Just returned ffrom a 5 night stay at this wonderful Hotel. I booked it myself through e-mails with them and they delivered. The room was large enough for the 2 of us with A/C , Sattellite TV and a huge balcony overlooking the water. Clean and very attentive to all and any needs. The included breakfast was a large assortment of everything from eggs to fresh fruits all served in an open rooftop restaurant that had incredible views. The staff was very friendly (I have 2 emails addresses) and eager to help with questions, resevations and directions. this Hotel also had a health club (for lack of a better word) in the lower level which included Massages, indoor pool, sauna and jacuzzi in addition to many other beauty treatments. We had 3 massages included, nice. It is located about 10-15 min walk from the main port and next to the Castelle Argonese which makes the views that much more breathtaking. We also had 1 Tasting dinner included which was served on a cement dock that jutted out into the water. Again the food and local wine was fantastic as was the experience of sitting out on this dock.
For the sun lovers there was a choice of areas from which you could soak up the sun or water. They offer both a private beach next to the public beach or for those who don't want to deal with sand a private deck next to the beach. Both area are attended to by patroling staff to get you anything from towels to drinks, snacks or lunch.
There are many Hotels on this Island to chose from and I am sure many are great, but I know that this one made my stay an experience that I will never forget.

This is NOT a 5* Hotel (which is how it is advertised)
- the room was small
- the TV was tiny
- there pool on the hotel grounds is underground
- the showers in the Spa area were a sub-highschool standard.
- the food is nothing special (by Italian standards)

But
- the staff were friendly apart from a loon in the underground spa

This hotel is a nice 3*/4* hotel.

The local town is quite drab.

We booked the rooms on the hotel website and upon arrival found out they did not have our reservations. The receptionist was extremely rude about everything. When they did finally get us rooms one of the rooms was not ready so my husband and I waited. When we went to ask the same receptionist if it was ready she was extremely rude again. Fortunately we did not have to deal with this receptionist much after that. The other 2 ladies were lovely. The rooms were nice and the bathrooms large. They had a great view of the ocean. The restuarant is pretty expensive for the quality of the food. The tall bartender was very nice and the breakfast was good in the morning. They had eggs, meats, fruits, breads, cheese, etc. At the end of our stay while checking out they were extremely rude again and acted like we were trying not to pay for something when it was actually their fault. We had gone to one of the thermal parks and we told them to charge it to the room when they gave us the tickets. We checked out and paid and they apparently forgot to charge us for the thermal park tickets. They wanted cash and acted like it was our fault and that we were going to skip out. We told them to put it on the credit card. There were some positives but mosly negatives from the staff at the front desk (with the exception of 2 of the ladies that worked there). Would not stay there again.

My partner & I decided to go to Ischia for our summer 2005 holiday. Instead of the usual package trip, we decided to organise it independently & eventually found the Miramare E Castello hotel in Ischia Ponte - perfect location & very familiar from the film "The Talented Mr Ripley" which was filmed here in 2003. As we had also organised our own flights, our journey & connections to Ischia were excellent. We had to take a taxi from the harbour to the hotel & think we were ripped off (15 euros!). Our first disappointment was our room. We hadn't pre-booked a room & found ourselves in a small double room on the first floor facing the rear of the hotel - onto a brick wall. I immediately checked with the hotel reception & was told that we would have to wait until the following day to see if they could move us. Fortunately, the following day, we could move to a new room for 5 days & to another room for the remaining 4 days. We did not mind this inconvenience, as it meant instead of a small back room with a view of a brick wall, we upgraded to two much larger front rooms with sea & castle views - perfect - & we didn't have to pay too much extra for this move - only 20 euros per night (180 euros extra). Whilst we were there, the hotel staff were very attentive & helpful - especially the maids & the lady who helped serve breakfast. Breakfast on the terrace was probably the best part of our holiday, with a fantastic view of the castle & the large selection of food was excellent - really set us up for the day. So the hotel was great, but unfortunately, the rest of the island was sorely lacking in its hospitality. The locals were either totally ignorant or dismissed us out of hand. We genuinely felt that unless you spoke fluent Italian or German, the locals just didn't really care & made no or little effort to try to help / understand us. On one day trip we hired a car & drove through Fiorio on the North West of the island. Along the promenade there were flags from all the other European countries & many from the rest of the world except for a union jack! A so-called "English speaking guided boat tour" to Capri, Positano & Amalfi ended up being a travel log for Italians & Germans. I think for the entire day (about 8 hours) we only received about 20 minutes of spoken English. All these issues made both my partner & I have a very bad taste in our mouth's regarding Ischia. We have travelled quite extensively throughout Europe (including Italy) & we have never been made to feel this unwelcome anywhere. Back on the mainland, our Naples taxi driver to the airport agreed that Ischian people are amongst the most miserable in Italy & that we should have stayed in Naples if we really wanted to experience the friendlier side of Italy - it's such a shame as the island is very beautiful, but we wont ever go back there. John & Gavin