Capri's oldest hotel, founded in 1822 when the island had barely registered on the Grand Tour circuit, was reimagined by Francis Sultana in 2021 as part of its entry into the Oetker Collection. Hotel La Palma had spent nearly two centuries accumulating the particular prestige that only location and longevity can generate — a whitewashed palazzo steps from the Piazzetta, the social fulcrum of an island where proximity to that tiny square has always been the primary measure of status. Sultana, the Maltese designer whose work draws from mid-century Mediterranean modernism and the decorative arts of postwar Italy, stripped the interiors back to their vaulted ceilings and lime-plastered walls before rebuilding them in a palette of sage green, warm walnut, and Aegean aquamarine that feels simultaneously archival and entirely contemporary. The 50 rooms and suites carry the atmosphere of a privately assembled house rather than a managed hotel — kidney-shaped dressing tables with brass hardware, sage-upholstered headboards against bare white plaster, ceramic lamp bases, and linen curtains threaded with turquoise trim. Scallop-edged parasols and mint-striped sun loungers arrange themselves around the rooftop pool with the kind of considered casualness that takes considerable effort to achieve, while the waterfront restaurant terrace, positioned directly over the Tyrrhenian with views across to the Faraglioni rock stacks, furnishes teak-topped tables and rattan chairs beneath a billowing white canopy. The whole property manages to feel both newly minted and completely inevitable.

50min hydrofoil from Naples; 30min hydrofoil from Sorrento; 50min hydrofoil from Positano or Amalfi

The original hotel on Capri will once more become the chicest address on the island for people who want to see and be seen. Each of the 50 rooms – including 18 suites – offer its own private balcony or terrace. Rome-based Francesco Delogu of Delogu Architects has worked on the building’s architecture while the property is being transformed by Francis Sultana, a true maestro in the world of high-end interior design who, in addition to overseeing the lobby, rooms, restaurants, swimming pool and spa, is also at the helm of La Palma Beach Club. Hotel La Palma will offer an indulgent Spa with three treatment rooms, including one double treatment suite, a sauna, steam bath and ice shower, relaxation space and fitness centre. Located in the beating heart of Capri, just around the corner from the famous Piazza Umberto I – well-known as the ‘Piazzetta’ – Hotel La Palma is perfectly positioned for guests to visit some of the most notable sites of Capri: I Giardini di Augusto, Via Krupp, La Certosa and the iconic Faraglioni. Another of the island’s best-known, must-visit natural sites in easy reach from the hotel is the ‘Grotta Azzurra’ – the Blue Grotto – a dark cavern where the sea glows electric blue, the result of sunlight passing through an underwater cave.