Aria Estate, Peloponnese, Greece

On a remote and rocky hillside on the Mani peninsula, a 90-minute drive south from Kalamata airport, Aria Estate is a group of 13 B&B apartments built last year. Each minimalist suite has exposed brickwork, a simple kitchenette and a terrace where the seasonal four-course breakfast is served. Afternoon tea with homemade cake and aperitifs with charcuterie and cheese is available. The fishing village of Limeni, a five-minutes drive, has a pebbly beach with clear, calm water for swimming, and tavernas. Slightly larger, hilltop Areopoli, is 10 minutes’ drive inland, with cobbled alleys, shops, cafes and historic churches.
• Doubles from £89 B&B, i-escape.com

Dexamenes Seaside Hotel, Kourouta, Greece

Repurposed 1920s wine storage tanks on the Peloponnese coast are home to a hotel that opened earlier this year, set directly on Kourouta’s sandy beach. Steel, glass and timber have been added to the original tanks, with clean lines, exposed concrete and floor-to-ceiling windows. There are 34 rooms, many with private patios, a bar and restaurant, and a shop selling local produce. The peninsula is home to many wineries within a 20-minute drive. For archaeological sites and tavernas head to nearby Amaliada, a 10-minute drive away.
• Doubles from €160 B&B, dexamenes.com

Cook’s Club Palma Beach, Mallorca

This new adult-only hotel is a five-minute walk to the palm-lined promenade of sandy Playa de Palma and 2km from the vibrant nightlife of S’Arenal at the beach’s southern end. Opened last month, it has 318 en suite rooms with classic Balearic interiors of wicker and weathered wood fixtures and tribal prints. The stripped-back style continues outside to the large pool area surrounded by cabanas, loungers and a bar. Throughout the day DJs play laid-back beats by the pool and breakfast, tapas and vegan options are served at the Cantina restaurant.
• Doubles from £55 B&B or a seven-night packages from £341pp (including return flights from Gatwick in June), thomascook.com

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.
• One-bedroom apartments from €118 B&B, kalamota-beachhouse.com

Outpost: Casa das Arribas, Sintra, Portugal

High above the beach, this small, clifftop complex has five modern apartments, facing the Atlantic sunset. Rooms feature handmade wooden furniture, whitewashed walls and terracotta floors, while outside there’s a paved terrace with deckchairs, a shared pool and tennis court. The quiet village of Azenhas do Mar, with its sand, surf and seafood, is a 10-minute walk down a footpath. Food baskets are available on request, which include bread, juices, and Portuguese dishes such as beef and pork stew or baked cod. Outpost is 40 minutes by car from Lisbon.
• Apartments sleep 2-4, from £111 self-catering, i-escape.com

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, melegran.com

Hornbækhus, Hornbaek, Denmark

This seaside hotel on Zealand’s north coast is just a few minutes walk to the wild sandy dunes Hornbæk Beach. Hornbækhus originally opened in 1904, but an extensive renovation project last year has given it a hygge vibe, with eclectic decoration in white and muted blues, vintage Danish furniture and splashes of retro print. As well as breakfast, the hotel offers a communal dinner every evening (£18pp), laid out at long wooden tables. The small fishing town of Hornbæk has several restaurants and beachside cafes and if you want to hit the city it’s a 45-minute drive to Copenhagen.
• Doubles from £94 B&B, hornbaekhus.com

Avocado Surf Hostel, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

Check the waves from the window at this new surf school and hostel in Gran Canaria’s capital of Las Palmas. Right next to the wide golden beach of Las Canteras, surf sessions include equipment and cater for all abilities, from a two-hour beginners lesson (£26), up to four-hour advanced-level “surfari excursions” . The hostel also offers paddleboarding, paragliding, yoga, sailing and glass-bottomed kayaking. Spread over four floors, there’s one double room and six dorms sleeping four to eight people, including wooden bunks with reading lights and tropical-print furnishings. There’s also a lounge for movie nights, a dining room serving vegetarian breakfast and a roof terrace for sea views, beers and barbecues.
• Dorm beds from £14, double from £43, (bed/room only), avocadosurfhostel.com

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-only, hotel-trebeurden-plage.com

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.
• Doubles from £34 (room only), booking.com

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