Channel the romance and mythic beauty of Homer’s coastal world
SVETI STEFANI, MONTENEGRO
Aman Sveti Stefan
Few hotels anywhere can claim a setting this cinematic. AMAN SVETI STEFAN — reopening this summer after a hiatus — is built across a 15th-century fortified island village connected to the Montenegrin mainland by a narrow sandy causeway. It’s an entire island privatized for guests. The property is two experiences in one: Villa Miločer, the 19th-century mainland residence of Queen Marija Karađorđević, set amid olive groves on a pink-sand shore with eight suites, a wisteria-shaded dining terrace steps from the water, and a library and the island of Sveti Stefan itself, opening July 1. On the island, reserve a stone cottage like the two-bedroom Saint Sava, with its north-facing terrace over Miločer Bay, or the 165-square-meter Sveti Stefan Suite, which has a private pool and panoramic sea views. Your dining options include Arva, Aman’s Italian concept rooted in fresh regional sharing plates, or Cliff Bar, perched above the sea for cocktails at what may be the Adriatic’s most atmospheric sunset. The Aman Spa spans nearly 27,000 square feet with hydrotherapy areas, cold plunge pools, and a 78-foot indoor-outdoor pool, with treatments incorporating wild autochthonous herbs. Lounge your way through three beaches, with Queen’s Beach remaining private for Aman guests throughout the season. amanresorts.com.
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Hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper depicting 17th-century Valletta wraps the intimate bar.
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NERANO, AMALFI COAST, ITALY
Le Sirenuse Mare
Le Sirenuse has been the Amalfi Coast’s most quietly nonnegotiable address since 1951, when four Neapolitan siblings converted their family’s summer home in Positano into an eight-room hotel. John Steinbeck stayed the following year and wrote it up for Harper’s Bazaar. Seventy-five years later, the Sersale family has finally opened what they’d been planning for decades: a beach club. Designed by Amalfi Coast architect Annarita Aversa, the 27,000-square-foot LE SIRENUSE MARE drapes across terraces ascending from a pebble beach. Landscape architect Paolo Pejrone planted 12 mature Aleppo pines to provide shade as you dine on the restaurant terrace. Art is everywhere: a 3.5-meter fountain in pearly white refractory clay by sculptor Giuseppe Ducrot anchors the upper terrace; Rose Wylie’s bronze Pineapple and Bosco Sodi’s raw clay Caryatide punctuate an olive grove above; Alba Clemente’s 39 painted ceramic tiles are embedded throughout the floors like a pack of cards scattered by the wind. Chef Francesco De Simone puts a spin on classic local dishes: his spaghetti alla Nerano swaps aged provolone for a fresh Campanian cow cheese, uses both the zucchini flower and the fruit, then finishes with a red prawn tartare. Lunch arrives on hand-fired ceramics inspired by Greek vase motifs, available to buy at the Emporio Sirenuse flagship store just steps away. sirenusemare.com.
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attard, malta
Casa Bonavita
The origin story of CASA BONAVITA is as good as the hotel itself. Christopher and Suzanne Sharp — British founders of the Rug Company, with showrooms from Manhattan to Melrose Avenue — spent 15 years restoring this 1715 Maltese palazzo in the quiet village of Attard before opening it in May 2026. Suzanne grew up in Malta; the hotel is the place they always wished existed on the island, and you’ll feel that the moment you arrive. Interiors by her design studio layer soaring frescoed ceilings and original architectural details with family heirlooms, Sicilian marbles, Murano glass chandeliers, and commissions including hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper depicting 17th-century Valletta that wraps the intimate bar. Each of the 17 rooms has its own character, shaped by light and scale. If you can, hold out for the Folly Suite — a stand-alone oval-shaped building in a private garden of date palms and bougainvillea, with a rooftop terrace and private pool. The restaurant is led by executive chef Dex Oseman, formerly of The River Café, London, and centers on ingredient-led Mediterranean cooking, much of it locally grown. Start your mornings in the house kitchen, where oranges are pressed from the garden and Maltese pastries cool on the counter. Attard sits 20 minutes from Valletta and just beside the ancient walled city of Mdina, making it your ideal base for one of the Mediterranean’s most underwritten islands. casabonavita.com.
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Pastis magnate Paul Ricard bought a tiny island off Bandol in 1950 and spent a decade building his idea of Mediterranean happiness.
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Île de Bendor, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, france
Zannier Île de Bendor
Paul Ricard — the Marseille-born pastis magnate — bought a tiny 17-acre island off Bandol in 1950 and spent the next decade building his idea of Mediterranean happiness: a car-free village with an art gallery, artisan ateliers, a diving center, and a harbor where celebrities and locals arrived by boat to eat, drink, and linger. The island fell into disrepair after his death, until his great-grandson Marc de Jouffroy partnered with Belgian hotelier Arnaud Zannier for a five-year restoration, reopened this May as ZANNIER ÎLE DE BENDOR. The aesthetic throughout — shaped by Arnaud Zannier and Marc de Jouffroy, and executed by Hardel Le Bihan Architectes and Zannier Design Studio — is warm wabi-sabi meets Mediterranean: dark neutrals, pale woods, dusky terra-cotta, with 200 artworks installed across the island. The 93 rooms span three separate retreats, each with its own personality: Delos (1960s Riviera glamour), Soukana (sea facing, nature focused, built around the wellness center), and Madrague (five two-story former fishermen’s houses with private gardens near the harbor). If you book the Delos Suite, you get 55 square meters of open-plan living flowing onto a 99-square-meter terrace with uninterrupted sea views. Eight dining venues are led by Michelin-starred Marseille chef Lionel Lévy. At the 1,200-square-meter Resonance Spa, try out its bioresonance diagnostic technology with a hammam, mud bath, Iyashi DÔme, and Augustinus Bader treatments, plus five personalized wellness programs. zannierhotels.com/bendor.
Feature image: Aman Sveti Stefan is a 15th-century island village that seems to rise from the Adriatic.
This story originally appeared in the Summer 2026 issue of C Magazine.
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