Is Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast? The answer, according to longtime local Francesco Monti, might surprise you.  Monti, whose family has run the Hotel Mediterraneo in Sant’Agnello outside of Sorrento for four generations, spent his college summers working at the hotel and now works as its events and food and beverage manager.

During a recent press stay on the property, Monti recounted to me how the private home built in 1912 evolved into a luxury hotel — but it was his asides about Sorrento’s geography and the gray areas of Amalfi that held my attention.