Great little hotel. Rita and the staff went the extra mile for us, picking us up from the station and organising transport back to the hotel in the evening. Everything you need is in the room. The location is up near the castle which has great views.

Nydelig plass i vakre omgivelser.

Great staff!! The place has a very Italian feel. Varenna is beautiful and room was amazing. Super accommodating and helpful with helping us plan our trip. Food was amazing and breakfast had many options. Both prepared by Rita who is so sweet. Loved having a laundry machine and wine in the room. So cool.

It was a long uphill hike from the ferry station. And be sure to check the road/train conditions before traveling.

Friendly staff was the main thing. Rita, as host makes sure you are cared for and goes the extra mile to make sure your stay is fulfilling both in the hotel and while out and about. Kirsty is one of her main members of staff who is English and living in Italy and helps, where extra explanation in English is required.

Nothing as everything was fine. There is a hill to climb from the main town. It is a steep cobbled path climbing over 400 feet. My wife and I are in our 60's and could do it in 15 minutes, but we are fit. However, there is a free night bus up between 21:00 - 23:00, and Rita, the host will always arrange a taxi which costs around €12.

Our stay in Il Portichetto was perfect. The apartment and facilities were amazing. The hotel owners Rita and Kristy were super friendly, helpful and accommodating throughout our entire stay. Highlights include: the breakfast spread, the neighbouring restaurant and the picture-perfect views from our apartment balcony. We'll definitely be back!

The owner Rita was extremely hospitable and helpful. There was good communication before we arrived and she picked us up upon arrival, which was great as the hotel was up the hill. Our room had a garden view and it was extremely well set up and very comfortable (great air conditioning!). It was clean and had everything we needed. What we loved most was the pool and the garden. In the summer heat, it was just a dream to relax and swim under the beautiful olive trees and kiwi trees. Breakfast was amazing and we had dinner every night at the hotel’s little terrace restaurant. Rita’s homemade Italian food was delicious and reasonably priced. We also loved the hotel dog Pippo, who was super cute and friendly. It was a very enjoyable experience to stay in this very relaxing and peaceful hotel. We would love to be back!

The hotel is up a hill and you have to walk down a steep pebble path down to the town/Varrena (about 10 - 15 minutes). Walking back up can be challenging for some people especially in the summer heat (the path is mostly in the shade though). You can use Uber /taxi and it costs around 12-15 euros each way. This extra cost is very worth it in our opinion.

Rita, Kirsty and Carlo (hope we have spelling right)were exceptional hosts! We had a problem with our hire car and Carlo, very kindly, picked us up from the train station at 730pm, with Rita cooking us the most luscious home cooked Italian food on the 1st night - we ate with Rita twice more - it was wonderful food - this was in her own home restaurant - not Il portichetto restaurant which is run by Rita’s daughter. The apartment was kept exceptionally clean all week - thank you Kirsty! We really could not have asked for kinder hosts who made us feel so welcome! The apartment was superb - fully air conditioned and all manner of little extras, from beautiful toiletries from a local olive oil producer to wine and water when we arrived. Breakfast was lovely - we were able to take breakfast back to our youngest teen who struggled to get up before 10am! As for the walk down and up to Varenna - we loved it! If 80-year old Italians can do it, we made sure we embraced it!! You could not want for a better location - high up, tranquil but 15 minutes walk to the beautiful and well-connected Varenna. We could not have loved it more!!

We only stayed 6 nights - we could have strayed a lot longer!

Lovely rooms located at the pool, quiet location but still close to town and castle. Nice bar and restaurant, very clean, great amenities and lovely extra touches in the room.

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