It takes a hotel of a particularly high calibre to salve the sting of a lifelong travel dream’s finale. For me, that sting was the gutting experience of disembarking from the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express in Portofino, Italy, this past summer. But my goodness, does Splendido offer such reprieve. This princely albergo on the Ligurian coast was built as a Benedictine monastery and is now adorned with pink azaleas on almost every balcony from which guests can take in postcard views of Portofino Bay, glimmering and viridian. The landscape looks just as it did in the 1960s, when the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Ava Gardner first checked into this seaside hideaway. But the hotel has been updated since then; for the 2025 season, Splendido will reopen with the main building completely renovated, after a multi-year floor-by-floor update led by designer Martin Brudnizki, whose signature maximalism takes on a gentler, subtler play – more perfume than syrup – by using lavenders, celadons, and Alice blues to paint the interiors with a pleasingly soft handsomeness.
Outside, the redone saltwater pool shimmers with new tiles colour-matched to the sea, and the open-air restaurant La Terazza is as perfect a spot as ever, serving trofie al pesto and spritzes on its perch high on the hill. All told, Splendido’s sensibility is elegantly understated, allowing its people and environment to shine. The staff is composed of charismatic good-time ragazzi, and nature seeps so easily into the rooms that sunrise and birdsong became my morning alarms. To catch the local scene, walk 15 minutes downhill to Portofino’s piazzetta (or take the hotel’s complimentary shuttle), where nonnos invite any and all challengers to a game of backgammon. I did one evening and felt yet again the sting of loss. Then I hiked up the hill to Splendido, my beloved balm, with its windows aglow after sundown and music floating through its gardens. It’s not Olympus, but it’s close enough. Matt Ortile
Price: Rooms from around £1,620 per night.
