Booked this hotel for 2 nights for a friend. She arrived late in the evening. Next morning, she woke to find that there was no running water in her room. When she complained to the hotel, they suggested she used the spa to wash, which she did although we could not find any towels.
When she returned to the hotel that evening, there was still no water from the shower, and a mere dribble from the sink tap.
When we complained to the GM, Christian Del Gatto, there was no satisfactory answer: according to him, the lack of water was due to a town-wide issue. When it was pointed out that her travel companion was staying in another hotel in Portofino and experienced no such problems, he became agitated, intimating they were accusing him of lying. (Also, how was there water in the spa but not in the room if the problem was city-wide?)
He did eventually promise compensation but it wasn't resolved how or when this would happen.
We therefore tried to follow up with hotels.com.
Hotels.com told us the compensation he offered was 30% off a future stay!! This is of course an empty gesture since Portofino is not an everyday destination, nor would we book this hotel again.
When we pursued things with him directly, he said he'd asked head office and since they were not responsible for the lack of water, there would be no other offer of compensation. Once they'd pocketed the money, no refund for faulty facilities - in a 5* hotel! BEWARE. Do not pre-pay...