The Best Luxury Hotels in Portofino, Italy
This pastel-painted fishing village turns effortlessly glamorous once you check into one of its cliffside, sea-view retreats.
EUROPE
Guess Where Hotels Editorial Team
6/21/20267 min read
Portofino: Pastel Harbor, Pine-Covered Hills
You can walk the whole of Portofino's harbor in about five minutes, past pastel houses, wooden boats nosing the quay and cafés spilling across the Piazzetta. Round the headland and the water at Paraggi turns emerald over a small beach of pebbly sand, while up behind the village the pine-covered slopes of the Portofino nature park climb toward the lighthouse. Then there is the food: focaccia di Recco, two paper-thin layers of dough with soft cheese melting between them, from a few towns along the coast, and trofie tossed in basil pesto. Only a handful of hotels fit inside the village itself, so most of this list sits in Santa Margherita Ligure and Rapallo, a short ferry ride away.
Three Portofino Bookings to Make Early
Best for Waking Up Above the Harbor: Splendido. French doors open over the bay, with the village a quick shuttle ride below.
Best Swimming on the Coast: Hotel Continental. Its private coves sit at the foot of a sloping park in Santa Margherita.
Best for a Design-Led Stay: Blu di Te. Vintage modernist pieces fill each room, and guests can take them home.
The 10 Best Luxury Hotels in Portofino
1. Splendido, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino
Location: Hillside above Portofino harbor
The heated saltwater pool sits "perched vertiginously above the bay," in the Michelin Guide's words, and Michelin now gives the hotel three Keys. Splendido reopened in June 2025 after a redesign by Martin Brudnizki, and the lobby has gilded chandeliers and pistachio trim, with walls hand-painted in pale blue, light green and yellow. Italy's first permanent Dior Spa holds treatments in toile de Jouy gazebos tucked into the gardens. Most rooms look over the water, but those that don't face gardens or other buildings, so ask for a sea-view room with a balcony; the Baronessa Suite is the splurge. Corrado Corti, chef here for more than two decades, cooks for La Terrazza on its wisteria-covered balcony, and the new Baratta Sedici bar glows around a back-lit white onyx counter.
The hotel arranges boat trips along the coast, including to the abbey cove at San Fruttuoso, and guests get sunbeds at the Bagni Fiore beach club in Paraggi. A free shuttle runs down to the Piazzetta. The season runs from April to October.
Best for: A milestone trip where the view from the room is the point.
2. Eight Hotel Portofino
Location: Inside Portofino village, near the Piazzetta
An outdoor hot tub sits in the garden in the shade of chestnut trees, the quietest corner of a hotel that is set a few minutes up the lane from the boats. Dark tones fill the shared spaces, while the bedrooms turn brighter, and some bathrooms have slate-tiled or round tubs. Oyster calls it "a super-stylish option" set between the harbor and the hillside. Some Standard and Superior rooms come with a furnished terrace, which is worth requesting for a glass of wine at dusk. There is no restaurant, only room service. The small spa has a sauna and a Turkish bath, charged separately. A shuttle runs to the sister hotel at Paraggi, where the beach club charges a daily fee. Parking is free but limited, cannot be reserved, and the hotel opens seasonally.
3. Albergo Nazionale
Location: Vico Dritto, on Portofino's Piazzetta
Step out the door and the Piazzetta is right there, with the boats rocking a minute away. Officially a three-star, the Nazionale has just 12 fairly plain rooms, but no other address on this list puts guests so squarely in the middle of the village. Guests recommend asking for a harbor-facing balcony, since others look onto neighboring buildings. There is no lift, so the stairs rule it out for anyone with limited mobility. There is no on-site parking either; cars go in the public garage at the village entrance, where guests get a discount. Evenings make up for all of it, when the day crowds thin out and the harbor lights come on below the window.
Ideal for: Travelers who want the harbor at the door and will spend little time indoors.
4. Grand Hotel Miramare
Location: Santa Margherita Ligure, on the seafront
Vistamare, the Art Nouveau dining room with a terrace over the sea, asks gentlemen to wear long trousers at dinner, and the rule suits the place. The Miramare is a five-star with a Michelin Key, an Art Nouveau hotel facing the water, with a seawater pool set among oleanders and pines. The pool opens from mid-April to mid-October and is not heated, which makes a late-summer swim the sweet spot. Bagni Miramare, the hotel's beach, sits right in front, and the Barracuda Beach Restaurant serves there. Upper-floor rooms with sea-view balconies or terraces are worth the step up, since lower street-facing rooms draw noise complaints. The e'SPA'ce spa handles treatments. The ferry to Portofino takes about 15 minutes, and families are welcome, with connecting rooms and cots available.
5. Imperiale Palace Hotel
Location: Santa Margherita Ligure, in its own park above the sea
At Le Vele, the hotel's private beach club, guests stretch out on rock platforms with steps leading straight into the water. Up in the historic park, a heated seawater pool is tucked among the pines, and indoors the public rooms run to crystal chandeliers and frescoed ceilings. Novecento serves Mediterranean dishes beneath frescoes and marble. Oyster finds that "entry-level rooms are a tad small for the price," and street-facing rooms can hear traffic, so book one of the Imperial suites or at least a sea-facing room. The wellness area adds steam and sauna rooms. Parking is free, and the center of Santa Margherita is a ten-minute stroll.
6. Hotel Continental
Location: Via Pagana, Santa Margherita Ligure
A park slopes down from this Art Nouveau building to a beach of small private coves and a natural pool near Punta Pagana, where the water is clear enough to watch sea urchins and starfish on the bottom. Back up the hill, the panoramic pool runs from indoors to outdoors, stays open all year and looks across the Gulf of Tigullio to Monte di Portofino. Most rooms have a sea view. For the full indulgence, the Junior Suite Deluxe with Private Pool has a small heated plunge pool with hydromassage on its own terrace. The Le Tamerici Spa covers treatments, and Panoramic and Grigoa handle dinner. The train station is close by, which makes Camogli and Genoa easy day trips.
7. Hotel Metropole
Location: Rapallo, on the cliffs above its own beach club
A bridge links the hotel to its Beach Club, where two infinity pools look out to sea and a private jetty sends boats off toward Portofino. The club runs from June to September, and the beach itself is rock, not sand. Up in the hotel, antiques, Rococo paintings and canopy beds fill the rooms, and the Hotel Guru found that it "feels lived-in but not ostentatious." Sea-facing Exclusive rooms and suites are the ones to book. Lord Byron, the restaurant, opens onto a terrace, and Eden Roc takes over in summer. The spa has a heated indoor pool for cooler days. Reaching the entrance means dozens of stairs, which matters with luggage, and central Rapallo is about 500 meters away.
8. Hotel Blu di Te
Location: Via Pagana, Santa Margherita Ligure
Guests can walk from their rooms to the sea in swimwear, down through a park of centuries-old maritime pines, palms and tall eucalyptus to a private beach with a water slide for children. The beach itself has only a small sandy area. At the four-star Metropole, the rooms to ask for are the sea-view ones in Villa Porticciolo, where stucco vaults and, in some rooms, frescoed ceilings set the tone. Oyster describes the rest as basic. The spa is the hidden asset, with a heated indoor saltwater pool, a Finnish sauna, a Turkish bath and an ice cascade, all included for guests. Sessions run in the afternoon and numbers are capped, so book a slot on arrival. From June to late September, dinner moves to a terrace above the park, and the beach restaurant serves lunch with Portofino in view. Trains leave from a station just up the road.
9. LHP Hotel Santa Margherita Palace & SPA
Location: Via Favale, central Santa Margherita Ligure
Every chair, lamp and table in the hotel is for sale, from Sottsass pieces to Arne Jacobsen and de Sede. Rooms at Blu di Te have turquoise and pale-pink cement tiles and bare brick walls, the table china is Richard Ginori, and the Michelin Guide includes it in its selection. Rooms run from about 14 to 30 square meters, so book a Deluxe or larger; the smallest are tight. The rooftop pool opens from June to October, and access costs extra. The beach is a five-minute stroll. For a slower evening, the hotel can arrange a 10-meter fishing boat for a lunch or dinner cruise along the coast. Parking sits roughly 100 meters away and has to be reserved, and Portofino is roughly a 15-minute drive in summer traffic.
Perfect for: Design lovers who would happily ship a lamp home.
10. Excelsior Palace Portofino Coast
Location: Santa Margherita Ligure, near the train station
A few suites have private hot tubs on their own terraces, which is the reason to book here. Modern Italian interiors fill an older building about five minutes from the station, and the spa adds a sauna, a steam room and a hot tub. Book a room in the main building, since some rooms sit in annexes a few hundred meters away. Oyster warns that attic-level rooms are tiny and some lack windows. No rooms face the sea, and extras such as pool access and breakfast add up. The beach and the marina are both about two minutes on foot.
Getting Into the Harbor
Portofino sits inside a camera-watched limited-traffic zone, and its single paid garage fills on summer weekends, so book a space or leave the car behind. Frequent buses run from Santa Margherita along the narrow coast road. The prettier way in is on foot. The Passeggiata dei Baci covers the last two kilometers from Paraggi, and the whole walk from Santa Margherita is a little over five, about 75 minutes with views the whole way. Servizio Marittimo del Tigullio boats link Rapallo, Santa Margherita, Portofino and San Fruttuoso year-round on a timetable that changes with the season, though rough seas can cancel crossings. San Fruttuoso can only be reached by boat or on a hike of about 90 minutes from Portofino. Above the village, the walk to the Faro runs about a kilometer past Castello Brown to the lighthouse. In recent summers, the town has marked red zones along the harbor where groups may not stop during the day, so find a café table instead.
Village Nights or Seaside Days
Staying in the village buys an empty harbor after dark. Staying in Santa Margherita or Rapallo buys a beach club, a train station and more room for the money spent.
Arriving by boat, with the pastel houses rising from the quay, is still the loveliest first look at Portofino, and every hotel on this coast is a short ride from that view.
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