If, like us you are worried after reading some of the reviews dont worry. we have just returned from two weeks at this lovely hotel and would return tomorrow! the service, facilities, staff andposition are great. We couldnt have been treated any better and the food was amazing (Iput on nearly half a stone!) The extra we paid for a superior room was well worth it for the views across to naples and the castle nearby.
If you expect to find lots of british tourists you may be disappointed as we were the only english in the hotel, however all the staff could speak english and spoilt us. It was a perfect !

Firstly, anyone considering this hotel should be aware that it changed hands in October 2007, so any reviews written before then should be discounted.

If we can, we normally stay 5* but there isn't many 5* hotels on Ischia and all the one's we liked were fully booked, so we tried this hotel and were pleasantly surprised. We found the staff very generous and helpful, and the standard of cleanliness in the room and in all public areas was immaculate. Room was very comfortable although looked quite bare to begin with as they have taken away bedside lamps and replaced with uplights on the wall, shower was excellent and they supplied their own body wash and shampoo made locally especially for the hotel. The air-con was good and the fridge worked fine although it was empty, but this suited us as we could fill it with our own water, wine and snacks. Pools, gardens and outdoor spa ares were also very well tended and clean, and because the thermal waters are running freely through the site they are regularly drained down at night then re-filled with fresh warm thermal water in the morning, a real luxury.
My wife and I stayed there for one week and wished we had booked for longer. Ischia is a beautiful island and the views from this hotel are among the best on the island.

It is a 10 minute walk to the main harbour/ shopping/ restaurant areas and also to the private (free) beach (free mini bus from hotel 4 times a day, except August) but this means that there is no traffic noise by the pools or in the gardens, so makes for a very relaxing break.

The only thing we felt could be improved on was information written in English, most signs or info in the hotel were in German and Italian only, which was a bit strange as there were much more British guests than German, although mainly they were Italian. They also didn't display menu's etc. so we had to keep asking.

All in all I think it deserves it's 4* rating, so go ahead and book up, hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as we did.

P.S. We found 2 great restaurants 'La Baia del Clipper' it's the last one you come to if you turn right at the harbour (Porto), best food and service, also 'La Convent' a beautiful conversion in a recess just of the piazza in front of the Castello with a lovely balcony overlooking the sea, a bit more upmarket in terms of style and a great 'last night' venue for a romantic evening with fantastic food and wine.

The only dissapointment we had with food was also the most expensive meal, it was all presentation and no flavour, with more sand in the seafood than on the beach, my wife could hardly chew her FISH, yep, chewy fish.....and where they also added a 10% service charge on top of coperto and some 'tax' we'd never heard of which almost doubled the cost of the meal ! It's called 'L' Ostricaro' and it's also on the stretch of restaurants as you turn right at the harbour about 5 or 6 along, they have a guy outside giving away 'free' glasses of Prosecco and telling you they are celebrating their anniversary, steer clear at all costs!

One last thing, a large bar/cafe called 'Calise' just around the corner from the hotel is a very popular piano bar with good, well priced beers and wines, but cocktails are awful, more like ice cream drinks and they have a jazz bar underneath called 'O' Spasso' which has live music some nights, they don't advertise entrance fees, nor do they have anyone on the door taking money, but when you get the check there is a surprise 20 euros per person 'music charge'.......luckily an Italian couple from the hotel who had just got stung told us before we ordered any drinks.

After reading several really poor reviews of this hotel on tripadviser we were not expecting anything very good. To our
relief and surprise the hotel was very good indeed. While it may not compare to 4* in the UK, the hotel was very clean with a
lovely reception area and gardens. The pool and pool service was excellent. Our room was very clean ( fresh towels and bedlinen each day , not always seen in european hotels ), the balcony although small was perfectly adeguate and the air conditioning worked.

The continental breakfast was fine with a good choice of fruit, cereal, bread, cheese, ham etc. The 4 course evening meal
was excellent with a good choice of menu.

The staff were very polite and several spoke English, although
they do seem to cater for German tourists more but this is general on Ischia.

All in all a good hotel.

After reading a few bad reviews of this hotel, I would have to disagree.
My boyfriend and I stayed in the Hotel Hermitage from 10th August – 17th August 2007 and had a fabulous time. Our holiday to Ischia was wonderful and part of the reason being the Hotel Hermitage. We booked a sea view superior room which was well worth the extra money as the views were spectacular. We had no problem with the Air Conditioning as it worked fine and was much needed. I didn’t think anyone would need to complain about the size of the T.V because if you are staying in Ischia, the views speak for themselves and why would anyone decide to watch T.V!!! The rooms were spotless and cleaned everyday. The main pool was fine, very clean with lots of activity going on throughout the day which you could either partake in or just lie and watch. The restaurant was superb; we were half board and were very pleased with the variety of food on the menu every night. The staff in both the restaurant and pool bar were very friendly and had a good knowledge of English although when you go on holiday isn’t it polite to try and speak their language!
The time of year we went was quite busy as it is the Italian holiday of Ferragusto. This was a big plus point as the hotel put on a special sea food buffet followed by a concert that night and although the singing was all in Italian, we still managed to join in. I would definitely recommend going at that time of year. All in all I would recommend this hotel to anyone and we will certainly be returning to the island and this hotel.