Grand Hotel Alassio Beach & Spa Resort

The course the hotel recommends is Golf Club Garlenda in the Lerrone valley, which the concierge puts about 10 minutes' drive from Alassio. It is an 18-hole, par-72 layout of 6,085 metres by English architects John Morrison and John Harris, and it changes character at the turn: the front nine runs among ancient olive trees and old farmhouses, the back nine climbs through oaks and pines. The hotel says the higher holes look out from the sea to the Maritime Alps.

The club opens every day except 25 December, closing on non-holiday Mondays from November to March, and its range uses Toptracer ball tracking. The hotel publishes no golf package and no golf services, so book green fees and tee times with the club directly. If you also play tennis, Alassio's Hanbury Tennis Club, founded in 1923, has seven clay courts in a 12,000 m² park.

Built in the 19th century in neoclassical style, on the model of the Côte d'Azur palaces, the Grand Hotel was where the English visitors who discovered Alassio chose to stay. After some forty years of decline, its revival began in 2000: ten years of works and a reopening in 2010. The rooms were redesigned again in 2025.

Every room faces the sea or the hills. Terrace Deluxe rooms have a private sea-view terrace, and the Signature Suites, among them the Hemingway Suite and the Presidenti[Art] Suite, add a sea-view balcony and terrace plus a dedicated concierge. The covered garage costs €30 a night.

The Thalassio Medical Spa fills 1,500 m² inside a glass pyramid with a rooftop solarium, and is overseen by a medical director. Water from the Ligurian Sea feeds the indoor hydromassage pool and several treatments; there are also a Finnish sauna, a Turkish bath, an aromatic herbal steam room, an ice fountain, a Kneipp path and nine treatment rooms, one for couples. The newest addition is the Vita Lenta suite, with a private sauna and couples' massage. The spa opens from March to January, daily 9 am to 8 pm (Fridays until 11 pm), including to non-residents.

On the sand, the private Grand Beach Club has Belle Époque umbrellas, canoes, SUPs and pedalos. For dinner, Wednesday to Sunday, there is the Gazebo Restaurant of chef Roberto Balgisi, right on the beach; there are also the 18.97 bistro and pizzeria and the Piano Mare Lounge Bar, with raw seafood on Friday nights.

• A royal guest in 1871: Duchess Maria Vittoria stopped here on her way to join her husband, a Savoy prince who had just been called to a throne.
• Crowned heads: the hotel's guest list also includes the King and Queen of Saxony, the Prince of Battenberg and the Duke and Duchess of Westminster.
• Art you can take home: every work in the Talassio 4 Art exhibition, hung in the public rooms and suites, is for sale.
• Harris restored: at Garlenda in 2023, the 12th tee was moved back to the spot John Harris's original design intended.