For our Venue Report Pool Party series, we’re spotlighting hotel pools that do more than check a box. They define the experience. This month, we head to the Amalfi Coast, where a saltwater pool clings to the cliffside at Hotel Miramalfi, framed by uninterrupted sea views and decades of family-led hospitality. Originally opened in 1956, the property balances its mid-century soul with a crisp, contemporary point of view, making it one of the few places where design, heritage, and setting are all pulling equal weight. With its crystalline pool, thoughtful service, and a location that feels suspended between sea and sky, Miramalfi proves that a hotel pool can be more than a feature. It can be the reason you book.
Photography Credits: Courtesy of Hotel Miramalfi
A Saltwater Pool, Lift-Accessible Beach Club, Timeless Design, and Plenty of Room for Friends
Cut into the cliffs just above the Amalfi Coast, Hotel Miramalfi’s Beach Club reads like a very good reason to start a group text. The saltwater pool, built in the 1970s and still as striking today, is suspended over the Mediterranean with unimaginably stunning views. Getting there is its own experience: a ride down in the glass lift or a tiled garden path walk, with views that make it hard to keep conversations on track. And once you arrive? Friends spread out across sunbeds, someone orders poolside fries, string bikinis get draped over chairs to dry, and the afternoon starts to stretch. It’s the type of place where doing laps and sipping Sazeracs somehow share the same itinerary.
The hotel above holds just as much character. Opened in 1956 by Francesco Mansi and still run by the family today, Miramalfi strikes a rare balance: mid-century restraint with a sense of place that’s unmistakably southern Italian. Every room is different. Ceramics are local. Sculptures are sea-worn. Public spaces are layered with thoughtful design. The best part? It all functions beautifully when you bring a group. The hotel is built around long breakfasts over tantalizing conversation, passing each other sunscreen, celebrating with one too many palomas, and figuring out what time dinner should be. Some places are just easy to enjoy together. This is one of them.
From Chef’s Plates to Poolside Snacks: A Place That Gets Group Dining Right
Miramalfi’s scale lends itself beautifully to the kind of gathering that feels less like an event and more like an experience: a birthday that stretches into a long weekend, a private dinner that quietly becomes the highlight of the trip, a group of friends escaping the heatwave together with a pool and a plan. There’s no need for overcomplication. A few well-timed swims, a bottle opened at just the right moment, a boat ride that ends with everyone a little sun-drunk and salty. It’s the kind of place that gives structure to spontaneity; where you can reserve a table, plan something meaningful, and still leave room for the kind of moments you don’t have to orchestrate.
Much of that happens around the table. Donna Emma La Cucina, the hotel’s main restaurant, opens onto the sea and serves a menu that matches the view. Chef Guido Schettino keeps things thoughtful and regional, with standouts like red prawn risotto and lamb-confit tortelli anchoring the evening. For something more social, the Azur Lounge Bar offers fresh tuna tartare and a champagne bar on a panoramic terrace made for lingering. And when the mood is less multi-course and more casual, Mario’s Lounge Bar delivers housemade lemonade (made fresh from Amalfi lemons, of course), codfish croquettes, and the kind of cheeseburger that hits perfectly after a day in the sun.
Group text: sent. Pasta: ordered. Pool: found.
Hotel Miramalfi makes a strong case for planning that summer group-trip you’ve been circling dates for. The pool drops off into the sea, the pasta al limone comes with caviar, and someone always seems to be peeling off for a swim between courses. It’s a place that makes group travel feel considered, not complicated. Everything you need is within reach: cliffside lounging, poolside Rossinis, three open-air restaurants, and rooms you’ll want to claim before your friends do. That’s exactly why it’s earned its place in our Venue Report Pool Party. Browse the full series of editorial picks, and stay tuned for more stories built around the world’s most iconic pools (and the trips they inspire)!
