Review of Hotel JK Place Capri (Capri Island, Italy)

Wednesday newsletters always feature a hotel or flight review.

Today (August 21, 2019): Review of Hotel JK Place Capri (Capri Island, Italy)

• Location: Google maps
• Hotel website: JK Place Capri
• Travel tip: get complimentary VIP perks when booking via Virtuoso

Set into the cliffs of Italy’s most enchanting island, JK Place Capri has 22 rooms that echo the style and the concept of a luxury house combined with the light and color of the sea. In the rooms, the artful revival of the classical style is enhanced by sunny curtains and luminous white floors, highlighting the views of the Capri coastlines through the windows and balconies. The hotel has a small spa which offers a choice of excellent treatments, blending Mediterranean traditions with modern techniques. The main restaurant features traditional Mediterranean cuisine and a panoramic terrace — the perfect place to enjoy a glass of wine with terrific views.

JK Place Capri features in my top 10 list of the best hotels in Capri, Ischa & the Amalfi Coast.

Have you ever stayed at the J.K. Place Capri? If so, what was your experience? Leave a comment.

In this review (more info and photos below my Youtube clip & slideshow):

• Pros & things I like
• Cons & things to know
• My verdict
• Tips for future guests & save money
• Best time to visit
• How to get there
• Photos

PROS & THINGS I LIKE

• The prime reason to visit JK Place Capri is its location on Capri island. Just off the coast of Naples, Capri rises majestically like a giant rock from the cobalt blue sea that surrounds it. This Mediterranean jewel, yearned for and exalted in some of the world’s most famous lyric poetry, is one of Europe’s most magnificent islands, offering staggering views, dramatic scenery, and charming villages. Capri is an island of many contrasts. For rushed daytrippers, it is a crowded maze of hyper-expensive boutiques and cafes. For the rich and famous, Capri is a must visit place that was made world-famous by Brigitte Bardot and Jackie Onassis. For historians, it is the palace-island of the Emperor Tiberius, dotted with neglected Roman remains.

• JK Place Capri enjoys a great location on a rocky outcrop directly above the Mediterranean Sea in a serene part of the island. Because of its elevated position, it affords gorgeous views out of the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. Although the property enjoys a peaceful setting, it also places you near all the tourist action on Capri island. The hotel overlooks Marina Grande, the port of Capri, which is only a 5 min stroll away down the road. It offers on demand complimentary shuttle service to Capri town, with features a wealth of swanky boutiques, whitewashed stone houses, picturesque alleys, and a glittery nightlife. Above all, J.K. Place is one of the only hotels in Capri that’s right on the ocean with direct access to a public pebble stone beach.

• Housed in a gleaming white mansion, the property feels more like an exclusive residence than a standard five star hotel, and it is a great place to come home to at the end of a day or night, and even better to wake up each morning. Echoing the style and the concept of a luxurious Italian villa, the glamorous interior design by Florentine architect Michele Bönan is inspired by the nautical elements that can be found on Capri’s coastline. The intimate lobby features luminous crispy white and navy furnishings and gives way to a library and salon with lots of place to lounge. Large Assouline and Taschen table books are everywhere encouraging use of the public areas, if not to read than to hide behind as you check the comings and goings of the eclectic mix of guests.

• JK Place Capri features 22 individually styled rooms, spread over three floors. During my visit, I stayed in a deluxe room on the property’s groundfloor. The room was decorated in the same nautical shades of white and blue reflected in the hotel’s public areas, with a touch of English country style completing the classic and elegant design. The bedroom featured a four poster kingsize bed draped in 100 per cent Egyptian cotton sheets, a small desk, and a comfortable lounge chair. The en-suite bathroom was clad in marble and equipped with one sink, a bathtub, and a toilet. The room also had a large private balcony with table and two sun loungers, offering nice views of the sea and the Vesuvius at the horizon.

• The hotel features beautiful outdoor public areas where you can unwind after doing some sightseeing in Capri. The main building is surrounded by a magnificent porch, which offers panoramic sea views and features several chic seating areas (the idyllic setting for a pre-dinner Martini). The terrace gives way to a spacious lawn with a large, unheated swimming pool at its center. The pool is surrounded by several comfortable chaise loungers, and there are enough loungers for all guests due to the small scale of the boutique hotel (you won’t have to fight for pool space with other guests here). Service at the pool is excellent, as are the food and drinks served poolside to a soundtrack of light lounge music.

• Beyond the pool deck is a pavilion, which houses a small but well equipped gym and an excellent wellness & spa facility, where you can let yourself be transported to a wonderful sensorial world. Representing a calm and relaxing environment, the luxurious and light-filled spa offers Sisley Phyto-aromatic treatments, which combine massage rituals from all over the world, created with the respect of local traditions and the power of aromatherapy to reunify body and mind. There are two treatment rooms although although treatments can just as easily be performed on one of the outdoor sunbeds on your request. The spa also offers a sauna, a hammam and an emotional shower.

• The hotel features only one dining room – called JKitchen – where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served (or on the sunny patio, weather permitting). JKitchen features a sophisticated ambiance and is one of Capri’s most sought after fine dining venues and certainly worth splashing out for. Led by Executive Chef Eduardo Estatico, the high end eatery serves traditional Neapolitan cuisine mixed with contemporary and haute cuisine cooking elements. In the morning, the restaurant has a more casual and relaxed feel, with an excellent breakfast spread laid out on a large dining table where you can help yourself or ask one of the friendly staff members to prepare a platter and bring it to you on the terrace.

• Service at the boutique hotel is exceptionally good. The staff is young, chic and extremely warm, and they go out of their way to be helpful. A highlight is the concierge who is adept at taking care of all dinner reservations, excursions, transfers or just about anything you need to do to discover or rediscover at this very special destination.

CONS & THINGS TO KNOW

If Italian film director Fellini had designed a boutique hotel, JK Place Capri would have been it. This gleamingly white, deco-inspired mansion is known as the best hotel in Capri, because of its style, facilities, and views. That said, you need to know the following when considering a stay here:

• Except for the more expensive suites, rooms at the property are small and rather disappointing for the price you pay. There’s not a lot of space to store your luggage. All rooms are charming and cozy, but if you want enough space, I recommend to book a JK Studio or room category above.

• This is Capri, where travel budgets come to die. And this hotel is no exception with room rates starting at 750 euros per night and stratospherically high prices for food and drinks. Although the hotel is the best in Capri, the experience is not really worth the high cost (if it wasn’t for being in Capri, the hotel would not be able to charge half of what it gets away with now).

• The property is ‘sandwiched’ between a busy public beach and the sole road to the harbor, resulting in some noise disturbance from passing cars, pedestrians and beachgoers. I did not really mind this (as street noise is pretty standard in Italy), but if you are looking for peace and serenity in Capri, you should take this into consideration in your planning and you are probably better off at the Hotel Caesar Augustus higher up the hill.

• JK Place Capri is perfect for couples looking for a romantic getaway but it is not well suited for families with young children.

• JK Place Capri is a small 22-room boutique hotel with full occupancy in high season. If you want to stay here as a base to explore Capri, you will have to make your reservations months in advance to secure a room.

MY VERDICT

• Location: 8/10
• Design: 9/10
• Rooms: 8/10
• Food: 9/10
• Breakfast: 8/10
• Pool: 8/10
• Spa: 8/10
• Service: 8/10
• Value for money: 8/10
• Overall experience: very good 8,4/10

TIPS FOR FUTURE GUESTS & SAVE MONEY

• Save money: get complimentary VIP perks when booking via Virtuoso (e.g. room upgrade, daily breakfast, early check-in, late check-out, transfer from / to Capri’s port and Capri City center, welcome amenity, complimentary mini bar, and $100 USD spa credit).

• Save money: read here my tips for getting the best deal at a luxury hotel like J.K. Place Capri.

• Room tip: I recommend to book a JK Studio or room category above to prevent ending up in a small and rather cramp room.

• Read my tips for preparing your trip in time.

BEST TIME TO VISIT

The best time to visit Capri and the Amalfi Coast is from April to June, when the spring flowers are in bloom, the weather is just warm enough, and the temperature of the Mediterranean allows for the first dips of the season. By choosing late spring or early summer, you can also avoid the tourist crush of July and August and the oppressive temperatures later in the year. The autumn months of September and October are also an excellent time to visit the Amalfi Coast, since the temperatures are still mild, the days sunny (most of the time), and the lion’s share of tourists have left.

HOW TO GET THERE

Naples International Airport in Capodichino is the major getaway to Capri and the Amalfi Coast. For a list of airlines that offer direct flights to Naples, click here. From Naples airport, you need to take a taxi to the port of Naples and then take the hydrofoil to Capri (which takes around 45 minutes). Once on the island, you’ll find the hotel driver waiting to accompany you to the hotel in a buggy (the transfer takes only 5 minutes).

PHOTOS

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