Palazzo Avino, Amalfi Coast, Italy, Mediterranean

For many young girls, the idea of growing up in a pink palace is the stuff of fairytales. Not for Mariella, Attilia and Mariavittoria Avino – for these three sisters, it was real life. They spent their childhood at Palazzo Sasso after it was bought by their hotelier father Giuseppe in the 1990s, opening it as a hotel in 1997.

The palace has been perched on the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, overlooking the azure Mediterranean Sea, since the 12th century. It changed hands over the centuries between several prosperous Italian families before it was abandoned in 1978. Giuseppe rescued the palace nearly two decades later and set to work restoring it to its former glory, renaming it Palazzo Avino in 2013 in his family's honour. Today, Mariella and Attilia are now in charge of the very palace they grew up in.

Everything inside points to a golden age of glamour that has long since past: the abundance of marble, fine fabrics and antiques show no expense has been spared, while the grand, vaulted hallways and decoratively tiled floors add to the opulence. Many of the features and rooms are original, with the 18th-century chapel now the hotel lobby and the former library transformed into one of the rooms. At Palazzo Avino, it's all about living la dolce vita, whether it's dining in the Michelin-starred Rossellini's restaurant, visiting the utterly decadent Lobster & Martini Bar or spending a day at the hotel's beach club – the only one of its kind in Ravello.

Its location is also one that feels like it should be reserved exclusively for the highborn, with the Pink Palace (as the locals call it) found a thousand feet above the Mediterranean in the quiet village of Ravello. The hotel embraces the stupendous coastal panorama which unravels before it, one so good we wouldn't blame you if you spent all day staring at it from your window, terrace or the pool. After all, Palazzo Avino really is like a fairytale come true.