Oops, I did it again.
Last week, I took a quick overnight trip to Napoli to visit a Japanese restaurant (I know - you weren’t expecting that) and to experience Grand Hotel Vesuvio, Leading Hotels of the World property. Somewhere between room service and sleep, I left my Invisalign retainers on the bedside table, a recurring habit that reliably reaffirms my love of the hotel concierge.
I’ve left a lot of things behind in hotel rooms over the years. Not metaphorically—literally. Invisalign retainers (yes, more than once), glasses, headphones, chargers for every conceivable device, my favorite pair of socks and even my passport. I remain eternally optimistic that hotel staff will find these wayward objects—thank you, Villa Igiea, for taxiing my passport back to me—but my track record suggests I should probably be a little more vigilant in my packing.
No matter whether I call the front desk within minutes after checkout or a day or two later, I’d estimate that about 90 percent of what I leave behind has already slipped into the Bermuda Triangle of “Sorry, we couldn’t find it.”
But here’s the thing I’ve noticed after hundreds of hotel stays: my best luck happens when there is a real concierge. Not a check-in desk. Not a smiling multitasker juggling room plastic room cards and IDs. A concierge. Present and human.
Case in point: last Wednesday when I discovered I’d left my retainer in room 722. Mild panic before I called the concierge who did not bat an eye, place me in Hold purgatory nor send me into an email labyrinth. Instead, he simply said “Ci penso io” - I’ll take care of it - and not only found the retainers, but coordinated an overnight delivery to my house in Rome for the very next day.
But honestly, I knew it would work out.
Because Claudio Iorio, the Grand Hotel Vesuvio’s head concierge, had already shown me exactly what a great concierge does. Before my arrival (and while I was on the way to the train station), he emailed to warn me of a city-crippling taxi strike in Naples and let me know he had already arranged a car transfer from the train station. It was genteel, gallant and white glove that made me feel like out of the 160-room hotel, Claudio was on the look out for Me.
That is what I love about a concierge. And sometimes I worry that concierges, like actual room keys, may be going the way of the dodo. We all love the convenience (and occasional savings) of third-party booking platforms like Booking.com, but in gaining efficiency we’ve lost something along the way: the human touch.
And that, I think, is the difference between a hotel you enjoy and one you remember.
A Quick Review of Grand Hotel Vesuvio
The Grand Hotel Vesuvio is unapologetically bombastic—and that’s precisely the point. When it opened in 1882, it was the hub for Grand Tour travelers bound for Naples. The reason was obvious then and remains so now: its enviable address on Via Partenope, the seaside road that unfurls along the waterfront by Castel dell’Ovo.
My take? Vesuvio is big - 160 rooms, including 21 suites - and it wears its scale confidently. The hotel is tasteful and classic, though I do think the rooms could use a thoughtful refresh. They’re perfectly nice, but they could be better: upgraded sheets, elevated amenities, and, at least in the suites, Dyson hair dryers wouldn’t hurt.
That said, the location is near-perfect. Set in Chiaia, the neighborhood is more residential and polished, with art galleries, good shopping, and none of the lingering fried-food aroma of Spaccanapoli. It’s ideal for an afternoon passeggiata and exceptionally convenient for ferries and private boats alike.
And then there are the spectacular views. From this stretch of coast, you get an unobstructed sweep of the Bay of Naples from Possipoli to the Costiera Sorrentina, with a teasing glimpse of Vesuvius itself.
Tip: Only book a room with a bay view.