Time to go to the beach (but this time without the crowds). Here are our favorite underrated beachside boutique hotels worldwide.
Casa Hormiga (Bacalar, Mexico)
| Key Points: • Website • 5 Stars • Rooms: 18 • Airport: Chetumal International Airport | Amenities: • Outdoor Swimming Pool • Spa and Wellness Center • Room Service • 2 Bars & Restaurants |
While Riviera Maya is awash with resorts and droves of lounge chairs packing its beaches, the smaller town of Bacalar towards Mexico’s border with Belize is quite the opposite. The Yucatan Peninsula hamlet swoons tourists via a photogenic clear blue lake that makes all who witness it gasp at first sight. Contemporary but containing bona fide beach style, 18-key Casa Hormiga’s exposed concrete walls and thatched roofs artfully mix. Each room has a veranda and balcony, a duo that spawns a pleasant indoor-outdoor situation. Need some R&R? It would behoove you to head to the hotel spa for one of their Mayan- and Ayurvedic-inspired treatments.
The Sanchaya (Lagoi Bay, Indonesia)
| Key Points: • Website • 5 Stars • Rooms: 29 • Airport: Hang Nandim International Airport | Amenities: • Fitness Center • Outdoor Swimming Pool • Spa and Wellness Center • 2 Bars & Restaurants |
Yes, we love Bali, but what about Indonesia’s other oodles of islands? Experience the isle of Bintan, which hosts The Sanchaya: a flight to Singapore, then a 45-minute boat ride, and a short drive once docked, are how to get there. A colonial exterior, soaring palm trees, and an expansive infinity pool lay beside an idyllic beach at this boutique hotel; rampant rainforest and a lagoon dress the other side. A sole 21 villas and nine suites prevent any form of a crowd. A few restaurants and bars are on the premises—it would be amiss not to mention the hotel collaborated with Ronnefeldt to conjure a signature tea recipe.
Madada Mogador (Essaouira, Morocco)
| Key Points: • Website • 5 Stars • Rooms: 9 • Airport: Essaouira Mogador Airport | Amenities: • Free High-Speed Internet • Room Service • Beachfront • 1 Bar & Restaurant |
Marrakech and Fez steal the spotlight when it comes to foreign tourists making a beeline for Morocco. Yes, those places are dreamy, but do you know what is, too? Essaouira, an Atlantic-hugging town that pairs sandy beaches with traditional Moroccan provenance: a quintessential souk and medina serve as its locus. Check into Madada Mogador, a seven-room haven donning a riad-meets-contemporary look: minimalist Moroccan-tinged rooms, traditional tadelakt-cum-tile bones, plus a spacious rooftop with sand and surf views comprise the blueprint.
Nico Sayulita (Sayulita, Mexico)
| Key Points: • Website • 5 Stars • Rooms: 5 • Airport: Aeropuerto Internacional Amado Nervo | Amenities: • Outdoor Swimming Pool • Spa • Private Powder Room • 0 Bars & Restaurants |
Situated in the Mexican state of Nayarit, Sayulita is the paired-back beach town alternative to Puerto Vallarta, which is one hour south. Here, you’ll find a bevy of digital nomads, wave-chasing surfers, an assortment of artists, and fans of lesser-commercialized Mexico. Check into Nico: a brutalist-contemporary build that can be rented independently or as a large collective dwelling. Exposed concrete and contemporary décor bedeck all five suites here, which share two extensive common spaces: the central and rooftop terraces. A five-minute walk to the town’s main plaza and beach proves no car is needed.
Carr Mansion (Galveston, TX)
| Key Points: • Website • 3 Stars • Rooms: 8 • Airport: William P. Hobby Airport | Amenities: • Free WiFi • Beach Nearby • Room Service • 0 Bars & Restaurants |
Meet Carr Mansion: a rebirthed 1866 Greek Revival with eight rooms a couple of blocks from the sea in the Texan beach town of Galveston. No two rooms look alike.
Hotel des Dunes (Cap Ferret, France)
| Key Points: • Website • 4 Stars • Rooms: 13 • Airport: Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport | Amenities: • Free WiFi • Bicycle Rental • Yoga Classes • 0 Bars & Restaurants |
Fittingly out of place (and wonderfully unpretentious), this South-of-France boutique hotel’s exterior resembles a ’60s California surf lodge. Seaside sand dunes are a skip away. Wallet-friendly, the hotel’s minimalist rooms wear sparse modern furnishings; unplugging is encouraged through the absence of a TV.
No. 42 by Guesthouse Margate (Margate, UK)
| Key Points: • Website • 4 Stars • Rooms: 21 • Airport: London Southend Airport | Amenities: • Beachfront • Spa and Wellness Center • Room Service • 1 Bar & Restaurant |
A redux Victorian home located smack in the middle of the Southeastern English town of Margate, along resident thoroughfare Marine Drive, is No 42 by Guesthouse, Margate. Inside, you’ll find 21 rooms, some with soul-stirring vantage points of the sea fronting it. Preserved features such as wrought-iron balconies and stained-glass windows are nods to the site’s architectural pedigree—but fountain-of-youth programming like sunset DJ sets make the stay feel anything but dusty. Our favorite of the two restaurants is the Pearly Cow, a 1920s-influenced space with potted palms and well-appointed bursts of pale green, serving up surf-and-turf dishes (the oysters are a must).
The Inn at Newport Ranch (Fort Bragg, CA)
| Key Points: • Website • 4 Stars • Rooms: 10 • Airport: Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport | Amenities: • Free WiFi • Spa and Wellness Center • Room Service • 1 Bars & Restaurants |
Misty redwood landscapes and untamed coastline stretches ripe for seasonal whale-watching set the scene at The Inn at Newport Ranch in Northern California’s Mendocino County, a few hours from San Francisco. Warm woods evoke a cozy feeling in the hotel’s 10 enclaves—most with Pacific-facing views—spread across five residences. If the rhythmic sounds of waves crashing aren’t enough to rejuvenate you, the spa most certainly will: forest bathing, vibrational therapy, and a sweat lodge are all on the menu.
ANEMI Folegandros (Folegandros, Greece)
| Key Points: • Website • 5 Stars • Rooms: 44 • Airport: Santorini International Airport | Amenities: • Free WiFi • Spa and Wellness Center • Outdoor Swimming Pool • 1 Bar & Restaurant |
A tucked-away Cycladic beauty that’s Santorini’s 45-minute-away secret neighbor, the isle of Folegandros’ remoteness makes it a dreamy tryst for couples. The pearl-shaded Anemi Folegrandros is where to stay, appearing from afar as sugar cubes peering out at the turquoise Aegean Sea.
