Guest reviews Belmond Hotel Splendido

by jc2020TA

Guest discrimination practices!

I would like to highlight a practice that I experienced during my stay at the hotel. The restaurant and swimming pool have indeed a great view, however the staff and hotel in general treat its guests differently; yes, there is a sort of discrimination in place for the guests based on how many times they stayed in the past, how much they spend, the rate they pay and most important how much they tip the staff. Repeater wealthy guests who go there every year and give huge tips enjoy the benefit of being placed in the best spots in terms of view in both the restaurant or swimming pool. Waiters are more than happy to help because of the tips. If anyone else go, is a nobody there. They would just tell you “these places are already occupied, you cannot sit there” as it’s mentioned in some other reviews here on TripAdvisor as well, which clearly shows how this is a common practice in both the restaurant and the swimming pool. When talking to some other guests and staff, I also have heard that in the past, there was a guest who has even occupied the whole bar (even if he was not physically there at that time) so that when he would come downstairs from his room, he did not have to wait. I want to clarify that this was not an event, he just tipped and requested to hold ALL the bar for him. This has obviously caused many guests to be upset because, despite they were ordering drinks at the bar, they were unable to sit. In many years, I have never such a discrimination towards the guests in a hotel. Here it appears that only those spending a certain amount for the rooms are the ones who deserve a good treatment, while those paying “cheaper” rates and not tipping the staff, do not deserve an equal treatment. If you have these sort of rules in place, then just sell online a rate that allows every guest to benefit of the same treatment. Also, if it’s mandatory for the guests to tip the staff, I suggest you clearly put some alerts for the guests, so they are fully aware of that. In general I would like to mention that I am very disappointed with this ongoing practice and I am even more surprised that the General Manager is not aware of this or, even worst, he just does not intend to stop this awful practice. I hope exposing this would give the management the chance to review what goes on there and let them understand that all guest must be treated the same.

by Lisa F United Kingdom

Beautiful old world hotel

This is a hotel from last century in terms of service and design, with so much unique character and incredible views and delicious food. Piano on the terrace after dinner is a delight. It is somewhere we would love to return again and again.

by Bryanendevoets Breukelen, The Netherlands

Nice hotel with bad restaurant

The hotel was very nice. When we arrived, the staff immediately took our car and suitcases. We could check in easily, needed to wait for 20 minutes with a drink on the terras and were guided to our room. Room was very nice as we got a free room upgrade from a room without balcony to a room with balcony. We had sea view and it was beautiful. In general the service is good. When we wanted to go to the city of Portofino, the hotel arranged a private taxi drive. When we wanted to go back to the hotel, we could just call the hotel and they would pick us up in the city. Now about the restaurant. In the evening we had a reservation at the hotel restaurant La Terrazza. My girlfriend mailed the contact person of the hotel before our arrival that we wanted to sit at the edge of the terras. She replied that she would arrange that and that it would be fine. However, when we got to the restaurant, all tables at the edge were full. We told the host that we had an arrangement to sit at the edge but he laughed it away and told us that the reception can not arrange restaurant related stuff. When we sat down and looked in the menu, we got an iPad with the wine card. The prices of the wines are sky high. Most of the wines were 150eu+. Since we are not going to pay such a ridiculous price for a simple bottle of wine, we ordered the second least expensive one, which was 70eu. On the card they sell this wine as it is from 2015. However, when it came to our table, it was the 2018 bottle. After we noticed this, we told the waiter about it. He replied very arrogant and said that he simply did not have the 2015 bottle. Than he just looked at us as if we had to solve it. So we explicitly asked him if he was going to make his problem, our problem. He looked angry at us, took the glasses and the bottle from the table and ran away. Afterwards, his manager came to the table to order us a free glass of wine? Nevertheless, the food was fine. We had a truffle pasta and a pasta with tomato sauce and lobster. Tasted fine. Especially the truffle pasta was good. So if you don't care, don't have any knowledge about wines or whatsoever and want to spend a horrendous amount of money, this is this is the place to be!!!

by Pauln12345

Splendid stay

Thank you Flavio! I had an amazing stay at the Splendido, everything was perfect! But especially the tennis sessions with Flavio were the highlight of my trip. It was both fun and helpful to improve! Looking forward to coming back next year...

by D2395EZdavida

Fabulous. We can't help coming back time and time again

our favourite hotel in the world... and we know a few good ones. Amazing romantic setting. Fabulous food and the amazing Vladi to entertain us all in the evening. Portofino is enchanting and brings you back every time. We love the hike to San Fructoso followed by a swim and lunch in Georgia's.