The best luxury hotels in the Mediterranean to visit by superyacht

Hidden among ancient olive groves and organic vegetable gardens that gently fall away to the Adriatic, Borgo Egnazia is a labyrinth of paved alleys meandering between quaint limestone casette. This vast, seemingly ancient, byzantine village embodies the unpretentious charm of Puglia with dry-stone walls, a grand piazza and secret gardens brimming with bougainvillea, jasmine, rosemary, and olive trees.

The hotel offers six restaurants, including the beachfront Cala Masciola and one Michelin-starred, Due Camini, with menus here regularly changing to showcase seasonal, regional food. Before dinner, enjoy an aperitif in the gardens and afterwards, wander back through the candle-lit passageways to your cottage where silky sheets will help induce the deepest of sleeps.

For those arriving by yacht, drop anchor before Borgo’s beach club and spend your days partaking in one of the hotel’s many experiences, from creating classic splattered ceramics in the town of Grottaglie to recovering your vital energy with a Roman Bath Ritual in the Vair Spa.

Capturing the fizz of La Dolce Vita, the renowned Splendido has reopened its doors this season to reveal the first phase of its lavish restoration. The Belmond hotel, which looks over the Italian village of Portofino, is housed in a 16th-century monastery amid lush foliage that trails down to the Gulf of Tigullio. Few spots are as synonymous with superyachts as Portofino’s colourful houses and cobbled Piazzetta, but for those who want to experience the town while steering clear of its peak-season footfall, the hilltop hideaway of Splendido is the perfect escape. It’s been a bolthole for the glitterati for years, with Grace Kelly, Walt Disney and Charlie Chaplin’s names all scribbled in the visitors’ book.

The hotel’s revamp has been overseen by Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, whose portfolio includes Eden Rock St Barths and the illustrious London members club Annabel’s. Guests staying this season will be the first to experience the new Baronessa Suite, which is now endowed with enchanting frescoes and carefully curated mid-century curios. The suite leads out onto a vast private terrace and garden, and guests staying here have their own access to the hotel’s redesigned pool.

A sliver of sea less than a nautical mile wide separates the UNESCO-protected Île Sainte-Marguerite (the largest of the Lerin islands) from the French mainland, but it feels light years away from the bright lights and boutique-lined streets of Cannes. Most visitors (who tend to be locals in the know) come to hike the scenic paths that crisscross its shores, and as you step onto the jetty you are greeted by wafts of pine and eucalyptus. When the sun sets, everyone is forced to return to mainland Côte d'Azur –  apart from, that is, anyone fortunate enough to be staying within the majestic walls of Le Grand Jardin.

Dating back to the 13th century, the estate was once home to nobility and royalty including Louis XIV. It has now been painstakingly restored and is available as an exclusive-use getaway with 12 bedrooms, featuring indulgent contemporary interiors, spread across six buildings. A home away from home like no other – complete with a stone-walled lily-pad pond, a subterranean spa, and even a roaming pheasant named “Bob”. Guests are treated to superyacht-style service and can choose from relaxed family-style dinners under the starlight by the pool to Michelin Star-worthy formal occasions in the Governor’s House. For the ultimate experience, make sure you bag the suite in the (as grand as it sounds) Fortress Tower, where you can literally be the King of your own castle during your stay.

On its own quiet corner of Mirabello Bay, at the foot of the sun-drenched hills of Agios Nikolaos, the Elounda Peninsula feels like the only resort on the island of Crete. The hotel features immaculate lawns, ancient carob trees and plumes of bougainvillaea that cling to the property’s craggy walls. Inside it is effortlessly chic.

Every room here is a suite, with at least two levels and a swimmable pool, which can be heated up for you if you fancy more temperate conditions for your morning lengths. While the exterior may be rustic, the suite interiors are contemporary with huge marble bathrooms, large L-shaped sofas and king-sized beds to sink into after a day lounging at one of the hotel’s many private beaches.

There is so much to do here, it’s unlikely that one could get around to all that’s on offer, from the Six Senses Spa to its eight restaurants – including the fine-dining spot, Old Mill, which has won Greek’s Best Restaurant award more than six times. Guests can opt for a candle-lit dinner in the property’s wine cellar, among stacks of an impressive collection of Petrus. For those who do want to explore more of the Cretan shore, Elounda’s 25-metre classic sailing yacht, Eliana, is on hand to take you along the glittering coast for lunch, anchored off the uninhabited island of Kalydon. While seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Elounda Peninsula is easy to get to from land or sea with direct British Airways flights to Crete and can be arranged entirely through British Airways Holidays. 

Surrounded by Immaculate cobbled streets and winding passageways, Capri Tiberio Palace is perched up high on the magical island of Capri just a few steps from the Piazzetta with insurmountable views of the Marina Grande lying directly below.

Each of the recently renovated 54 rooms exude 50’s Italian glamour, festooned with selected artworks, retro designs and billowing diaphanous voiles through which lead onto private pillared balconies embellished with colourful geometrical tiles and swinging chairs. Take the Bellevue suite and you’ll have 250 square metres of accommodation with your own fitness area, heated pool and outside dining area overlooking the Med.

Awake to a yoga class in the hotel’s kitchen garden overlooking the azure, while the scent of rosemary and lemon fills the air or simply lounge by the hotel’s newly renovated indoor-outdoor pool, dotted with Giampiero Panepinto’s funky art instillations.

Guests can now leave with a pair of handmade leather sandals after Capri Tiberio Palace partnered the historical Caprese luxury shoe brand Canfora. Spotted in the possession of Princess Soraya, Jackie O, and Grace Kelly, the new collection is inspired by the hues of the hotel and embossed with your initials for the ultimate memento.

You don’t have to look far to see why the owners of Lesante chose Blu as the name for the second hotel in their Ionian Sea collection. Not only is the answer in the teal waters of the sea and the clear cerulean skies, it’s also in the air itself, which at certain times of the day takes on a cyan hue, making it seem as if you’re viewing everything through blue-tinted spectacles.

The method of arrival at this hotel of 92 rooms and suites sets the tone: transfer by Range Rover Sport from the airport, touch down on the helipad or tender in via the private small-boat jetty.

Styling is contemporary, with box-shaped architecture fringed with succulents and olive trees, and lots of use of wood, stone, marble, suede and wicker complemented by low-slung furniture in cream and beige. Take the Royal Grand Suite and you’ll have 160 square metres of accommodation over two floors, including your own outdoor pool with its own bridge.

Food is also modern; keep it light at lunch with sushi and poke under the rope-strung roof of beach bar Almyra and save yourself for the 10-plate degustation dinner menu at Melia. Dishes overseen by executive chef Nikos Ispiroudis include crab and sea urchin amuse-bouche in an apple taco, veal with crisp potato flower, and a peach and rosemary pre-dessert with gin mist.

Monaco may already boast more Michelin-starred establishments per square metre than any other location on the planet, but that hasn’t stopped another illustrious chef from joining the party. Parisian-born Yannick Alléno, who has tallied up an impressive 13 stars since founding his company in 2008, has taken the helm of what was formerly Le Vistamar, and now Pavyllon, at the Hôtel Hermitage.

His new menu promises “fine dining without the formality” with dishes such as aubergine caviar, served with a spiced avocado sauce and lovage oil, and steamed turbot accompanied by seaweed marmalade, dashi and cucumber broth. Even better for superyacht owners, these dishes can be enjoyed from the hotel’s famous terrace, which offers some of the best views of Port Hercule and the Monaco Yacht Show.

Since it first opened its doors over 100 years ago, this grand hotel in the heart of Barcelona has had to endure more than its fair share of trials. Scarcity of materials after the First World War slowed construction, a general strike in 1919 jeopardised the inauguration, and the civil war meant that rooms where royalty had dined were used as hospital wards. Yet El Palace, founded by César Ritz as part of his group of luxury European hotels, weathered them all, becoming a favoured haunt for the great, the good and the fun-loving, from Ella Fitzgerald to Roger Moore and Salvador Dalí, who once hauled a stuffed white horse up the grand staircase to surprise his wife, Gala, in their suite. 

The venerable hotel is only two kilometres from Spain's Port Vell marina, and its 1,500-square-metre rooftop gardens set the stage for special events, from yoga classes to screenings of modern classics at an open-air cinema.

Forget clinical-looking boot camps: after a challenging 2020, this year’s approach to wellness is all about joie de vivre. And when it comes to healing the soul, you can hardly do better than heading to Airelle’s South of France retreat. Situated in the hilltop village of Gordes in the heart of Provence, La Bastide is set in the 16th-century former stately home of painter Marc Chagall, just a 40-minute scenic ride from Avignon.

Designer Christophe Tollemer led the €33 million (£30m) renovation project, which earned it the coveted Palace status in 2016. The interiors forego modern lines and neutral palettes in favour of a quirky, well-studied French maximalism consisting of period furniture, antique floor tiles, rich tapestries, ornate wallpapers, vintage books and more than 2,000 paintings.

For the look of its Sisley spa, Tollemer took inspiration from the nearby Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque, the 12th-century Cistercian abbey built in Romanesque style and set in the middle of picturesque lavender fields. The spa reception is styled to resemble an old apothecary, and the indoor swimming pool, hammam and treatment rooms can be reached by way of vaulted stone corridors and through heavy walnut doors, each opening to reveal stunning views on the surrounding Luberon mountains.

Days are not spent fasting, but feasting on Mediterranean fare, lounging by the pool and venturing out for e-biking tours. Nights are for honey-coloured sunsets, open-air film screenings and stargazing. Welcome to le sud.

Built on the site of an 18th-century monastery in Fira’s maze-like backstreets, Katikies Garden offers sanctuary from the seasonal crowds that besiege the Greek island’s well-trodden clifftop pathways. The building’s hushed, reflective atmosphere has been thoughtfully preserved, with whitewashed and scented corridors leading to 40 suites. 

Some feature terraces, spa pools and sea views, while others overlook the hotel’s focal point: a graceful courtyard with Moroccan-style arches, subtle lighting and marble-topped tables. Here you can dine under the stars on 10-day dry-aged Challans duck with mustard dolce and Périgourdine sauce, to the sound of a chilled-out Latin playlist and a bubbling fountain. Of course, every self-respecting monastery keeps a well-stocked cellar, and master of wine Yiannis Karakasis has curated an impressive selection of volcanic whites and powerful reds to choose from. 

The next morning, blow away any wine-induced cobwebs on Frog, Katikies’ Riva 63, moored a short drive away in Vlychada marina. Once on the water you can marvel at the island’s dramatic topography and swim above a submerged volcanic crater before rehydrating at a taverna on one of Santorini’s hidden beaches.