Divorce, Deceit and Danioni are All Present in the Third Season Premiere of 'Hotel Portofino'

As viewers, we left Hotel Portofino and the glorious Italian Riviera in November 2023. Although less than a year has passed in our world, two years have gone by in the lives of the Ainsworth family. It is now 1929. Fascism is further on the rise, and we know the booming stock market can’t last long.

Bella ended last season by telling her husband Cecil that, to paraphrase Carrie Bradshaw, they were so over they needed a new word for over. The episode starts with Bella and Marco, the ever-sexy Italian architect, in bed. Immediately, we know that Bella has stayed true to her word and moved on from Cecil. Hooray!

Bella gets a visit from her father and her sister, Amelia. She hasn’t seen her sister, a widow, in six years. “You look older and a little worn down, if I’m being honest,” Amelia tells her. There is a lot of tension between the siblings. It appears Bella hasn’t even visited her sister since she went to London. For her part, Amelia refers to Hotel Portofino as a “fusty backwater.” When Bella tells her father that perhaps he shouldn’t be investing any of his money with Cecil’s stockbroker, he loses his temper with her. 

Further proof that Bella is feeling more liberated—she is wearing pants. “Are you trying to compensate for the lack of men in our lives by starting to dress like one,” her daughter Alice asks. Alice is in rare form, still self-centered, still ignoring her daughter Lottie. Although she and Count Albani confessed their feelings for each other in the second season finale, it seems their timing has constantly been off. He had a death in his family. She had traveled to London. Amelia, who feels her niece has become much too dowdy, takes her shopping in Genoa, where, much to her surprise, she runs into Count Albani, who has a woman on his arm. It’s unclear whether this woman is Count Albani’s new girlfriend, but she appears quite smitten with him. 

There is no sign of Lucian in the season premiere. He’s off to India, and no one has heard from him in over four months. There is lots of talk of poor Rose, who died in last season’s finale when she fell (jumped?) to her death in the ocean.The season begins with Bella and Constance both going to church to light a candle for Rose.

We learn that Constance’s mother has died, and her son Tommy has come to live with her. Tommy and Alice’s daughter, Lottie, have become great friends. Paola tries to set Constance up with her boyfriend’s friend, Vito. Vito is quite taken with Constance. Paola tells her that any girl in Portofino would “die for him to look at them, and he looks at you.” But Constance is extremely conscious of the fact that she is raising a child she has had out of wedlock and tries to shut things down with Vito before they even begin. 

Cecil also has a new girlfriend, but he has an ulterior motive for dating her. Nellie is the daughter of his stockbroker. “Ah, so she’s rich,” Bella says. “I wouldn’t marry her if she wasn’t,” Cecil replies. That man remains constantly on brand. 

Cecil comes to Hotel Portofino seeking a divorce. He wants Bella to sign an affidavit that she’s an adulterer and that she is the reason their marriage is ending. Nellie’s dad won’t allow her to marry a named adulterer. Cecil needs to marry Nellie to get her money and maintain the life he has grown accustomed to. His brother Edmund has died, leaving him in a precarious financial state. Cecil refers to Nellie as “a perfect, little whore.” Always a charmer, that Cecil. Bella knows she can’t be the named adulterer. Her reputation will be ruined. No one will stay at the hotel, and Danioni will definitely use it against her. In a moment of frustration, she throws a glass at Cecil, and it barely misses his head.

Alice, who has always inexplicably remained on her father’s side, is horrified by the idea of her parents getting divorced. “Nobody I know gets divorced. . . There’s going to be a terrible scandal,” she tells her mother. Bella tells her the hotel can’t afford a scandal. Ever the narcissist, Alice responds, “Mother, I can’t afford a scandal.”

Danioni has become even more powerful in the ensuing two years, and he is now fully ensconced in all things evil. He sends one of his henchmen to spy on Marco and Bella. He threatens to take Marco’s license away. An equal opportunity offender, he also has pictures of Cecil and Nellie together that he threatens to make public unless Cecil gives him more profit from their whisky export business. 

The only truly happy and at peace couple seems to be Betty and Salvatore, who are engaged. Betty is all giggles in the kitchen every time Salvatore comes around. She can’t believe she’ll soon share her bed with a man again.  

What about Nish, who was led out into the woods by Danioni in the second season finale? Where is Claudine? What will the third season hold for the Ainsworth family and their friends and employees? I can’t wait to find out. 

Hotel Portofino Season 3 continues with new episodes every Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on most PBS stations and streams on the PBS app and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. As always, check your local listings.