Has anyone ever stayed at the Royal Sporting Hotel in Portovenere La Spezia?

Yes, I loved it and loved Portovenere. If you do a search for "Royal Sporting", you'll find a lot of threads regarding Portovenere and the hotel itself.<BR>

Hi. Ditto on Paule. Like both the hotel and the town. Really relaxing and not touristy. I was there at the end of August, can you believe, and it wasn't too crowded.

Belvedere is also nice in Portovenere if this not available.

I just found my notes from my July '99 trip to Italy. My husband and I spent 3 nights in Portovenere in the Royal Sporting.<BR>About the town, I wrote:<BR><BR>"We both fell in love with Portovenere-- it was relaxing, beautiful, and though a resort, it seemed to be that most of the tourists were Italians, and families at that. There were a handful of other Europeans (mostly Germans) and a sprinkling of Americans, but we both loved the atmosphere of the town. It’s a wonderful town for strolling; the town is long rather than high (such as the Cinque Terre, where the towns are built up into the hill), and since we were about 1/2 mile from the center, we made this walk pretty frequently. At first, we were a little bit irritated that we had such a long walk-- but it turned out to be one of the most pleasurable experiences, having this ambling stroll a couple of times a day. Portovenere turned out to be the perfect vacation spot. "<BR><BR>We had a wonderful room with a terrace, overlooking the bay. The breakfast buffet was great, lots of choices of breads and cheeses and fruits and cereals, was served by the pool. And having the pool was a treat, too, a pleasant way to relax during or later in the day.<BR><BR>HOpe you get there!<BR>

We stayed at the Grand Hotel Portovenere and splurged to get a balcony room with a view of the bay and town; beautiful. And the old town is quaint with two wonderful restaurants (the one in the middle of the old town on the main street and the second right on the main piazza against the hill).