Hotel Portofino–A Pleasant Stay?
In this three-season British historical drama, Hotel Portofino, Bella Ainsworth (Natasha McElhone), the beautiful middle-aged daughter of a wealthy manufacturer of fabrics, moves to Italy in the 1920s to fulfill her dream of having a luxury boutique hotel in the resort town of Portofino. Problem is that Mussolini is on the verge of seizing power in Italy and destroying what she has built. On a personal level, Bella’s ne’er-do-well womanizing husband, Cecil (Mark Umbers), is sabotaging her efforts to create a life of her own.
Alice Mays-Smith (Olivia Morris), Bella and Cecil’s daughter, a war widow, has a young daughter mostly cared for by the beautiful nanny, Constance (Louisa Binder). Her brother, Lucien Ainsworth (Oliver Dench), has returned from the battlefield both emotionally and physically scarred.
The primary plot follows Bella Ainsworth struggling to be a self-sufficient businesswoman and hotelier in search of a new beginning independent of her husband. Romance between the wealthy and those who work for them becomes commonplace. The privileged Alice and Lucien seem oblivious to the concerns of their hotel staff. Only Bella understands the hardships of those who she employs and hopes to support. Romance, hedonism, and murder occur in the backdrop of Nazis and Mussolini’s fascist gangs, reaching as far as this bucolic coastal town. The Italian Riviera cannot escape what is consequential political theater throughout the nation.
But class-conscious characters, opulent costumes, and plot twists aside, this particular genre is a crowd-pleaser offering pure escapism with a gilded-age life of a bygone era, while hinting at the offensiveness of the over-privileged. The appeal is undeniable for fans of Downton Abbey, Belgravia, and The Gilded Age.
Availability: Season 1-3 PBS App