Not wanting to lose the composure we had gained during our blissful stay at Le Sirenuse, we opted to spend our last night closer to the Rome airport rather than leave Positano in a pre-dawn frenzy. I’d always been curious to explore the hotel La Posta Vecchia and it’s located on the Tyrrenean sea just thirty minutes from the airport, so it promised to be an ideal and relaxed way to return home.
La Posta Vecchia was built in 1640 by Prince Orsini above the ruins of two imperial Roman villas, and was used for centuries as a resting point for esteemed guests en route to Rome. Unfortunately by the year 1918 it had fallen into a state of disrepair. Thankfully in 1960 Jean Paul Getty acquired the property from Prince Odescalchi. Getty embarked on a massive renovation and restoration of this spectacular seaside palazzo, engaging the services of Frederico Zeri, the highly regarded curator of The Getty Museum to decorate it with the best 17th century furniture, paintings, and tapestries. While digging to build a pool, they unearthed the aforementioned Roman ruins and further construction had to be stopped. Getty, still wanting a pool, decided to install one indoors, and subsequently found the remains of an even more spectacular villa. - And so by happenstance, La Posta Vecchia had become a veritable private Pompei with priceless mosaics and ancient architectural details.
Happily the present owner acquired the property with much of the Getty contents still in place (although the phone booth Getty required his guests to use is no longer a feature), and I heartily enjoyed playing the modern day tycoon as we strolled the extensive gardens and supped on the seaside terrace at the restaurant Cesar. As an added and unexpected pleasure we had been upgraded to the very palatial “Castello” suite - a remarkable corner room with four windows facing the sea.
Getty once described this place as a “serene and heavenly home,” and I’m glad to say that a stay at La Posta Vecchia still offers these very same qualities.
I’m pictured (top) in our super chic Castello suite wearing the palest pink cotton safari shirt and python belt both by Gucci, shorts by Our Legacy 1980-81 in hemp, cotton, and silk, ivory suede loafers by Tom Ford, sunglasses by Gucci, Cartier “Tank Divan” from Raj Tolaram and bringing a bit of Le Sirenuse along with me, my fragrance is Paestum Rose.
