Fonte Aurora Thermal Resort

Fonte Aurora grew around a spring. Local farmers found the warm, iron-rich water in the 1950s while digging for a well, and the family who bought the land built a small bathhouse, then a hotel, then a garden of palms and bougainvillea that tumbles down to the sea. Today it is Ischia’s most complete thermal resort, set a short walk from the Lacco Ameno promenade and the rock called Il Fungo.

Five thermal pools range from 28 to 38 degrees, indoors and out: a bright atrium pool, a grotto with a waterfall, a quiet adults-only terrace pool, a children’s pool and a lap pool for morning swimmers. The spa has a hammam, a sauna, a salt room and ten treatment rooms offering mud wraps, Ischian volcanic-clay facials and Ayurvedic massage.

Fifty rooms and suites are arranged in low terraces around the gardens, finished in tuff stone, white plaster and pale oak. Most have balconies; the larger suites have private jacuzzis, and a single villa suite has its own thermal plunge pool. Rooms are quiet and air-conditioned, and the beds are among the best we have ever seen.

The restaurant serves lighter Mediterranean food, with a seasonal tasting menu and a lemon-and-ricotta cake you will think about for weeks. A shuttle runs to Ischia Porto for ferries, and the concierge can organise a day to Sant’Angelo, a trek up Monte Epomeo or a private boat to Procida.