From the Costa del Sol to the seaswept cliffs of Galicia, Spain is awash with big-hitting beaches – and boutique stays to match. Here, we’ve narrowed them down to a lineup of MVPs (most valuable playas, of course).
So whether you’re a badge-holding member of the bucket and spade brigade or prefer to savour your sea views from the comfort of the cocktail bar, find your next seaside stay with our guide to the best beachfront hotels making waves on Spanish shores.
LITTLE BEACH HOUSE
Barcelona
Soho House’s bijou Barcelona outpost is as adorable as the name suggests. Little Beach House is actually just south of the city, right next to the golden sands and cutesy beach huts of the Bay of Garraf.
Interiors draw heavily on the hotel’s Fifties heritage – think retro rattan, terracotta tiles and plenty of tropical pot plants. En la playa, fringed parasols and candy-striped loungers make the perfect spot to pen your postcards – wish you were here-worthy sea views complete the look.
It’s not all throwbacks here, though. The beach club restaurant’s all-day paella has proven a big hit with modern palates and at the bar, slinky beats and signature chilli-laced cocktails keep things thoroughly 21st-century – as do the millennials swigging them.
NOBU HOTEL IBIZA BAY
Ibiza
For something of an A-lister, Ibiza’s Nobu Hotel manages to keep its feet firmly on the ground. Perhaps it has something to do with its toes-in-the-sand home on Talamanca Bay – with a butter-soft beach a hop, skip and a splash away, it’s hard to take life too seriously.
Whatever its secret, bikini-clad days here are spent slipping unhurriedly from your double daybed to the seafront pool and back, perhaps taking a pit-stop at the bar to pick up a tipple somewhere along the way.
Maybe later, you’ll browse the artisanal goodies in the boutique or charter a boat for an island-scouting spin, but what’s the rush? As long as you stir in time for your big date with a certain miso-glazed black cod, you’re golden.
Speaking of big names, Six Senses have taken soothing charge of the spa, so you can expect a selection of luxurious rituals – if the gold-leaf facial leaves you feeling a little big for your boots, you can always let a pummelling Thai massage humble you.
Come sundown, swim togs are swapped for your best LA-set looks. Club tickets can be arranged if it’s the standard Ibiza buzz you’re after, but really, a night at the namesake restaurant ticks all the boxes – breezy beats, decadent drinks and worth-the-hype dining.
NOMAD HOTEL XÁBIA PORT
Jávea
Right down to its free-roaming name, Nomad Hotel is the archetypal beachy boutique stay. Sepia-ish interiors set the boho tone – we’re talking terracotta, hand-crafted trinkets and more rattan than you can shake a palm frond at. If any of the artisanal treasures take your particular fancy, you can stuff them away in your woven jute tote down in the hotel’s shop.
The mellow vibes continue up on the roof, where sea views are framed by super-sized cacti and it’s just a kaftan-waft from the plunge pool to the thatched tapas bar. Downstairs, the spa will see off any remaining bad juju with a tailored massage, and the sandy-soled restaurant specialises in good-for-the-soul regional grub.
Speaking of the region, Jávea has often been overlooked in favour of Valencia’s better-known cities, but it has all the hallmarks of a summer hols hit. The mediaeval old town is full of cobblestoned charm, and a stone’s throw from the hotel, the town’s pretty pebble beaches were made sunset strolls – floppy straw hat optional, but fully recommended.
EL VICENÇ DE LA MAR
Mallorca
El Vicenç de la Mar is situated right where the Serra de Tramuntana sink into the sea, so naturally nature takes top billing. A stay here means a front-row seat for some of Mallorca’s most dramatic scenery – towering ridges, rolling hills and the vibrant Balearic beyond take centre stage.
For intrepid types, cycling has long been the favoured form of sightseeing round these parts. And with wheels to rent and an onsite repair shop, the hotel will have you ready to roll in no time – so get on your bike and ride.
Ok, now we’ve lost the lycra gang, let’s get to lazing. First stop, the spa, where a Turkish bath and full roster of treatments await. When you’re all massaged and mud-masked out, mosey on up to the roof terrace.
Here, you’ll have everything you need to appreciate the panoramic views in well-rested style – namely, a pool, parasol-shaded loungers and plenty of cocktails courtesy of the bar. Pedal-pushers, we’ll be up here if you need us.
NOA BOUTIQUE HOTEL
A Coruña
For centuries, pilgrims passing through Galicia have been ploughing on down to Santiago de Compostela, and more power to them. But put us in charge, and we’d peel off further north to Atlantic-lapped A Coruña – or, if we’re being really picky, to Noa Boutique Hotel. Noa’s mission statement is simple: its name is the Galician word for rest, after all.
The sea-facing rooftop is your R&R one-stop shop – so long as you can summon the beans to slide from your sunlounger to the Jacuzzi and infinity pool, you’re set.
That said, every room here is glass-fronted and gazes out over Santa Cruz Bay, so if you don’t even make it out of bed we won’t blame you. And after a waist-expanding seafood feast in the restaurant and a post-prandial stint in the spa, you may never move again.
Don’t ditch your sensible shoes completely, though. A Coruña’s breezy seaside promenade runs right past the hotel, snaking around the headland past golden-sand coves, mediaeval forts and the world’s oldest lighthouse. It’s also out here that you’ll find the hotel’s bar, so if that all sounds a bit too much like hard work you can reroute to tapas and cocktails on tap instead.
SIX SENSES IBIZA
Ibiza
The ultimate antidote to the head-pounding south Ibiza experience, Six Senses sits on the island’s more mellow northern coast, where peace-seeking hippies have been hanging out since the Sixties. Wellness-wise, of course, you’re in the safest possible hands.
You’re going to want to spend some serious quality time in the spa – all 13,000 sq feet of it – and just try not feeling nourished in any of the four restaurants, where organic, locally-sourced menus have been masterminded by ‘the Cauliflower King’ Eyal Shani.
As for your artistic awakening, well, we’d be hard pressed to pick a headline act. There’s a photography gallery, a cookery school, a concept boutique curated by former Vogue stylists; and down by the beach, sundowners are soundtracked by live DJ sets (in case things were in danger of leaning a little holier-than-thou).
Down on Cala Xarraca’s quiet shore, the crystal waters will have the most steadfast of cynics feeling a little won over by the woo-woo. And if the hotel’s eco-conscious ethos – which made it the first BREEAM-certified resort in the Balearics – is a hangover from the region’s tree-hugging Sixties heyday, so much the better.
HOSPES MARICEL & SPA
Mallorca
The 16th-century mansion that Hospes Maricel & Spa calls home has been honing its rep as a grown-up’s playground for decades – rumour has it, it was the scene of many an R-rated party in the Sixties.
These days, things here swing to a less raucous – though just as decadent – rhythm. Rock ‘n’ roll has been swapped for live jazz in the cocktail bar, the sleek spa is home to all manner of herb-laced temptations and out on the colonnaded terrace, the restaurant seduces with sophisticated mallorquín cuisine and Med views.
Granted, your inner kid might be giddy at the prospect of chocolate for breakfast, but there’s not a Coco Pop in sight – the so-called ‘best breakfast in the world’ is a firmly fine-dining affair, with eight seasonal courses ranging from fresh-caught seafood to traditional sweet treats.
A stay at this Palma pad is proof that civilised doesn’t have to mean snooze-inducing. Sure, Maribel’s skinny-dipping days might be a thing of the past, but we have a sneaky feeling a Martini-in-hand splash about the pool will always be on the cards here – there must be something in the water.
VILLA FAVORITA
San Sebastián
Michelin-starred food, Mediterranean views and a beach made for promenading – if these are a few of your favourite things (and why wouldn’t they be?), you’ll be right at home at Villa Favorita.
Right on La Concha Bay’s golden sands, the 19th-century villa was originally a summer pad for Queen Maria Christina. These days, there’s still plenty of Belle Époque appeal – the parquet floors, white-panelled walls and picture windows to frame the seaside views see to that.
Paulo Airaudo’s Amelia has secured its spot as the crown jewel of San Sebastián’s culinary scene – and, with the city holding the most Michelin stars per capita of anywhere in the world, it wasn’t short of competition. When reality bites and the realisation that you’re not, in fact, royalty stings, simply sweep down to the bar; after a glass or two of organic rioja, you’ll find you don’t feel so bad…
CAN SIMONETA
Mallorca
A time-tested remedy for the stressed out and sun-deprived, Can Simoneta in Mallorca has stood high on a cliff over Canyamel since the 19th century, when an ailing monk’s doctor prescribed a secluded stay by the sea.
The modern restoration has left plenty of meditative spots – if the clifftop Jacuzzi and sea-sprayed pools don’t see you soothed, an alfresco massage under the pines surely will. So far, so healthful, but there’s nothing ascetic about the Med-Mex fusion restaurant, where local produce is finely spun into a seasonal tasting menu and sommelier-chosen wine slips down with unholy ease.
And if you’re still not converted, seek out the private stairway carved into the cliffside; it leads straight down to a quiet cove, where a constitution-bolstering dose of clear sea and soft sands await – side effects include drowsiness and a decided reluctance to go home.
PUENTE ROMANO BEACH RESORT
Marbella
Puente Romano may be something of a big name on Marbella’s Golden Mile, but who’s to say you can’t run with the Costa del Sol cool kids? Take the private Fendi beach club, for example – all you need to fit in there are your fanciest flip flops and this season’s can’t-live-without accessory, a fruity frozen cocktail. See, you’re a natural already.
Elsewhere in the resort, there’s a homely village vibe – whitewashed buildings, winsome Med views… Oh, and 20 luxury restaurants and bars, including Nobu and an NYC-style nightclub – no biggie. At the tennis club, don’t be surprised if you happen to catch Djokovic putting the clay courts through their paces.
And if you find yourself starstruck by the Six Senses spa – we get it, they’re wellbeing superstars, after all – at least you’re in the right place for a breath-steadying treatment. As resorts go, Puente Romano is an it-girl, for sure. But the secret to its celeb status? It keeps the summer hols priorities straight: sun, sea and serious relaxation. Stars: they’re just like us!
ROYAL HIDEAWAY CORALES SUITES
Tenerife
Don’t let its cruise-liner looks fool you; Royal Hideaway Corales Suites is a family-friendly resort with its roots firmly in Tenerife’s soil. The nautical design is the work of homegrown architect Leonardo Omar, and in the four restaurants, local chefs work the island’s native produce into moreish pan-Mediterranean menus.
Ship-shape apartment-style suites, each with private sundecks and shall-we-just-stay-here sea views, have been specially designed to suit families. To fend off cabin fever, roll out as the clan to conquer the heated saltwater pool or…psst…park your little poppets in the kids’ club and scooch across the lawn to the hotel’s sister location, where there’s an adults-only spa and Michelin-starred restaurant.
Otherwise, a mountain-scaling, surf-conquering roster of guided excursions is anchored with family seaside stalwarts – volcanic black sand makes for striking sandcastles on the beach, and how better to wrap up the day’s hijinks than with a home-churned scoop (or several) at the ice-cream parlour?
Got the whole team in tow? See our selection of Europe’s best beachside villas
Amy Martin is a writer, actor and travel buff, based between London and Cornwall. When she’s not lurking around a theatre or scribbling in a notebook on the Penzance to Paddington line, you’ll find her at the cinema, on a long coastal walk, or watching Pride and Prejudice (1995 or 2005 is fine).