Does anyone know about Hermes in Naples,Capri,Portofino?

[costa]

Emma4646,

My friend had her wrist strap on her Birkin. The clerk told them that it wouldn't help. The thieves would just cut her arm off. Very scary. She was with her husband and he said he wouldn't go there for anything.

Crime is ridiculous there so unless you really need to go to that store don't. If you can go to the Bordeaux store. Fabulous staff and the Bordeaux scarf is amazing.

Best

Daniel

Thiefes cutting arms to get a bag?? and a bag they don't even understand the value? Ohh, please...

Crime in Naples is just like in any other town, and as in every other town in the world there are places and times where you have to be a bit more carefull.
I wouldn't be more afraid than in Paris.

People from Naples are soooo nice and friendly.
And the town is sooo beautiful and food and the see.

I think your friends were listening too much to urban legends...

 

[costa]

porto fino and capri are known to sell everything... even LV.... at a mark up.

porto fino's docking fees are if i'm not mistaken more than monaco's, or so i was told, hence all the super rich of italy tend to gather there or as one milanese socialite put it in a very caustic manner to me, "spit on monaco".

the lv boutique opens to (if i'm not mistaken) midnight or elevenish or some ungodly hour like that.

the basic feel of porto fino is that of pure luxury, but don't expect to be treated well, they are notorious to treat everyone badly

and yes naples is a scary place in general. in naples people wear their watches on the right side and hide their wallets and extra lot to avoid being robbed. why watches on the right side... cos italians drive on the left, if you stick your left hand out and your watch is there you'll get robbed. dunno how true it is but from the time i spent in italy that's what the northern italians used to tell me like it were the gospel. don't let it scare you though because northern italians tend to be paranoid and "freddo/fredda", i.e. cold.

personally my favourite hermes store is the one in venice. nicest SAs around.

if you're going shopping for fashion in italy though, nothing beats milano. rome, venice, porto fino, capri, naples, sicily, etc. all come very very distant seconds from it.

ps emma... yr not going to get much luck with scoring a birkin in seoul and kuala lumpur because they are usually reserve for the local celebs/tycoons, or uber regulars. even so they go at costlier than what you would probably pay in the states or in europe. That said, the other stuff you can probably get at a good price at the airport because it's tax free. I know there's an H store at KLIA, am not so sure about Seoul... though I didn't recall seeing one (having run through to catch my flight) I could probably be wrong.

hope that helps.

I disagree on this. Rome is smaller but you will have higher chanses to fina a birkin there than in Milano.

Sas are very nice in Rome and not second to Milano.

About Naples and the northerns it's a long story.. and the italians have the terrible habit to say bed things about other italians to foreigners.

The problem with Naples is that the poorer part of the city lives in the old town, and nt (or not only) in the suburbs, and this makes it a place where to be a bit careful.

About Portofino, it's in the north of Italy while all the other town you mentioned are in the south.

 

[mudmud]

I have also read that in certain areas in Naples (especially close to the terminal train station) is scary (in terms of crime), but other areas are just like the rest of Italy - beautiful!

But emma are you from Prague, according to your profile? I thought it should be quite easy to get a Birkin in Prague (it cost a little bit more than the rest of Europe, but if you considered getting it from Seoul/KL, which are ridiculously expensive (pretty much everywhere in Asia), then you might as well get it from home). I visited Prague once (I love it, it is sooo beautiful!) for Christmas, and went to visit the Hermes store there, and there were TWO gorgeous 35cm Birkins (one leather and one leather+toile) sitting on the shelf begging for H-lovers to take them home, and you know how busy Christmas period is for shops. I think it shouldn't be too hard for you to bump into one there during normal days.

As for rest of Europe, I'd say you have a better chance to find one anywhere in Europe, than Asia, because in Asia, they are in extremely high demand, not just because of VIPs wanting to buy them, but there are a lot of resellers there snatching them off the shelves and marking them up in their own stores. The best chance to get one in Asia would be Japan (I literally see Birkins on shelf 80% of the times I visit an H store, plus they have plenty of resellers there), but they are more expensive than elsewhere.

In any case, good luck with your bag search emma! Hope you'll find the one you dream of very soon!!

 

[emma4646]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your posts.I have heard many negative comments about Naples from bloggers on the H forum and www.virtualtourist.com There's much more to see outside of Naples anyways...

We will rent a car from Naples airport and drive to our hotel outside of Naples.We plan to visit the Amalfi Coast,Capri,Pompeii,Portofino,etc. We don't like unsafe places so we try to be vigilant. We travel with our 2 kids so we don't go out at night anyways...

Costa:I really loved shopping in Rome near the Spanish Steps last Xmas but was not into H bags then

Daniel:I don't think that I'll find any H bags in Italy...planning on going to Paris this Paril/May.I hope to get lucky there.

mudmud:My DH will take a look at the H stores in Seoul and Kuala Lumpur just in case.The Prague store only has a black Birkin but the SA won't show it to us! She said that it was reserved.When I called and spoke to the manager a couple of days earlier,she said that there was 1 black for sale...the SA would not even take a Birkin order from my DH...how insulting is that?? He's really upset and refuses to buy anything from that store from now on.

To conclude,we'll go to Paris early May for a short family trip and drop by both H stores to try our luck.Even it we come back empty-handed,Paris is always great to visit.The sweet tooth person in me never says NO to French food&sweets.

 

[MissKaylie]

My mom and my aunt visited the Napoli store last summer. They said it was the store with most inventories they had seen during our whole cruise trip (Barcelona, Nice, Florence, Rome). My aunt scored a 25cm lizard Birkin while my mom bought a white Birkin and a 35 swift Kelly. They did say the cab drive was quite a scary experience with passing through slums and some hilly areas on the way back from the store to the port. They were almost sure that they would have missed the ship!!!!

Capri, on the other hand, was !!! Although the store was one of the tiniest I've evern seen, the service couldn't have been better!!! Still remembered the old gentleman in the store climbing his way up the staircase in the backroom (and it was quite high!!!) and came back with a 35 RG Kelly for me..

 

[emma4646]

HI Kaylie,

Your post just gave me a bit of hope!!!I'll give the Naples H store a call when in Italy.All three of you were so lucky!!!I would love to get a 25cm Birkin lizard!!Thanks for your post.

 

[lovely64]

Thiefes cutting arms to get a bag?? and a bag they don't even understand the value? Ohh, please...

Crime in Naples is just like in any other town, and as in every other town in the world there are places and times where you have to be a bit more carefull.
I wouldn't be more afraid than in Paris.

People from Naples are soooo nice and friendly.
And the town is sooo beautiful and food and the see.

I think your friends were listening too much to urban legends...

I have lived in Italy for many years, and my oldest and best friend is half italian with her mother being from Capri. Naples is a very dangerous place unless you know where to go. I would not encourage anyone to wear nice bags/jewllery/clothes etc when strolling around the beautiful city of Naples. Other big cities are dangerous too but Naples is notoriously famous for it´s crime....don´t forget about organized crime!

Good luck finding your Birkin!

Kat

 

[emma4646]

HI Kat,

Thanks for your post.I will try to keep a low profile if I go to the H store in Naples.

 

[Fashionvic]

OMG! My DH is there in Naples right now, as I'm reading this thread, visiting family. Although, he has much family there this will be his first trip and I'm totally regretting about asking him to check out the Naples H store for a little something to bring home for me. Why does H even have a store in such a scary part of town? Hopefully, because he's with locals he'll be ok and make it home with both arms intact. Then again, maybe I'll call him now and tell him to skip the present this time.

 

[emma4646]

Hi Fashionvic,

Let me know if your hubby makes it back with his arms intact...maybe if he's accompanied by local "bodyguards" ! As for me,I'm placing my bet on Paris this May if I come back empty-handed from Italy.I will persevere.

 

[costa]

OMG! My DH is there in Naples right now, as I'm reading this thread, visiting family. Although, he has much family there this will be his first trip and I'm totally regretting about asking him to check out the Naples H store for a little something to bring home for me. Why does H even have a store in such a scary part of town? Hopefully, because he's with locals he'll be ok and make it home with both arms intact. Then again, maybe I'll call him now and tell him to skip the present this time.

Don't worry dear, your housband will love Naples.
Now really, Naples is a gorgeous town, and the people there are super nice. Food is great, and the sea, and all the rest.
It's true that you have to avoid certain parts of town, but it's just like you would avoid certain parts of Paris and NY and any other big city.
Since the places where you have to be more carefull are in the center of town you should read your lonly planet before going around.
But from here to cut arms....
And do you really think that Hermes would open a boutique in the middle of that danger?
I remember years ago in Italy the newspaper were sayng to avoid going to Miami because there were people waiting to kill you on the way from the airport to town...

 

[gloriabonaparte]

Hello,

They walked from their hotel to the store. They felt extremely uncomfortable with all the stares they were getting. The clerk told them not to take a taxi as alot of the taxi drivers would act like they don't understand you and drop you off at the wrong place. Which would be where their friends would be waiting to rob you.

Also thieves would ride electric bikes. Come up behing you and grab your purse, watch etc. Then take off. The bikes would be fast enough so you couldn't catch them.

Overall they really don't recommend Naples for any reason.

Daniel

 

[mudmud]

emma, sorry to hear of your experience at the Prague store, that's very unfortunate! What a rude SA that is, you should complain to the store manager! I think it's a pity to let one bad SA in the shop spoil your whole chance of getting the bag you wanted. When I was there, the SAs that served me was reasonably friendly. They were happy to give me the price of the 2 Birkins they had on shelf and definitely looked like they were happy to make a sale if I wanted it (although I wasn't really considering buying those 2 as they weren't quite the ones I wanted).

Best of luck with your bag search, whether it is from Italy or Paris, I hope you'll find the most gorgeous bag you ever want. I have to say this year should be easier to spot Birkins than the past few years. And I have been to Europe twice in the past 3 years, and both times during peak months (December) and I have seen Birkins on shelf in Geneva, Bern, Paris, Florence, Prague. So I think there is a good chance you will find one. It depends on how open you are with the specs (colour, leather, size)...

...and! Don't forget to do a reveal here when you get it!

 

[empressjulz]

the reason why crime is so high in naples and sicily is due to the fact that 1. they suffer the highest unemployment in italy, 2. they're mafia strongholds.

a lot of it is exaggeration on the part of the northern italians i will admit that (in my years in italy i heard many a ridiculous story from them like how sicilians don't brush their teeth because the toothbrush is an invention of the americans, total hogwash) but.... to some degree a lot of it is true.

i know some sicilians and neapolitans who stay in northern italy now who do so for amongst other reasons, the stability.

and yes i do agree they are more stylish in rome than in milan. milanese tend to wear whatever is most expensive without giving any thought to style. going to la scala is not so much about the opera but more of an opportunity for the socialites to brag about their expensive acquisitions, dresses, jewels, etc... boh-ring. if you do get to go to the opera, take the stalls upstairs where the real connaiseurs get their sing-song fix... i much prefer it to the box.

either way enjoy your trip to italy, beautiful place, shopping is great.... check out the other brands as well you can get some good deals especially at the outlets.

ci vediamo!

 

[costa]

I feel really sorry that somebody can judge my country in such a terrible way without a direct experience. I think it's better for me not to open this thread anymore.