Looking to stay close to the beach? Check out (and maybe check in to) these stylish, recently opened hotels and apartments from Latvia to Las Palmas
Cook’s Club Palma Beach, Mallorca
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Kalamota Beach House, Koločep island, Croatia
Koločep is a serene, car-free island, 30 minutes by ferry from the historical sites and crowds of Dubrovnik. Opened in 2018, the Kalamota hotel sits on the island’s west coast and has one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, each with a lounge, balcony and a sea view. There’s a rooftop pool and a bar and restaurant with large outside terrace by the water. Cycling and walking trails criss-cross the 3km-long islet through pine forests and pass ninth-century churches around the hamlets of Gornje and Donje Celo. Kayaks are available to rent – a great way of exploring the island’s sand and pebble coves.
• utpost: Casa das Arribas, Sintra, Portugal
The Melegran, Rovinj, Croatia
Down a cobblestone alley in the old town of Rovinj, in Istria, the Melegran makes a good base for exploring one of the region’s best seaside towns. Rooms are colourful, comfy and design-conscious, with vintage-style furniture, working retro Olivetti typewriters in every room and a bar on the ground floor. The converted four-story house is five minutes’ walk from the Adriatic, with swimming areas to the west from the rocks. For a wilder beach, the pebbly Golden Cape, backed by forest, is a half-hour walk.
• Doubles from £76 B&B,ornbækhus, Hornbaek, Denmark
• Doubles from £94 B
Avocado Surf Hostel, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
• Dorm beds from £14, double from £43, (bed/room only), Pavillon de la plage, Brittany, France
Each of the 20 en suite rooms in this new hotel on Brittany’s Pink Granite Coast is named after a different one of its sea views, including the rocky peninsula of Le Castel, the islands of Milliau and Molène, Pointe de Bihit and Pointe de Lan Kerellec. In the French seaside town of Trébeurden, two hours’ drive west of St Malo, the building dates back to 1919, with some original features such as the heavy roof beams and exposed stone walls retained in the restoration project. New additions include a bar with a terrace overlooking Pors Termen beach, a small indoor pool and hot tub. The town has several harbourside restaurants, sailing and dive schools and there are hiking and biking routes nearby via the Sentier des Douaniers trail, and through the large coastal forest of Lann ar Waremm.
• Doubles from £62 room-onl
Tamara Suites and Apartments, Jurmala, Latvia
This recently opened aparthotel has sleek, affordable rooms just five minutes on foot from Jurmala’s vast sandy shore on the Gulf of Riga. Each has a private bathroom, small kitchenette, dining area and balcony, and interiors with a retro edge, including patterned wallpaper, egg chairs and tan and moss furnishings. It sits at one end of Jomas Street, the town’s kilometre-long pedestrian boulevard, with shops and restaurants in traditional wooden buildings. Half an hour west by car is the capital, Riga, or it’s half an hour in the other direction to the forests and lakes of Kemeri national park.
