020·7962·9933
Always an excellent service.
Very grateful for our seat allocation (front of Economy). This made immigration for Lisbon and LHR very quick and easy.
Luke a great help in organising and monitoring
Usual professional performance.
Always a loyal customer with your company. I will get in touch with Robbie for our next holiday
Excellent service from Raphael and his team
Very well looked after
Fergus was brilliant! Holiday was just what I needed. I’ll certainly remain a customer
Always reliable, friendly, professional and super helpful.
Great service in very difficult times, thanks very much.
Paul Jones was excellent
Great help in retrieving lost bag with Iceland Air
Tremendous service once again… thanks Teddy
As always excellent and very helpful,
There was a bit of confusion on what was included in half board but maybe the policy changed from when we booked. We thought we could eat in the restaurants for dinner for free but it was only the buffet restaurant, the other restaurants had a supplement.
Very well organised by Elizabeth and team. Top marks
Very good all round and I can only make one suggestion for improvement and that is to make your 24 hour helpline number a bit more visible on your email communication - maybe include it in your signatures.
Helping an 80-year-old and not the best with modern computer technology was excellent.
Great
Colin and his team always assist us with our holiday and flight requirements. This trip, given the restrictions, was planned and executed perfectly due to the diligence of the staff.
I book through Ted and the team as I know the holiday will always be a success and I will be pleased
Adam was awesome. Super helpful. Went more than the extra mile. Would highly recommend
Another brilliant trip helped by the excellent work of Fergus and his team. Thank you as always.
Lucas and team always do a great job for us with no fuss
We appreciated the call beforehand and the list of things to do which was very complicated. I will recommend you to anyone anytime
Lloyd went above and beyond arranging our holiday, as always. On top of that, he recommended Six Senses, Douro Valley which could not have been a better suggestion. It was the most perfect place in every way.
Great advice on flexible ticketing during Covid. Good advice on testing
Libby was brilliant
Simon is so helpful and always gives very good travel advice. Communication is excellent ahead of any holiday. I have been using you since 2008 and would never go anywhere else!
Thanks for all the help and advice in booking our family trip. A special thank you to Bruce and his colleagues who were just a phone call away to help with all the guidelines we faced. Our holiday was a great success.
Some hotels manage effortlessly to combine a hip and trendy image with old school charm - and the Splendido Hotel in Portofino is certainly one of them. In the Hotel Splendido’s case a generous dose of Italian style is also thrown in for good measure.
THE ROAD TO SPLENDIDO
It is perched on the Italian Riviera coastline, two hotels in one, both boasting roof gardens, geranium-filled terraces and a languid way of life. Carved from a 16th Century Benedictine monastery high above the village, the original Hotel Splendido opened in 1902 and has 65 rooms surrounded by terrace gardens with a swimming pool. In 1998, a satellite branch on the harbour - the Splendido al Mare - opened with 16 rooms and suites.
Portofino is still a fishing village, south-east of Genoa. Pastel-coloured houses, high-end boutiques and seafood restaurants fringe the Piazzetta, which is a small cobbled square overlooking the harbor, which often has a selection of super-yachts in evidence.
A path leads from the Piazzetta to Castello Brown, a 16th century fortress and museum with frequent art exhibitions and constant panoramic views of the town and the Ligurian Sea.
The village in general, and Hotel Splendido in particular, has always been a magnet for celebrities, past and present. The visitor of note list includes Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Ava Gardner, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Madonna, Rihanna.
WHAT TO EXPECT
All the hotel's rooms are spacious with a mix of antiques and marble, maintaining a timeless feel. Gadgets are kept to a minimum, although the Splendido does have its own yacht. There is also a shuttle to spare guests the 15-minute walk between the two sites.
ITALIANS DO IT BEST
Food takes centre stage - this is Italy, after all. Elizabeth Taylor, who honeymooned here, has a spaghetti dish named after her – but Ava Gardner went one better. There is a suite named after her.
La Terrazza is the Splendido's most iconic restaurant – it’s romantic, relaxed, with serious seafood and alfresco tables.
Down in the harbour, Chuflay offers a more formal dining experience, but many celebrities - including Madonna and Rihanna - see it as the perfect place to hang out during yachting holidays.
The location on the Ligurian is as scenic as could be desired, and Portofino's harbour is one of Europe's most beautiful. The many-coloured villas hugging the coastline are the subject of many calendars.
The waters of this fishing village are now frequented by the yachts of the super rich. Yes, there's nothing much to do - but that's really the whole point of Portofino. You stroll, indulge in some light shopping at Ferragamo, and then indulge some more at a restaurant or bar.
HOME TO THE STARS
The USP of Portofino is that it can claim to be Italy the way it was - for Hollywood stars at least - around 50 years ago, when celebrities could wander through the cobbled streets without being pestered for selfies.
It's still, relatively speaking, a safe zone for celebrities. But Beyoncé learned that stilettos aren't the best footwear for the terrain in 2010 - when she returned in 2014, she opted for more suitable flats.
Regular guests Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw holidayed at the hotel with their family very recently. Kylie Minogue, another regular visitor, was also in Portofino recently to perform at a Dolce & Gabbana show.
FINAL CONCLUSION
But is it good enough for the rest of us? Undeniably it is. You can sip your aperitif at one of the delightful harbour bars and feel just like a star.
And at the Splendido, from the stars twinkling above the moonlit ocean to the swaying palms in the garden, you can live la dolce vita. It is the epitome of Italian glamour.
Amazingly, it is simple old-fashioned service that sets us apart from other travel firms. And yes, we really do answer the phone within 5 seconds!
Check out the reviews on Trustpilot and the word ‘service’ appears again and again. And you’ll find many reviews from customers saying they wasted hours trying to plan a holiday themselves before calling us - often on the advice of a friend - only to find we could offer numerous options not available online, which also saved them money.
Our team of 300 travel managers has been arranging tailor-made holidays for over 40 years and we believe no one does it better. Judge for yourself.
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Airport Lounges from £25
Once you’re through security leave the crowds, kids and chaos behind you with a visit to one of our comfortable airport lounges.
All offer complimentary food, drinks, wifi and newspapers with some also including Fastrack through security. Prices from £25.
Use our speedy private transfer service to avoid the stress of finding your way out of the airport terminal and looking for a taxi or bus on arrival.
With our meet and greet service, our driver will meet you in the arrivals hall. They will monitor flight arrival times giving you peace of mind that someone will be waiting for you with a name board even if your flight is late.
They will then assist you with your luggage and organise a private transfer directly to your hotel - there’s no waiting around for other passengers for shared transfers!
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