'Hotel Portofino' Will Open Its Doors for a Third Season

Period drama Hotel Portofino may have initially been billed as a sort of Italian version of Downton Abbey, but two seasons in, the series has settled into its own groove. A softer sort of show that often feels like a gentle escape, its beautiful setting and small-scale dramas make for an easy watch --- a fact that certainly helps explain its success, as well as the fact that it was renewed for a third season well before its second actually aired in America.

Set on the Italian coast during the 1920s, the series follows the story of Bella Ainsworth, the daughter of a wealthy industrialist who has moved to the breathtakingly beautiful seaside town of Portofino with dreams of opening a quintessentially British hotel. The period drama leans into the long-established literary tradition of comic and idiosyncratic British travelers abroad and their various adventures, while exploring the liberating influence of Italy’s enchanting culture, climate, and cuisine on these more reserved foreign guests. But the show is also occasionally laced with darker themes and more serious storylines, understandable as it is set against the historical backdrop of the rise of fascism in Mussolini's Italy.

The show was officially renewed for a third season back in February, following the conclusion of the second's U.K. broadcast. (Season 2 only just wrapped its run here on PBS last week.) Season 3 will reportedly see Bella and Cecil, now estranged, being forced to come together to figure out a way forward. Their negotiations are further complicated by the fact that Cecil has inherited his father’s title and now has an enormous inheritance tax bill to pay. However, Bella is reveling in her newfound independence and formulates her own plans for a new beauty venture. The series builds to an explosive climax with a party at the hotel, where one guest will get their ultimate revenge.