We stayed 2 nights at the Naples Jolly Hotel in mid May 2004 with our Globus tour group. The hotel is a tall, columnar, glass walled structure in the old part of town near the harbour - a great location. Rooms on the west site will face the bay and our room also looked down at the Castle Nuovo from about the 13th c. The east side rooms face the mountains and city. Looking at the hotel from ship in the bay, it really sticks out and does not fit with the surrounding buildings.

Location is everything though - the hotel is a short walk out the front to the right to a McDonalds, Via Toledo (the main shopping street), the Opera House, the Galeria, Castle Nuovo, Castle Dell'Ovo and the ferries to Capri and Sicily. There are local restaurants in the area and we felt safe walking around at night. Get gelato from a vendor and do the evening walk with the locals. We found a 3 man concert in the central space adjacent to a Policia outpost and enjoyed mingling with the locals.

The hotel lobby is quite attractive with large murals. There are several elevators off to the right. The restaurant is on the second level and the rooms seem to start on the 13th floor. Our room had a mini fridge, cable tv. Furniture was white laminate - nothing special, but the AC worked well and the beds were comfortable. The bath was large with the largest sink we've ever seen! They left wrapped fruit jelly type candies on the pillows and they were terrific. A smaller version is in a bowl on the reception counter so grab a few before starting out for the day.

Breakfast and one dinner were included with the tour. Breakfast was really good - several dry cereals, meats, eggs, juices, breads, yogurts, etc. Dinner was a misery - the started was a pasta dish that was the best thing served. The entree was a beef dish that was tough and gristly and the salad followed. Everyone complained, particularly the Italian Americans in our group who knew what it was supposed to be. Go local for dinner if at all possible.

We took 'Discoverring Naples' package which you can find on the hotel's web site. That includes two night stay (our room was a newly renovated one), one dinner at hotel's restaurant (good full course with a glass of wine. We're offered Napolitan cakes as a compliment), tea & cake at a cafe in the old area of the town (so-so) and Arte Card (two free entrances to famous museums and unlimited use for public transportations for three days). The package was only EUR 330 !!

As the hotel was the only 20+story building around there, the view from the room on 23rd floor was excellent. You can see the panorama including bay of naples, King's palace and castle. Location is also good as the port to Capri, Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi is waking distance.

And, if you're lucky enough, you can have a chance to listen to fantastic live music at Bar. I'm very sorry for forgeting the player's name but he was phenomenal.

I chose the Jolly Hotel based on your reviews. I have never written a review before so bear with me. Our first room we were given was horrible. Old, peeling paint, etc. My husband went down and told the front desk how unhappy I was about the room and they immediately upgraded our room to the 23rd floor. Which was totally awesom compared to the previous. It had a wonderful view of the harbor, the bed was comfortable and clean, the bathtub was enormous. After all we had a marvelous stay at this hotel and would recommend to anyone, just beware of the bad rooms!

We spent 10 days at the Jolly and found it to be highly satisfactory. While it may be considered a monstrosity (from one of your letters) sticking 30 floors over anything nearby, the view from our 22nd flr. of the bay and city was great. Its strickly a commercial hotel -nothing warm and fuzzy from a tourist standpoint, but efficient, very comfortable and modern. They have a full breakfast. The location is great. Hydrafoils about 3 blocks away, buses to anywhere out front and an easy walk to the Toledo, or the Via Dei Tribunali,,the mandatory walking streets. It meets the four star criteria.