Portofino is Italy's answer to the Garden of Eden. The Splendido hotel put it on the map

The funny thing about Liguria, a region in north-western Italy, is that few people could point it out on a map — unless you told them that it’s where the Splendido is. The hotel, part of Belmond, treads a careful line, attracting everyone — the glitterati, the self-made man, seasoned jet-setters, the British upper crust — and alienating no one.

The destination, Portofino specifically, is postcard perfect and still less crowded than other Italian hotspots, such as Lake Como and the Amalfi Coast. The landscape, all stately villas and private yachts, is a proper Mediterranean mirage, flecked by pines, holm oaks and chestnut trees, roses, jasmine and bougainvillea. If we’re getting biblical here, then Portofino is surely Italy’s answer to the Garden of Eden.

Of course, the Splendido isn’t actually new, but it has been extensively refurbished, with a new, exclusive-use villa, Villa Beatrice, added to the mix — and it’s as splendid and as heavenly as its locale. Once an abandoned Benedictine monastery and then the lavish home of Italian Baron Baratta, this new chapter comes courtesy of one of interior design’s buzziest creators, Martin Brudnizki. ‘The goal was always to reflect and create an homage to Liguria’s architectural heritage,’ says Martin. Liguria’s ‘sense of slow luxury living’ was also referenced, inside and out. Think delicate, pesto-green details, wall frescos of native flowers, glass chandeliers that appear to float mid air and antique furniture sourced from local emporiums.

Although this is all lovely, people don’t come here merely to indulge in Splendido’s subtle luxuries, but rather to immerse themselves in the art of Italy’s greatest pastime, il dolce far niente. At Splendido, lazy, hazy summertime glamour plays out poolside, a private saltwater refuge hemmed in by gardens, where spritz-sipping poster boys and girls do nothing but lounge beside it until dinnertime. In today’s fast-changing and not-always-very-nice world, this sort of a regression is, in fact, progression, ‘the new cool’, if you will.

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Portofino’s laid-back lifestyle is further exemplified at La Portofinese Eco-Farm, a form of smallholding in its natural park. Its founder, Mino Viacava, a sixth-generation Portofinan — whose family built many of the bay’s grand villas—works with Splendido, to encourage guests to see what life was like here hundreds of years ago. The guiding principle, masterminded with the late Franca Sozzani, his friend and former Vogue Italia editor-in-chief, was ‘to create something very simple and in honour of our ancestors and their self-sustaining practices,’ says Mino. There are gnarled olive trees, picnic tables with scenic sea views, vineyards, beehives, kitchen gardens and an invitation-only osteria spread louchely on land that tumbles down towards the sea.

Rooms from £2,500 a night; visit the Belmond website for more information and to book