B&B Villa Cristina

B&B Villa Cristina is at via Nuova del Faro 50, in Anacapri, on the road that runs down from the village towards the Punta Carena lighthouse, the south-western stretch of the island where people go to swim off the rocks. The bus stop, which connects to the beaches and to Capri, is a hundred metres from the house, the centre of Anacapri is reached in ten minutes on foot and Villa San Michele is 1.4 kilometres away. The nearest airport, Naples, is 37 kilometres away plus the stretch of sea. It is the high, quiet part of the island, where you sleep without hearing the noise of the Piazzetta.

The house is built in the island's old style, with hand-painted majolica, small columns and hand-worked vaults, and it is family-run. There are four rooms: a snugger Standard with a view from the window, a Standard with a terrace, a Deluxe double with a large terrace and a Superior double with a private terrace facing the garden solarium. Three rooms out of four therefore have an outdoor space of their own. All of them have a private bathroom, air conditioning, a hairdryer, a minibar, WiFi and daily cleaning; some face the sea, others the mountains or the garden, and some have a sitting area. Breakfast, continental and Italian as a buffet, is included. Private parking is available at the property, and on an island where getting around by car is complicated it counts for more than it seems.

The shared spaces are outdoors and are the reason this house is chosen: a terrace furnished with loungers and deckchairs, with an outdoor shower, and a garden solarium from which at sunset you see Ischia. From here on, though, expectations should be kept low: there is no wellness centre and no pool. The property website names no sauna, steam bath, whirlpool, massage room or pools, and the booking portal lists nothing of the kind. It is not an explicit denial by the owners, but these are undocumented features and should not be taken for granted: here you take the sun on the terrace and go down to the sea by bus.

On the rules of access the two sources say complementary things and must be read together. The booking portal reports that children are not allowed, so the restriction is an outright one and concerns the whole house, and at the same time it expressly states that no minimum age is required for check-in. The official website, for its part, publishes no threshold and does not address the matter. The result is that the property is not for children but nobody publishes an age in figures, and for this reason the entry reports none. Anyone travelling with a minor, even an older one, should ask for written confirmation before booking. Pets are not allowed and no parties are held; quiet is asked for from 23.00 to 8.00.

On the practical side: check-in is from 14.00 to 21.00 with an ID and a credit card, departure is between 10.00 and 10.30, on arrival a cash security deposit of one hundred euros is required and is returned on departure after the accommodation has been checked, and payment for the stay must be made before arrival by bank transfer. In the event of early departure the property charges the full amount of the stay booked.

It suits anyone who wants Anacapri and not the social life of Capri, anyone looking for a terrace of their own at a price that is reasonable for the island, and anyone arriving by car. It suits less anyone who wants a spa, a pool and hotel service.