With the plague of overtourism continuing to infect the world’s top destinations, we’ve decided not to tell you about these hotels on less popular, but plenty attractive islands.
Nowhere is really a secret anymore. You can thank social media for that. But there are places that are less crowded than other places, and those places should be protected. That’s why we’re not telling you about them. Someone else is! Our friends at Hotels Above Par have been kind enough to scour the Tablet selection for hotels in more obscure destinations — specifically, hotels on islands we’d prefer you’d kept quiet about. In fact, it’d be better if you didn’t even visit. By all means, book the hotel. Pay for it. But don’t actually go. You’ll have a much better time if the place doesn’t get too popular, and if you go, you’ll only contribute to making it more popular. Understand? Good.
Paraíso de los Pinos
Formentera, Spain
Compared to Mallorca, Menorca, and Ibiza, the Balearic island of Formentera is but a speck. Imagine the tranquil, pastoral side of Ibiza, without the legendarily hedonistic nightlife, and you’re most of the way there. Paraíso de los Pinos leans hard into Formentera’s ultra-chill atmosphere — its 35 apartments and bungalows cluster loosely into what feels like a village, complete with a salt-water pool, a jacuzzi, and endless terraces and lounges for semi-private relaxation.
ALERÓ Seaside Skyros Resort
Skyros, Greece
The southernmost island in Greece’s Sporades archipelago is also its least-visited. A world apart from cruise ship crowds and tourists in pursuit of the perfect photo op, bohemian Skyros is comparatively rugged and remote — and ALERÓ Seaside Skyros Resort, elegantly secluded and low-key, is very much of its place. Separated from the water only by picturesque sand dunes, it’s just a short stroll down to a sandy beach where guests recline beneath picturesque white umbrellas.
Denpaku the Beachfront Mijora
Amami Oshima, Japan
About midway between Okinawa and the southernmost point of mainland Japan is the subtropical island of Amami Oshima. It’s where the thirteen villas of Denpaku the Beachfront Mijora look directly out over the beach, each one standing as a striking, live-in monument to modernist design. The villas all come with full-length windows on the relevant side, opening out onto the beachline, with seven of them lined with trees, helping to mitigate any ocean glare.
Kisawa Sanctuary
Benguerra Island, Mozambique
Part of a marine reserve off the coast of mainland Mozambique, the island of Benguerra is everything you want from an unspoiled island paradise, from the mild climate to the sandy beaches and the picturesque hillsides and dunes. And Kisawa Sanctuary, frankly, is everything you need from a resort: a thoroughly sustainable operation whose aesthetics combine modern construction methods and traditional crafts alike.
Le Jardin Malanga
Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe
On Basse-Terre, one of the six relatively lesser-known Caribbean islands that make up Guadeloupe, you’ll find Le Jardin Malanga. Nestled into the forest ten minutes up the hillside from the beach, the hotel is blessed with stunning views of the nearby Saintes islands. And it’s far from a mega-resort, or even a resort — it’s just a Twenties-era colonial mansion plus three freestanding cottages, making for an atmosphere that’s as tranquil as can be.
Hotel Emblemático La Casa de los Naranjos
Lanzarote, Spain
Lanzarote is a Spanish island, sure, but it’s a bit wilder and a bit more tropical than the Balearics — it’s the easternmost of the Canary Islands, and is as close to the coast of Morocco as Ibiza is to the Spanish mainland. It’s by no means an undiscovered destination, but the charm of Hotel Emblemático La Casa de los Naranjos is that it offers a view of a slower and simpler time, and a type of hospitality that’s directly at odds with modern mass-market tourism.
Kizikula
Zanzibar, Tanzania
For those of us in Europe and North America, Zanzibar is impossibly exotic, not to mention far away. But Kizikula, a boutique hotel on the Tanzanian island’s south coast, is as cosmopolitan as they come. It’s the work of a couple of friends from Dubai, one of whom has roots here on the island, and who, inspired by a lifetime of globe-trotting experience, created a totally unique and totally unforgettable boutique hotel.
Punta Caracol Acqua-Lodge
Isla Colón, Panama
From the sky, Punta Caracol Acqua-Lodge looks like a charm bracelet, a delicate chain of tiny house-shaped jewels floating on a clear blue sea. That’s because the Acqua Lodge isn’t a conventional hotel: it’s a string of traditionally crafted, thatch-roofed luxury cabanas constructed on stilts, South Pacific–style, over the waters of the Bocas del Toro archipelago off Panama’s Isla Colón, a popular destination for locals, but not as well-known as its Caribbean Sea neighbors.
Plataran Komodo Resort & Spa
Flores, Indonesia
There’s a lot more to Indonesia than just Bali. A little farther eastward in the Lesser Sundas is the island of Flores, on whose western edge, just across the strait from the islands that comprise the rest of Komodo National Park, is Plataran Komodo Resort & Spa. It’s a phenomenal location for a resort. Waecicu Beach is perfectly picturesque, and its oceanfront villas look out over the islands that rise dramatically out of the waters of the Flores Sea.
Pädaste Manor
Muhu Island, Estonia
Before there were budget airlines (or cars, or trains) the people of northern Europe made do with what they had close at hand: places like Estonia’s Muhu Island in the Baltic Sea, home to Pädaste Manor, a charming, intimate luxury hotel and spa. The estate is five hundred years old, and in fact the whole island feels caught in a sort of time warp — scenic, quiet, pastoral, largely untouched by the outside world. All of which makes Pädaste the ideal place to unwind.
Villa Nai 3.3
Dugi Otok, Croatia
Villa Nai 3.3 is the work of the Croatian architect Nikola Bašić, whose plan called for the excavation of the interior of a hillside on the Dalmatian island of Dugi Otok — halfway between Venice and Dubrovnik — and whose low-profile exterior structures are built from the stone extracted from the caves. It’s set on an estate with a century-old olive mill, which is still in production today. Inside, the eight rooms are laid out like ships’ cabins, though unusually spacious ones.
Little Palm Island Resort
Little Torch Key, FL, USA
There aren’t many unknown islands left in North America, so instead we’ll introduce you to the continent’s only private island resort: Little Palm Island. This four-acre island is home to a mere 30 suites, and a couple of rules — no guests under 18, no audible cell phones — serve to keep the atmosphere properly tranquil. The suites themselves are divided among a number of thatched-roof bungalows, some more secluded than others, but all more than private enough.
Mark Fedeli is the marketing and editorial director for Tablet and Michelin Guide hotels. He’s been with Tablet since 2006, and he thinks you should subscribe to our newsletter.