Sorrento, Italy

Laqua Countryside

Price per night from$260.21

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR247.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Dish of the day

Setting

Verdant Vico Equense

Chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo’s childhood home turned boutique hotel, Laqua Countryside is a gastronomic stay to savour. For aperitivi, a bucolic setting near Vico Equense. Your primo piatto is a minimalist, balconied boudoir; servings of pool time, leisurely drinks on the terrace, and personalised, friendly service are all in good taste, too. The main event is Cannavacciuolo Countryside, the hotel’s finessed farm-to-table restaurant. And optional tailor-made tours are the hotel’s desserts della giornata.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A welcome pastry each and a handwritten note from chef Antonino, plus late check-out and priority booking for the restaurant

Facilities

Photos Laqua Countryside facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Six, including two suites.

Check–Out

11am, but flexible until 1pm, on request and subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More details

Rates include breakfast, with Continental and cooked options, served out on the terrace or in the restaurant.

Also

Unfortunately, this repurposed family home is unsuitable if you’re a wheelchair user.

Hotel closed

The hotel opens seasonally from the end of March until early November.

At the hotel

Free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, air-conditioning, minibar, free bottled water, pool towels, bathrobes, hairdryer and Ortigia bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Of the two suites, top-floor Marina is notably bigger in footprint and is the only spot from which you can spy the sun-sparkled sea. Of the rooms, each is dressed individually, but we love the flashes of cardinal red in the strikingly styled La Stanza del Curato.

Poolside

Tree-carpeted hillsides backdrop the heated outdoor pool, lined with parasol-shaded pairs of sunloungers and in a peaceful spot beside the kitchen garden (open 9am till 7pm daily).

Spa

There’s no spa at Laqua Countryside, but staff can arrange alfresco morning yoga or pilates sessions with notice.

Packing tips

In this rural pocket within reach of the Amalfi Coast, make sure your wardrobe hits the sweet spot for balancing surf- and turf-worthy threads.

Also

With a (charged) garden-to-kitchen experience, you can join chef Nicola’s talented brigade behind the scenes, and help prep lunch or dinner service. BYO whites…

Pet‐friendly

Dogs are welcome at Laqua Countryside and all rooms are pet-friendly. See more pet-friendly hotels in Sorrento.

Children

Very welcome, although the hotel has an alla famiglia approach to Little Smiths, with not much provided in the way of kit. Please note, the restaurant is only open to over-fives, and in-room babysitting can be arranged for an extra cost.

Sustainability efforts

Planet-kind measures are in Laqua Countryside’s DNA: the onsite garden supplies 40 different vegetables and herbs to chef Cannavacciuolo’s kitchen – supplemented by producers from the Sorrentine peninsula’s rich pickings. A rainwater irrigation system, solar panels, modern insulation and other power- and water-saving measures also help the hotel to tread lightly.

Food and Drink

Photos Laqua Countryside food and drink

Top Table

When sunlight dapples through the foliage that twines around the pergola, it’s hard to imagine anywhere topping a table outdoors.

Dress Code

Pick up some local threads – vintage or new – to reflect the provenance of Chef’s creations.

Hotel restaurant

Storytelling is a rich vein at the hotel, which continues to unfold at Cannavacciuolo Countryside. A pared-back, intimate dining room and pergola-shaded terrace tables let Chef Nicola Somma’s farm-to-table fare do the talking, paying homage to Cannavacciuolo’s personal journey, from his roots in Campania to his Piedmont ascendancy. Some of Chef Antonino’s trademark plates feature à la carte (try the ‘Shared hazelnut’ dessert) and in set menus. For the latter, the classic option is the Nonno Antonino, with Chef’s famed Tuna, tuna, tuna to start, and spaghetti with sea urchin, almonds and cardamom quinoa in its run of artful dishes. Please note that only over-fives can dine here for lunch or dinner, and it’s advisable to make your reservations when you book your room.

Hotel bar

You can enjoy drinks and snacks by the pool in the afternoon. The cellar at Cannavacciuolo Countryside is an oenophile’s delight, and if you’re not confident browsing the biblical list, opt for wine pairing when you select your set menu.

Last orders

Breakfast is served 7.30am–10.30am; for lunch, it’s 12.30pm–2pm, and dinner runs 7.30pm until 9pm.

Room service

Breakfast is served 7.30am–10.30am; for lunch, it’s 12.30pm–2pm, and dinner runs 7.30pm until 9pm.

Location

Photos Laqua Countryside location
Address
Laqua Countryside
Via Ticciano 137
Ticciano
80069
Italy

At the top of the Sorrentine peninsula – the gateway to the Amalfi coast – you’ll find Laqua Countryside sitting in the wooded hills outside Vico Equense.

Planes

Naples is your nearest international airport, just over an hour away by road from the hotel. Private transfers can be arranged from €150 each way.

Trains

Local services between Sorrento and Naples call at Vico Equense’s train station, a 25-minute drive from the hotel; private transfers can be arranged from €40 one way.

Automobiles

If you’re heading to or from the Amalfi coast, a set of wheels will give you the freedom to explore this bucolic corner of Campania (just watch out for devil-may-care local drivers on the winding, cliffside roads) and there’s free parking at Laqua Countryside.

Other

The port of Sorrento, 35 minutes from the hotel by road, has ferry services to Naples, with crossings taking around 50 minutes. By road, Naples ferry terminal is around an hour’s drive, with services to Sardinia, Sicily and other Gulf of Naples ports.

Worth getting out of bed for

Dining at Laqua Countryside is de rigueur – that’s your only scheduled activity. But when you’re at the top of the Sorrentine peninsula, at the gateway to the Amalfi Coast, there’s so much more on your doorstep to explore. As well as dining at Cannavacciuolo’s Campanian outpost, you can get kitchenside with a ‘Garden to Table’ Experience, helping Chef Nicola and his team pick and prep garden produce behind the scenes. Let staff organise aperitivi with Bay of Positano views, allowing you to mull the geography of the Li Galli islets while the ice in your Apérol melts. Arrange for a guide to join you on a tramp of the Amalfi’s vertiginous Path of the Gods. And keep the culinary theme flying with an Amalfi Coast tour and private dinner. 

Local restaurants

You’re unlikely to dine away from your gastronomic lodgings, but there are plenty of casual and fine dining options in Vico Equense if you want to venture further afield.

Local bars

There’s a hint of Balearics cool to sundowners on the terrace at Mima Rooftop in Vico Equense, where cocktails, sea vistas and DJ sets are a winning combination. 

Reviews

Photos Laqua Countryside reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this boutique Sorrentine stay and unpacked their limoncello and stash of walnuts, a full account of their gastronomic break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Laqua Countryside near Vico Equense…

In Italy, Antonino Cannavacciuolo is the culinary equivalent of a rock god. The starred chef now resides to the north in Piedmont, but his cuisine is firmly rooted in his homeland, Campania. Laqua Countryside is a boutique hotel, tucked into the wooded hills of said patria, that was Antonino’s childhood home and once belonged to his grandfather. 

Individually dressed, storied rooms are named after colourful characters from the chef’s upbringing. A peaceful pool in an arcadian setting outdoors is a welcome frill, but if you’re coming to this rural retreat, it is – justifiably – To Eat. Cannavacciuolo Countryside is a true destination restaurant, where chef Antonino’s culinary journey from south to north unfolds in polished plates overseen by Neapolitan chef Nicola Somma, with ingredients freshly plucked from the expansive onsite garden. Tee up your dinner bookings when you reserve your room and enjoy the headiest of digestivi by slumbering only steps from the pergola-shaded terrace where you’ve just feasted like, well, like rock gods. 

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Price per night from $255.99