Borgo Boutique Napoli

Borgo Boutique Napoli is at via Sant'Antonio Abate 232, that is along the axis Neapolitans simply call the Borgo, the market street that climbs from the Vasto towards Piazza Cavour, in the area of the Botanical Garden. It is a working-class, lively quarter, made of fruit stalls, long-established bakeries, street pizzerias and workshops, not a picture-postcard street: the host himself presents it as everyday Naples, and anyone booking should know that this is what they are choosing. The position, though, really is convenient. The Piazza Cavour underground station is one kilometre and one hundred metres away, the central station and the Garibaldi stop one kilometre and two, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale one kilometre and six, the Cappella Sansevero and Spaccanapoli a little beyond, and Capodichino airport five kilometres.

What it is like

It is a rooms-only guest house set in a building of the Borgo, with four rooms opening onto a shared entrance, a front door with code entry and independent access. There are three types: Deluxe Double Room with Bath, which has a freestanding bath inside the room; Deluxe Double Room with Balcony; Junior Suite with Terrace. The design is avowedly contemporary, with walls in strong colours, marble-effect stoneware, upholstered headboards and bathrooms with flush-to-the-floor showers. All the rooms have air conditioning, heating, a desk, a flat-screen TV with streaming services, a fridge, a safe, an electric kettle and a coffee machine, as well as a private bathroom with bidet. Wifi is free, private parking is available at a charge. From the small terrace and the balconies you see the rooftops of the quarter. There is no smoking, parties cannot be held, and the host specifies that the house is not available for stag or hen parties.

The wellness area and the pools

There are none. The property declares no spa, sauna, Turkish bath, gym or pool, indoor or outdoor. The only thing resembling a wellness feature is the freestanding bath in one of the Deluxe rooms, which however remains a private facility of that room, not a shared area. Anyone looking for a wellness centre should look elsewhere: what is sold here is a well-kept room in a city that is hard to experience from a hotel.

The access rules

On this point the available information does not agree, and it is worth saying so openly. The property has no official website, so the source is the booking portal. In the rules section, the portal writes that children of at least 14 are welcome, adds that there are no cots or extra beds and sets 18 as the minimum age to put the check-in in one's name. In the presentation signed by the host, on the same portal, one reads instead that the property is reserved exclusively for guests over 18. This page keeps the threshold of 14, which is the figure published in the rules, but anyone travelling with a young person between 14 and 18 should put the question to the host in writing before booking, because his own description says something else. Pets are not allowed. Arrival is possible from 15.00 to midnight, departure by 11.00.

Who it suits

It suits couples on a city break who want new, quiet rooms at prices far from those of the seafront, and who are not put off by a genuine quarter that is noisy by day. It suits those arriving by train or flying into Capodichino, because both are close. It suits less those looking for full hotel services, a served breakfast, a spa or a pool: what there is here is a house of rooms, well done, and the city around it.