Portofino is tiny, and that changes everything about where you sleep. The village wraps around a single horseshoe harbour, a cluster of ochre and rose houses stacked above fishing boats and, these days, the occasional improbable yacht. The whole place could fit inside a large piazza in Rome. What this means in practice is that “staying in Portofino” is a very particular decision, because the village holds only a handful of hotels and they are among the most expensive rooms in Italy. So the real question is not which street to choose. It is whether you want to wake inside the postcard and pay dearly for the privilege, or sleep a short bus or ferry ride away, with more choice, more air, and rather more money left for lunch. Let me walk you through both, honestly.
The truth about staying in the village itself
There is no gentle way to say it. Portofino has very few rooms, and they command prices that make even seasoned Riviera travellers blink. Because the village is protected and hemmed in by the hills of its regional park, nothing new gets built, so supply simply never grows to meet demand. In high summer the little harbour fills with day trippers who arrive by ferry and bus, wander the piazzetta, take their photographs, and leave by evening. If you have a room here, that emptying-out is the reward. The magic of Portofino is not really the middle of the day. It is early morning, when the light is soft and the boats sit still, and the hour after the last ferry departs, when the piazzetta belongs to the few who stayed. That is what you are paying for.
The Belmond icons: Splendido and Splendido Mare
Every conversation about Portofino hotels begins with the Belmond Hotel Splendido, and rightly so. It sits high on the hillside above the bay, a former sixteenth-century Benedictine monastery reached by a climbing road through terraced gardens. This is the grande dame of the Italian Riviera, the hotel of old film stars and honeymooners, with around seventy rooms and suites, hand-painted walls, private balconies, and a heated saltwater infinity pool that seems to spill toward the sea. Lunch on La Terrazza, under the wisteria, looking down at the harbour, is one of those experiences people remember for years. It runs seasonally, roughly early summer into November, and it is a serious splurge, well into four figures a night in peak season. If this is your once-in-a-lifetime, it earns the fantasy.
Down at water level, on the piazzetta itself, is its harbour sibling, Splendido Mare. This is the smaller, more intimate Belmond, with a couple of dozen rooms opening onto the marina, the same polished service, and direct access to the coming and going of village life. A complimentary shuttle links the two, so guests at the Mare can use the pool up at the Splendido. It is still expensive, unmistakably a splurge, but it puts you in the very heart of things rather than above them. I have a soft spot for it, precisely because you step out of the door and you are already there.
The village’s smaller rooms: Eight, Piccolo and Nazionale
Not everything in Portofino carries a Belmond price tag, though nothing here is truly cheap. The Eight Hotel Portofino is a small design-led boutique, part of the Small Luxury Hotels group, more contemporary in feel and a touch gentler on the wallet than the icons, while still firmly a treat. Hotel Piccolo sits just outside the village proper, on the road that curves toward Paraggi, set in a garden above the water with its own private access down to a swimming cove. I like it for travellers who want quiet and greenery and a short, pretty walk into the piazzetta rather than a room directly on it. And on the piazzetta itself is the Hotel Nazionale, a traditional, family-run address with a prized position right on the square. Rooms are simpler and the value is better by local standards, but you are paying above all for the location, which in Portofino is the whole point.
Why I usually base myself in Santa Margherita Ligure
Here is what I would do most of the time, and what I quietly suggest to friends. I base myself in Santa Margherita Ligure, the elegant belle-epoque resort town just around the headland. It has a proper choice of hotels across every band, from grand palace hotels with sea-view terraces and beach clubs to comfortable mid-range places and genuine value pensioni. It has its own railway station on the main line, which matters enormously for getting in and out of the region, and it has palm-lined promenades, a real working town with markets and gelaterie, and evenings that feel lived-in rather than staged.
The connection to Portofino is easy and frequent. The bus runs the coast road in under twenty minutes, and the little ferries hop across the bay in a similarly short and far more scenic ride. You can drift into Portofino for a morning swim or an evening aperitivo and drift back, without the eye-watering room rate. For most people, on most trips, this is the sensible and more graceful choice. You get the Portofino you came for and a town with a heartbeat to come home to.
Camogli and Paraggi, for a different mood
Two more options are worth knowing. Camogli sits on the far side of the promontory, a taller, narrower, more soulful fishing village of painted trompe-l’oeil facades, a working fleet, and almost none of the glamour crowd. It is where Ligurians themselves slip away. Reaching Portofino from here takes a little more effort, usually a ferry round the point or a hop by train and bus, but Camogli rewards you with lower prices, wonderful seafood, and the boat to the hidden abbey at San Fruttuoso. If your idea of the Riviera is authenticity over gloss, consider it.
Paraggi is the other. It is the tiny emerald cove between Santa Margherita and Portofino, home to Portofino’s only real beach and a scattering of very exclusive addresses. Staying at or near Paraggi, as Hotel Piccolo more or less does, gives you swimming on your doorstep and a short walk or bus ride into the village. It is lovely, and priced accordingly.
Price bands, honestly
Let me set expectations plainly, because Portofino punishes the unprepared. The Belmond properties, both Splendido and Splendido Mare, are a serious splurge, well into the high hundreds and often into four figures a night in season. The village boutiques, the Eight and Hotel Piccolo, are still a treat, expensive by any normal measure but a step below the icons. Hotel Nazionale on the piazzetta is the closest the village comes to mid-range, though that word means something different here than elsewhere. Cross to Santa Margherita Ligure and the whole ladder resets downward: you find genuine mid-range by Riviera standards, and even modest, honest rooms if you look. Camogli generally undercuts Santa Margherita again. As a rule, every step you take away from Portofino’s harbour buys you noticeably more room for your money.
How I would choose
If this is a milestone trip and budget is not the deciding factor, stay in the village, and I would choose Splendido Mare on the piazzetta for the harbour at your feet, or the hilltop Splendido if you want the full cinematic swoon and the pool. If you want the beauty without the punishing bill, base in Santa Margherita Ligure, take the ferry across, and treat Portofino as the exquisite day-and-evening trip it is so well suited to being. If you want quiet, character and value, sleep in Camogli and visit both. There is no wrong answer, only the version that fits your trip and your temperament. Portofino is small. Let that smallness guide you rather than intimidate you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it worth staying overnight in Portofino itself?
It is, if the budget allows, and for one specific reason: the village transforms after the day trippers leave and again at dawn. That quiet, luminous Portofino is what your very high room rate is really buying. If those bookend hours matter to you, stay. If not, sleep nearby and visit.
Which is better, Hotel Splendido or Splendido Mare?
Both are Belmond and both are splendid. The hilltop Splendido gives you gardens, the infinity pool and the famous wisteria terrace with sweeping views. Splendido Mare puts you directly on the piazzetta at the water’s edge, smaller and more intimate. A shuttle links them, so Mare guests can use the pool. I lean toward the Mare for the immediacy of harbour life.
Is Santa Margherita Ligure a good base for Portofino?
Yes, and it is the option I most often recommend. It has far more hotels across every price band, its own train station, and a lively town of its own, with the bus reaching Portofino in under twenty minutes and frequent ferries crossing the bay. You get the beauty and keep your budget intact.
How do I get from Santa Margherita or Camogli to Portofino?
From Santa Margherita, take the coast bus, which runs the short distance in under twenty minutes, or the scenic passenger ferry across the bay. From Camogli, the easiest route is usually the ferry around the promontory, though you can also combine train and bus. Ferries are seasonal and weather-dependent, so check the day’s timetable.
Is Portofino very expensive to stay in?
Very. The village has only a handful of hotels, supply never grows, and demand is enormous, so rooms rank among the priciest in Italy. Even the simpler village addresses are dear. Stepping across to Santa Margherita or Camogli brings prices down considerably for comparable comfort.
Read also: Where to Eat in Portofino | The Best Time to Visit Portofino | The Complete Guide to Portofino
