There are four beautiful hotels which belong to the Ciana family: The Continental, The Laurin, The Metropole, and The Regina Elena. The Ciana family also contributed greatly to bringing the Portofino Bay to the attention of foreigners.

The Continental Hotel, which is found just below the Imperial Hotel and thus in one of the most beautiful spots in Santa Margherita Ligure, can boast of many illustrious guests, among them Minna, the wife of the composer Richard Wagner and her son Sigfried, along with the orchestra conductor Von Buelow. Besides The Hotel Continental, the Russian and German dukes who before the first world war usually spent the winter in Santa Margherita Ligure would also stay at the Metropole and at the Regina Elena along the road to Portofino.

Gerald Isted, a collaborator of Marconi’s in the short wave experiments conducted in the nearby villa Repellini, also stayed at the Regina Elena. After World War II many politicians, diplomats, financiers, industrialists, Nobel Prize winners and other outstanding individuals stayed at either the Continental or the Regina Elena.

The orchestra conductor Victor De Sabata whom we will speak more about, was cared for here by doctor Ettore Alberti of Santa Margherita Ligure before being transferred to the sanitarium of Villa Attilia in Nozarego.

While it is normal that in great hotels the guests are welcomed with a maximum of courtesy and are made to feel at home, the Ciana hotels had something that rendered them particular. In them, you felt yourself with family because it was they, the proprietors, who remembered your name and would invite you into one of the plush reception rooms to just chat and enjoy the pleasure of your company. Once you were a guest of the Ciana’s, you became also a friend.

In 1997 the Ciana family celebrated a century of activity in the hotel field in Santa Margherita Ligure, from the “belle époque” to today.

Reserve the Ciana Hotels.

Portofino World, a world apart.