vinegar in the kitchenette and an extra couple of spare blankets for chilly nights.
If you are a walker or photographer looking for a quiet stay in a stunning traditional village, this place is for you.

My partner booked this and didnt read any reviews so we didnt know quite how high up the villa was until we got there. You can either walk up over 1000 steps (which my husband somehow persuaded me to do with our backpacks, at 2pm in the scorching heat..i thought I was going to die! ) Or you can get an orange bus up to Nocelle, these go once an hour and take about half hour - amazing views on the way.
The owner is a charming Italian man, who said that he used to live in the villas and was infact born there! He gave us good recommendations to eat in a little restaurant in a cave near by and was very helpful. He also said we could use the facilities at his other hotel in Positano called Eden Roc which is amazing and has a pool!
I love this hotel and the views are like none I ve seen..just be prepared for a hike!

Finding this place is next to impossible... The GPS was lost, we were lost it was a mess... We ended up at a dead end -- there was no more road left -- we finally saw a sign of Villa Degli Dei but you couldn't drive there... We parked the car which looked like a designated parking lot and followed the sign to the Villa. After 110+ steps we got to a gate that was locked... There was nobody there to receive us... Unfortunately when we booked, nobody told us that there will be nobody at reception... Lucky for us one of the guests just got back and let us in -- were able to point to the nearest grocery store where we had to notify the grocery store clerk to notify the cleaning lady who showed up -- but couldn't register us because she had to call somebody who had to drive from Positano Eden Rock (sister hotel) to take care of the paper work...
All in all it took us about 1.5 hours to get registered and settled in... only to find out that there is no phone, no internet and namely NO PARKING -- The parking I initially mentioned costs 1.5EU per hour to leave your car there... OR you have the option to go further up the road and try to find a corner on the road to leave your car -- in hopes that the buses and other traffic can fit and it will not dent your car...
This is not mentioned in any of the description of the Villa -- that if you USE the kitchen YOU ARE responsible for cleaning the kitchen... if you don't you get charged...
Bring your own soap -- cause what they give you will be enough to wash your hands on the first day -- but that's about it...
There is no breakfast included nor there is an option for breakfast at this location...
If you want to get into Positano which is about 5km drive it will take you about 30+ minutes... your other option is the bus -- which runs every hour... So for about 1.10EU you can catch the bus... but then you might end up waiting up to one hour for the bus... You can walk to Positano by going down 1700 steps which starts next to the Villa --- this will take you down to Arienzo -- from there you either catch a bus or walk...
There is a grocery store -- with minimum selection but it will cover your breakfast needs -- the Pizza place has great food and very reasonable price... There is a restaurant as well, but we never eat there so I can't comment on it...
The view was fantastic from our room -- the overall comfort of the room was great and the room itself was clean...
You would hope that a location as this would provide you with some serinity and quite ness... But you can forget all about that... because every morning you will hear the rooster, the cow the mad dogs and then some half whitted old man screaming... Not a very peaceful way to wake up...
If you are not in any physical shape to climb steps if you want to be in town then don't stay here -- This place is good if you want to hide out for a couple of days and do very minimum... OR if you are an outdoors enthusiast and want to hike...