If you are interested in staying in Positano without spending a fortune, then this pensione is perfect. The owner, Carlo is so sweet and helpful. He explained everything to us i.e the easiest way to get down to the beach, where to get the bus, how to get to Pompeii etc. We met people that were staying at some 3 star hotel and we were teaching them how to get around because their hotel lacked the hospitality of Pensione Maria Luisa.
The rooms are modest but clean and cute. There is a common area/roof top terrace with excellent views of the town and the sea. We made friends while staying there and it was the perfect spot to hang out and drink a Nastro Azzurro!
Carlo's sister's restaurant, Sera D'Oro, has fabulous pizza and Meditteraneo (just down the street) has the best gnocchi I have ever had!

My average rating of this Pensione may not impress you, but if you are on a budget and are looking to stay in Positano, this is a great deal. By the time I booked the room, there were no rooms w/ balconies, so got a room in the back. It was roomy and we asked for a fan and slept just fine. Don't worry if you don't get a room w/ a balcony, there is a terrace, next to the other balconies, with an awesome view where you can eat meals or just lounge. Also great location to head down to Fornillo beach, you just follow the steps down. On this side of Positano you don't bump into the tourist crowds, definitely a plus on this busy coast. There is paid-parking close by if you have a car, and the bus stop for the internal Positano bus is just a few yards away.

We stayed at the Pensione Maria Luisa for 3 nights. We are two budget student travelers who wanted a great price for our stay in Positano, Italy. I can say that I was quite dissapointed from what I had read from tripadvisor.

First, we arrived with the SITA bus from Sorrento and was dropped off in the center of Positano. We needed to take the Internal bus all the way back to Fornillo which was on the other side of Positano. Thank god we had packed lightly and kept our big luggages in Rome.

When we arrived at the Pensione, first there wasn't any kind of reception... we had to shout out a little "hello" for someone to come out of the "office". We "checked-in" with the impression that our reservation was never marked down on their reservation calendar (which was a piece of paper which was hanging around in the manager's pocket)

We knew that there was no rooms with a private balcony available upon our arrival so we expected not getting one either. We got room #2, which was facing the main alley for the area. Our window opened up on top of the Pensione's front door and we could look out on the neighboor's hotel balcony.

We got a queen size bed and a single bed on the side which was great, all the rest of the furniture was great (chair, closet & drawers).
On the down side, the bathroom needed alot of work: the shower curtains were hanging from a broken steel pole and were dragging in the shower and made the whole shower flood. The shower itself was very poor and we could hardly have a shower without wetting the whole bathroom. Since there wasn't any windows in the bathroom, there was a gap in the wall going into the pensione's hallway (must I say a lack of intimicy).

Walls are paper-thin pretty much all over the Fornillo area and the child living next door (who was mostly outside on the neightboor balcony) made our mornings and afternoon naps pretty unpeacefull when he was having his fits.

Watch out for the roaming 4-5 cats around and in the Pensione. Not too sure if they were all theirs. Oh, and watch out for the 4 month old baby sleeping in the "dining area"... totally normal to leave a baby unattended on the couch in the corner of the room...

Also, there is a 1am curfew, meaning that being 25 and wanting to go out at night and coming back from the dance club to a locked door isn't too pleasant. We had to knock and ring the bell a few times before someone came to open us the main door. We felt bad but I guess they didn't mind as they suggested us to do so.

Conclusion: a lower than average stay, a grade a little over a hostel. I wouldn't mind going back because of the price but would prefer looking for a hotel much more closer to the main beach (versus Fornillo beach) even if it's 30$ more each night! I'm not too familiar with pensione's but I wasn't too impressed by the lack of organization and how far it was from the main Positano area (10-15min walk)

We spent a few days in Positano, spending 2 nights at the Pensione Maria Luisa. We requested a room with a private balcony - definitely a MUST for an extra 5 euros! I can't even begin to describe how surreal it felt to be lazing around on a lounge chair, feeling the warmth of the sun, the cool breeze from the Gulf of Salerno, while enjoying the incredible view from your own private balcony. The room itself was clean and simple. The only drawback was the musty smell coming from the washroom and the smell of cat urine (from the resident cats).