Mezzatorre

Above the thermal waters of the Bay of Ischia, off the coast of Naples, Mezzatorre is positioned on the northwestern tip of the island at Lacco Ameno, where the hotel’s property descends through pine forest to a private section of coast and the thermal waters of the Tyrrhenian provide the mineral basis for the spa’s treatment programme. The 58 rooms and suites are distributed through several buildings set among the pines, with the former Saracen tower at the headland providing the most dramatically positioned accommodation on the property, and the terraced gardens that connect the hotel to the sea establishing the kind of botanical depth that Ischia’s volcanic soil and mild climate produce with unusual speed and consistency. The island’s thermal springs, activated by the volcanic geology of the Phlegraean Fields, feed the spa’s pools directly.

The restaurant’s menus draw on the island’s culinary traditions — the Ischian rabbit cacciatore that is the island’s most celebrated dish, the freshly landed seafood of the Tyrrhenian, and the volcanic soil wines of Ischia’s indigenous Biancolella and Per’ ‘e Palummo grape varieties — in a cooking programme that positions the island’s culinary character as the guiding principle rather than a generic Mediterranean-luxury-hotel approach. The thermal spa, which uses the island’s natural volcanic mineral waters in its bathing and treatment programme, provides a wellness dimension of genuine provenance. Private boat excursions to the Aragonese Castle, the Fungo mushroom rock, and the gardens of Mortella and La Colombaia give guests access to the island’s historical and botanical treasures.

Mezzatorre’s position on the most secluded tip of an island that receives considerable summer visitor traffic gives it a quality of coastal privacy that the more accessible parts of the island’s coastline cannot provide, and the pine forest that insulates the property from the road network above adds a botanical dimension to the sea-and-thermal-spring character of the Ischia experience.