“The splendid site with the barbaric name” is the way the poet Gabriele D’Annunzio defined the “Portofino Kulm“, the hotel in the “liberty” style that was built bySebastiano Gaggini at the beginning of this century.
Gaggini, besides being fond of his native Camogli, was also in love with Portofino Mountain and with the riviera of the Portofino Bay. In constructing this jewel called the hotel of the “vetta” (peak) because it sits in fact high atop the mountain.
He created a splendid gift to Santa Margherita Ligure, which, seen from that altitude appears in all its magnificience. The guests of this exclusive hotel, in addition to being able to enjoy all the modern comforts that progress had brought, were also able in a brief time to go down to Santa Margherita or Portofino where they could find in the other great hotels and villas, an aristocratic social life of the highest quality.
On the model of the great French hotels, (Gaggini had lived in Paris for quite some time) the hotelier had put at the disposition of his Italian and foreign guests not just beautiful bedrooms and baths, but elegant salons and parlors with plush furnishings and splendid crystal chandeliers. There was one parlor in particular that attracted attention. Lining the walls were a series of concave and convex mirrors that as we know elongate or shorten images in such a comical way as to provoke laughter, which would then further deform the image of the face.
The various mountain paths offered incredible botanical rarities for this latitude, and you could also listen to the songs of exotic birds. This was a great attraction for nature lovers as was the easy access to the beaches of both Santa Margherita and Portofino.
As I mentioned at the beginning, a great admirer of Portofino Kulm, notwithstanding the “barbaric name” was the poet who from its heights descended to meet his lover Eleonora.
Book here the Portofino Kulm.
Portofino World Site, a world apart.
