Splendido, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino

Above the harbour, on the Portofino hillside

Portofino is a fishing village of pastel houses around a small harbour on the Ligurian coast, an hour east of Genoa, and Splendido is the hotel on the hill above it, reached by a winding drive through its own gardens. Below is the Piazzetta and the harbour, with the boats and the cafes; above is the Portofino headland and the walking paths to the lighthouse and to San Fruttuoso. The hotel runs a shuttle down to the Piazzetta, where its sister hotel Splendido Mare sits on the waterfront, and the walk back up takes ten minutes if you want it.

The building began as a Benedictine monastery, passed to the Baratta family in the nineteenth century and opened as a hotel in 1901. It has been the Riviera hotel ever since: Burton and Taylor, Ava Gardner and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor stayed here, and the register is still the reason people come. Belmond has kept the bones, the terraces and the gardens and quietly renewed the rest.

Rooms, suites and Villa Beatrice

The 53 rooms and suites are spread through the main house and its wings, and most face the sea. Rooms run from 22 to 39 square metres, Junior Suites from 39 to 44 and Suites from 60 to 78, with the five Signature Suites from 55 to 127 square metres. Interiors are Ligurian rather than grand: pale walls, painted furniture, terracotta and linen, with a terrace or balcony on almost every room. Ask for a sea view; the garden-facing rooms are quieter but the bay is what you came for.

The Signature Suites include the Dolce Vita Suite and the Presidential Suite, both with wide terraces over the harbour. Villa Beatrice, a private villa in the grounds with several bedrooms, its own pool and its own staff, takes a family or a group wanting the hotel without the hotel. Our Travel Designers will tell you which rooms have the best of the view and which face the morning sun.

The pool, the gardens and the Dior Spa

The pool is the picture everyone knows: heated seawater, set on a terrace below the hotel with the whole of Portofino bay beneath it, and reserved for hotel guests. Around it are the gardens, terraced down the hillside with olives, cypress and bougainvillea, a tennis court and a gym for anyone who wants one.

The Dior Spa at Splendido is one of a handful of Dior spas in the world and the only one on the Riviera. Treatments use the Dior protocols and products, and the spa books up in high season, so we reserve before you travel. Beyond the hotel, the boats are the other draw: the hotel arranges days on the water along the coast to Camogli, San Fruttuoso and the Cinque Terre.

La Terrazza, the Grill and the bar

La Terrazza is the restaurant, on the terrace facing the bay, with Ligurian cooking done properly: trofie with pesto, the day’s fish from the harbour, focaccia from Recco along the coast. Dinner on the terrace as the lights come on in the harbour is the reason the hotel exists. The Splendido Grill by the pool does lunch and lighter dinners, and the Baratta Sedici bar, named for the family that owned the house, is where the evening starts.

Portofino’s own restaurants are a shuttle ride away in the Piazzetta, and our Travel Designers hold tables at La Terrazza on peak nights and at the harbour restaurants that need booking.

Why book Splendido with Berkeley Travel

Berkeley Travel is a member of the Belmond Bellini Club. Book Splendido through us and you have a hotel credit of 100 to 220 US dollars per stay, full daily breakfast for two, a room upgrade on arrival where available, and VIP recognition from the property’s management, at Belmond’s own best flexible rate.

You also have a Travel Designer who knows the hotel, will position your room for the view, book the Dior Spa and La Terrazza before you land, and arrange the transfer from Genoa, Milan or Nice and the boat days along the coast. Splendido pairs well with the Cinque Terre, with Milan or Lake Como, or with the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express from London to Venice, and we build the rest around it.