The must stay hotels for European Summer 2026
Every summer, a handful of addresses rise to the top of every conversation — the properties that somehow capture the mood of the moment while delivering something genuinely lasting. This is our edit for Europe this season. From the Aegean to the Amalfi, the Balearics to the Bosphorus, these are the hotels worth building your summer around.
The Hotels
Teranka, Formentera For those who find Ibiza a little loud these days.
Formentera has long been the quieter, more considered alternative to its famous neighbour — and Teranka is the property that finally does the island justice. Intimate, beautifully designed, and positioned on one of the most unspoiled stretches of coastline in the Mediterranean. The aesthetic is raw and natural — limestone, linen, sea glass — and the pace matches perfectly. No nightlife, no spectacle. Just the Balearic light, the turquoise water, and the feeling that you've found somewhere very few people know about yet.
Deos, Mykonos For Mykonos, without the noise.
Mykonos has spent years trying to outdo itself — and Deos quietly steps aside from all of that. Perched above the island with sweeping Aegean views, it is understated where everything else on the island shouts. The design is considered, the service precise, and the pool the kind of place you genuinely don't want to leave. For those who love what Mykonos promises — the light, the energy, the sea — but want to experience it without the chaos. This is the one.
Six Senses Bodrum For arriving at the end of the season and leaving ready for everything.
Cascading down a hillside above the Aegean on Turkey's Bodrum Peninsula, Six Senses does what it always does — and does it magnificently. Private pools, exceptional spa programming, locally sourced food, and a sense of genuine restoration that is hard to find anywhere else in Europe. The setting is extraordinary: terracotta and olive groves tumbling toward the sea. Come at the end of summer when the light softens and the crowds thin. You will not want to leave.
Grand Hotel Fasano, Lake Garda For la dolce vita, properly done.
The Fasano group has an unerring eye for the right property in the right place, and Grand Hotel Fasano on Lake Garda is no exception. A 19th-century hunting lodge turned supremely elegant lakeside retreat — the pool, the boats, the lunches that stretch into the afternoon, the way the light falls across the water at dusk. Northern Italy in summer doesn't get more cinematic than this. Bring someone you love and nowhere to be in a hurry.
San Domenico Palace, Taormina, Sicily For the most dramatic setting in the Mediterranean.
A former 14th-century Dominican monastery perched above the Ionian Sea with Mount Etna as its backdrop — San Domenico Palace, A Four Seasons Hotel, is one of those properties that makes everywhere else feel slightly ordinary by comparison. The cloistered gardens, the infinity pool suspended above the sea, the service that feels as though it has been perfected over centuries. Sicily is having a long-deserved moment, and this is its finest address. Book the terrace suite and don't look at your phone.
Acro Suites, Crete For the traveller who finds most hotels a little too expected.
Acro Suites sits on the cliffs above Agia Pelagia on Crete's northern coast — a design-forward clifftop retreat that is genuinely unlike anything else on the island. The suites are dramatic and considered, each one angled toward the sea. The pool seems to float above the Aegean. The whole experience has an edge of the unexpected that makes it deeply memorable. For those who travel for design, for discovery, for the feeling of having found somewhere most people haven't — Acro is this summer's answer.
Passalaqua, Lake Como For the trip that becomes the benchmark for every trip that follows.
Named the World's Best Hotel in 2023, Passalaqua needs little introduction — and yet somehow continues to exceed expectation. Set in a 18th-century villa above Moltrasio on Lake Como, it takes just 24 guests at a time, which means the service, the gardens, the boats, and the pool are very nearly all yours. The food is sublime, the wine list considered, and the sense of being somewhere completely extraordinary never dims. If there is one European summer hotel on this list worth prioritising above all others — it is this.
Borgo Egnazia, Puglia For those who want an entire world to disappear into.
Borgo Egnazia is not so much a hotel as it is a village — a fully realised, privately owned world set among the olive groves of Puglia. The architecture is authentic trulli and masseria, the spa is among the finest in Europe, and the food programme is deeply rooted in the region. It has hosted world leaders and A-listers without ever losing its soul. Puglia itself is having a long-deserved moment in the global conversation — and this is its most extraordinary address. Come for a week. You still won't see everything.
Castell Son Claret, Mallorca For Mallorca without the marina crowds.
Set deep in the Mallorcan countryside in the Sierra de Tramuntana, Castell Son Claret feels like a different island entirely from the Palma port scene. A 19th-century castle estate, now one of the most quietly refined hotels in Spain — the spa is exceptional, the grounds vast and beautiful, and the sense of seclusion complete. This is the Mallorca that most visitors never find: unhurried, deeply private, and genuinely restorative. Exactly as a summer escape should be.
Aman, Montenegro For the Adriatic before everyone else finds it.
Aman Sveti Stefan occupies a 15th-century island village connected to the Montenegrin mainland by a narrow causeway — one of the most cinematic hotel settings in the world and still, remarkably, under the radar. The Bay of Kotor is Adriatic coastline at its most dramatic, the villas are Aman at their most atmospheric, and the sense of having arrived somewhere genuinely undiscovered is increasingly rare at this level. Montenegro is the conversation that is just beginning. Get there first.
Rosewood Amsterdam For a European city break that raises the bar entirely.
Amsterdam doesn't always make the summer shortlist, and that is precisely why it should. Rosewood's property here occupies a row of beautifully restored canal houses in the heart of the city, delivering the brand's signature blend of local character and global luxury. The rooms are exceptional, the spa an unexpected highlight, and the city outside the door is endlessly rewarding, the museums, the cycling, the canal-side dinners that stretch into the long northern summer evenings. A masterclass in the urban hotel done right.
Airelles, Saint-Tropez For Saint-Tropez at its most magnificent.
Airelles has built its reputation on the art of the exceptional — and their Saint-Tropez property, set within the walls of the Citadelle overlooking the bay, is the brand at its most spectacular. The décor is maximalist and joyful — deep jewel tones, gilded details, the kind of interiors that feel like stepping into a painting. The service matches the setting. Saint-Tropez will always draw a crowd in summer, but from behind these walls, you'd barely notice. This is the South of France fantasy, fully realised.
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