The Italian Riviera has deep tennis roots. British winter visitors built courts here in the 1870s, Sanremo hosted an international clay championship for six decades, and a modern academy in Bordighera helped shape a world number one. What Liguria does not have is many luxury hotels with their own courts. The coast is steep, land is scarce, and most grand hotels chose a pool over a baseline. This guide is honest about that: it covers the few upscale hotels where you can walk to your own court, the elegant hotels that sit close to excellent clubs, and when to come.
This article contains affiliate links. If you book through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read our affiliate disclosure.
Quick answer: the best tennis hotels in Liguria
- Best overall: Splendido, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino, with a hillside court above the bay and lessons with an English-speaking coach.
- Best for regular play: Royal Hotel Sanremo, a floodlit synthetic grass court in a palm garden, with private lessons and racquet hire.
- Best for village charm: Splendido Mare, on Portofino’s piazzetta, with access to the facilities of its sister hotel up the hill.
- Best near the Cinque Terre: Royal Sporting Hotel, Portovenere, a four-star seafront hotel with its own court.
- Best club base: Rapallo or Bordighera, where historic clubs welcome lessons and court bookings.
If you are planning a wider tennis trip, our hub on the best luxury hotels with tennis courts in Italy compares every region we cover. Liguria works best as a short, stylish stay rather than a tennis camp.
Check prices and availability
Portofino has very few rooms and a short season, and the hotels with courts sell out first for June and September. Compare rates early if your dates are fixed.
The best luxury hotels in Liguria with their own tennis courts
We checked the leading hotels from Sanremo to the Gulf of La Spezia. Only the hotels below have tennis on their own grounds, or in the case of Splendido Mare, at a sister hotel a short ride away. Where surface, lighting or opening dates could not be confirmed, ask the hotel before you book.
Splendido, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino (Portofino)
Set in a former monastery on the hillside above Portofino’s harbour, Splendido is the classic Riviera address, and it is the one luxury hotel on this stretch of coast that presents tennis as part of the stay. Belmond describes its court as nestled on the hillside with views over the bay, and guests can book a lesson with an English-speaking coach or simply play a friendly match. Courts are reserved for hotel guests and the hotel recommends booking ahead. Our research turned up contradictory information on the number of courts: some Belmond pages and booking partners refer to “tennis courts”, while trade reports after the 2025 reopening describe a single hillside court. It was not clear to us which applies, so ask the hotel, along with the surface and whether there is lighting.
The rest of the hotel was reimagined by designer Martin Brudnizki and reopened in June 2025. There is a heated seawater pool above the bay, a Dior Spa with four treatment rooms and outdoor treatments in the gardens, La Terrazza for Ligurian cooking and the Splendido Grill by the pool. A shuttle runs down to the piazzetta. Splendido is strictly seasonal: in 2025 it opened in early June after the renovation and took bookings into early November. Opening dates for 2026 were not published when we checked, so confirm with the hotel.
Best for: a few unhurried sets with a view, framed by a properly glamorous Riviera stay.
Charlotte’s tip: reserve the court when you reserve the room
At a hotel with very limited court time, never leave tennis to chance on arrival. Ask for your slots and any coaching in the same email as your booking, and take the earliest time you can. The bay is at its calmest in the morning, and by late afternoon most guests are down in the village with an aperitivo.
Splendido Mare, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino (Portofino)
Splendido Mare is the intimate sister of Splendido: 14 rooms right on Portofino’s piazzetta, with the harbour below your window. It has no court of its own, but guests reach Splendido’s facilities by a short shuttle ride. Whether tennis is included for Mare guests was not stated anywhere we checked, so ask the hotel. A travel adviser report says Splendido Mare opens from March through January; confirm 2026 dates when you book.
Best for: couples who want to stay in the heart of the village and still play on the hill.
Royal Hotel Sanremo (Sanremo)
The Royal has stood on Sanremo’s seafront since 1872, and it is the most practical tennis hotel in Liguria. Its own pages describe a regular, floodlit synthetic grass court in the hotel’s palm garden, with private lessons and equipment rental available. Tennis is charged separately. There is also a mini golf course, and the 18-hole Circolo Golf degli Ulivi sits on the hill above town if you want to swap racquet for clubs for a morning.
Off court, the hotel has around 126 rooms and suites, a seawater pool designed by Gio Ponti and heated to 27°C (open April to October), and the 700 square metre Royal Wellness and Spa with a Turkish bath and hydromassage pool. Dining runs from Fiori di Murano to the summer terrace restaurant Il Giardino and the Corallina pool bar. The Royal closes for a winter break: one listing gave a closure from early November 2024 to early February 2025, so check 2026 to 2027 dates directly. On children, our research turned up contradictory information: the hotel’s booking listings welcome all ages and mention a children’s pool area, while one tour operator listing says under 18s are not admitted. It was not clear to us which applies, so confirm with the hotel before you book.
Best for: players who want a hotel court they can use every day, under lights, with the casino and old town on foot.
Check rates at Royal Hotel Sanremo
Royal Sporting Hotel (Portovenere)
At the far eastern end of Liguria, Portovenere is the quieter gateway to the Cinque Terre, and the Royal Sporting Hotel is the only hotel in the area we found with a court of its own. It is a four-star seafront hotel rather than a five-star, with around 56 rooms, an outdoor pool, a children’s pool and the Ristorante dei Poeti for seafood. Booking platforms list an outdoor tennis court, and one tour operator describes it as a grass court. We could not confirm whether that means natural or synthetic grass, or whether it is lit, so ask the hotel. Seasonal opening dates were not published either.
Boats leave from Portovenere for the Cinque Terre villages, so you can be back for an evening hit.
Best for: Cinque Terre trips where a daily game matters more than five-star polish.
Check prices and availability
Sanremo has the longest season on the Riviera and the most tennis within walking distance. It is the easiest base for a spring or autumn tennis break.
Comparison table: tennis hotels in Liguria at a glance
| Hotel | Area | Courts and surface | Coaching and extras | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Splendido | Portofino | Hillside court(s), number and surface: ask the hotel | English-speaking coach, Dior Spa, seawater pool | Summer to autumn, 2026 dates: ask the hotel |
| Splendido Mare | Portofino piazzetta | Uses Splendido’s facilities, terms: ask the hotel | Shuttle up the hill | Reported March to January |
| Royal Hotel Sanremo | Sanremo | 1 synthetic grass, floodlit | Private lessons, racquet hire, mini golf, spa | Closes for a winter break |
| Royal Sporting Hotel | Portovenere | 1 outdoor court, surface and lights: ask the hotel | Pool, boats to the Cinque Terre | Ask the hotel |
None of these hotels advertises padel on site. If padel is on your list, the clubs below are a better bet.
Where else to play: Liguria’s historic tennis clubs
Because so few hotels have courts, the clubs are where Ligurian tennis really happens. Policies for non-members change, so ask your concierge to call ahead.
- Bordighera: the Bordighera Lawn Tennis Club was founded in 1878 by the British community, about a year after the first Wimbledon, and is considered the oldest tennis club in Italy. Its courts are also used by the Piatti Tennis Center, the academy coach Riccardo Piatti opened here in 2018, where Jannik Sinner developed much of his game. Ask about lessons or court time well ahead.
- Sanremo: the Italian Riviera Championships were played on clay at the Tennis Club Sanremo from 1903 to 1964. Today Sanremo Tennis Team, on Corso Matuzia, lists six clay courts, a synthetic court and a covered court in Sanremo, plus four more in Ospedaletti, all bookable through the Playtomic app from 8am to 10pm.
- Rapallo: the Circolo Golf e Tennis Rapallo, opened in 1931, has five floodlit clay courts (ask the club whether one is covered in winter), plus a tennis school and a clubhouse restaurant.
- Santa Margherita Ligure: the Tennis Club Santa Margherita Ligure on Via Frugone lists three padel courts on Playtomic, two of them indoors. For tennis court access, ask the club or your hotel.
Elegant hotels close to the clubs
None of these grand hotels has its own court, but each sits close to a good club. Book club time separately.
Grand Hotel Miramare, Santa Margherita Ligure: a seafront grand hotel with a seawater pool (April to October), the e’SPAce spa, the Vistamare restaurant and its own beach, Bagni Miramare. The town tennis club and the Rapallo golf and tennis club are both close.
Check rates at Grand Hotel Miramare
Excelsior Palace Portofino Coast, Rapallo: a palace hotel on the rocks with an infinity pool, the Eden Spa with an indoor pool, the Lord Byron restaurant and a summer beach club. The Rapallo golf and tennis club is about a kilometre away.
Check rates at Excelsior Palace
Grand Hotel del Mare Resort and Spa, Bordighera: a five-star resort on the edge of town with a saltwater pool, a spa, the La Veranda restaurant and a private beach. Booking platforms list tennis as off site, which in Bordighera means the historic club and the Piatti academy are a short drive away.
Check rates at Grand Hotel del Mare
When to play tennis in Liguria
Liguria is milder than the south, and the Riviera di Ponente around Sanremo is noticeably sunnier than the Portofino coast.
- April to June: the best window. Warm, bright and green, with comfortable midday temperatures and seasonal hotels reopening.
- July and August: humid and crowded, with peak rates. Play early or under lights.
- September and October: warm sea, softer light and easier bookings. My favourite time for a Riviera tennis break.
- November to February: the grand hotels around Portofino close, and the Royal takes a winter break. The clubs stay open, and Rapallo has a covered court for wet days.
Charlotte’s tip: split the stay
If tennis is a real priority, do not try to make Portofino carry it. Spend three nights at Splendido for the setting, then move west to Sanremo for daily floodlit sets at the Royal and a lesson in Bordighera. And if you want a resort with half a dozen courts, Liguria is the wrong region: look at Sardinia, Puglia or Sicily instead.
Hotels we looked at but did not include
Grand Hotel Alassio lists its tennis court as off site. For Grand Hotel Bristol in Rapallo, our research turned up contradictory information: one tour operator lists a court in the hotel, while another listing places the nearest court about 3 kilometres away. The same happened with Miramare The Palace in Sanremo, where one booking site implies an on-site court and a tour operator puts it about 250 metres away. Aregai Marina in Santo Stefano al Mare appears on tennis filters, but one operator says tennis is arranged through outside providers. It was not clear to us which applies in each case, so we have left them out; if you love any of them, ask the hotel directly. La Meridiana in Garlenda is a golf hotel without a court.
Comparing regions? Lake Como has the strongest mix of grand hotels and courts, covered in our guides to tennis hotels on Lake Como and the best tennis courts on Lake Como. For more sea views with your sets, see the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento or Tuscany.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which luxury hotel in Liguria is best for tennis?
For setting, Splendido in Portofino. For regular play, Royal Hotel Sanremo, whose synthetic grass court is floodlit and comes with private lessons and racquet hire.
Can I play tennis in Portofino if my hotel has no court?
Yes. The Circolo Golf e Tennis Rapallo is a short drive away, with five floodlit courts and a tennis school. Your concierge can book court time or a lesson.
Are Ligurian tennis hotels open in winter?
Mostly not. Splendido is seasonal, and the Royal in Sanremo closes for a winter break. The clubs in Sanremo, Bordighera and Rapallo stay open, and Rapallo covers one court in winter.
Where can I play padel on the Italian Riviera?
Not at the hotels in this guide. The Tennis Club Santa Margherita Ligure lists three padel courts on Playtomic, two of them indoors.
