The best hotels in the Mediterranean to visit by superyacht

Stretching more than 40 miles from Athens towards Cape Sounion (the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula), the Athenian Riviera is a sensational region for cruising superyachts. The coastline has pine-covered coves, sandy beaches and multiple seaside neighbourhoods, as well as Athens itself. The Four Seasons Astir Palace sits on the southernmost tip of the Vouliagmeni peninsula and can accommodate yachts at anchor set right before the hotel. Visiting yachts can tender to the waterfront restaurants or make the most of the serviced beach cabanas for a change of scenery.

With more than 300 rooms, the hotel is on the larger side, but it doesn't feel it, as the property is spread out over 30 hectares with three private beaches and eight restaurants (including the one Michelin-starred, Pelagos restaurant), and a huge spa. For the best experience, book the Nafsika Sea-View Terrace suite, which has its own private pool.

An oasis tucked away in the rolling hills of Provence, yet just a short drive from the glittering Côte d’Azur, Terre Blanche Hotel Spa Golf Resort feels like a secret garden built for those who appreciate a dose of luxury but crave the space to breathe in the sweet-scented air - or to swing a golf club on one of its two internationally renowned golf courses. Set on 750 acres of forested countryside near Tourrettes, France, this expansive estate is more Provençal hamlet than a hotel, with terracotta-roofed suites and villas scattered among pine trees, olive groves and lavender-bordered walkways. Upon arrival to Terre Blanche an immediate sense of peacefulness pervades with just the sound of cicadas and the promise of a slower rhythm.

For discerning families, Terre Blanche is well worth venturing 13 miles inland for  - whether by car or straight from the yacht by helicopter.The resort strikes a rare balance: adults can unwind at the award-winning spa or play a round of golf while children are whisked away for mini adventures at the kids’ club, which hosts everything from treasure hunts and cooking classes to golf lessons and art. Each morning, younger guests are chauffeured to the kids’ club in stretched golf carts, smiling and waving at their parents as they head off to their secret society of fun.

You might never feel compelled to venture off the property, but delightful diversions await beyond Terre Blanche’s cloistered walls as well, whether it’s paddleboarding on the nearby Saint-Cassien lake, walking the trails of the Pays de Fayence or exploring medieval hilltop villages where time seems to stand still. There’s something about the pace at Terre Blanche - the balance of activity and stillness, luxury and authenticity - that will have you swiftly planning your return. 

Perched on the cliffs of Positano overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, Treville is everything you would hope to find in a Positano hotel.  Set among several layers of manicured vegetable gardens across two hectares of cliffside landscape, the hotel is connected by grassy paved walkways and has a distinctly homely feel thanks to its storied past. Treville was once the cherished residence of Italian opera and film director Franco Zeffirelli. It was frequented by icons such as actors Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Olivier, and US composer Leonard Bernstein. Today, the magic is still very much alive, so much so that the suites have been aptly named after those who often visited the villa, each one capturing the spirit of its namesake. 

With just 16 suites housed in six villas, each one has a traditional feel, thanks to the brightly coloured tiles and huge balconies. For individual visits, book the Bernstein Suite, which sits at the end of a private terrace and features blue and white chevron tiling and wrought-iron balconies overlooking the beach below. Inside is a vast and unusual shower set in a converted brick bread oven.

The hotel’s restaurant, Maestro’s, is inspired by locally sourced ingredients from Treville’s organic farm. Here, guests will experience fine classical Italian fine dining, complemented by cocktails at Bianca’s Bar, made with herbs and botanicals grown onsite. Guests arriving by superyacht can do so via the hotel’s private pier.

Located just a short five-minute walk from the heart of Saint Tropez village, Arev remains one of the town’s hottest new properties, having now been open for just over a year. The traditional-looking blue-shuttered building conceals its lively interior design, which feels like a cool, old-school haven brought to life with a bold colour scheme of red, deep blue, and yellow, along with nautical prints. 

Arev partnered with the team behind the world-famous (and Saint Tropez classic) Bagatelle for its restaurant and revived the old St. Tropez favourite, The Strand. Book the one-bedroom suite overlooking the pool, featuring bold toile de Jouy wallpaper and 500-thread-count French bed linen. In just seven minutes, the hotel can whisk you away to your yacht on the Port de Saint-Tropez.

After a journey along the clifftop Amalfi drive (wiggly enough to challenge even the strongest stomachs), I am greeted by theview that has drawn superyachts to the Amalfi Coast for decades. The terracotta rooftops of Positano spill down to a crescent black-sand beach, with the faint outline of Capri cloaked in a soft haze ahead. All 52 rooms at Il San Pietro and its two restaurants offer various angles of this view, which inspired entrepreneur Carlo “Carlino” Cinque to create the hotel.

The design of the hotel would have stirred Antoni Gaudí’s imagination with its curvaceous form (though it was Oscar Niemeyer who inspired Cinque). Cascading down ten levels, the hotel is embedded into the rock face, with wisteria, vines, and bougainvillaea weaving through its terraces, blending the structure into the landscape.

Since 2002, the hotel’s restaurant Zass has proudly held a Michelin star. Set in a long white and green room, tables spill out onto the terrace, fronted by lamps and a classical awning, with the glittering lights of Positano beneath. Guests arriving by yacht and non-hotel visitors are welcome, though booking is essential. Like the hotel itself, the flavours here are classic and rooted in the region with lemon, local seafood, and fresh pasta. Evenings here stretch into the night, still filled with gentle chatter from fellow diners at midnight.

Though practically vertical, Il San Pietro offers plenty of outdoor space thanks to its terraces on every level. There is also a private beach, which is accessed via a quick lift that drops down several-hundred metres and opens up to bright orange sun loungers strewn on a rocky outcrop, overlooked by the casual beach restaurant, Carlino. It’s here that yacht visitors arrive, but it’s mostly a one-way system, as those who come here are unlikely to leave

Whether it’s the bygone tales of pirate raids, lemon trades or the valley streams that once powered local industry, Amalfi’s life and legends have always been tied to the water. Borgo Santandrea is one of the only hotels on the Amalfi coast with its own private dock – and sitting above the well-kept ruins of a Saracen fortress, the hotel certainly feels at one with the region’s history. Head directly from the pebble beach into the boathouse-turned-beach-club, which serves signature cocktails stirred with lemon zest and chestnut syrup. From there, a 30-second elevator ride will take you up the mountainside and into the hotel’s heart. 

In 2025, the property unveiled a brand new rooftop terrace above the Marinella Beach Club. The space is filled with olive trees and herbs and can be hired for private dinners, events and celebrations overlooking the sea.

Rooms are mid-century chic. Think vaulted ceilings, clawfoot tubs and cool, white-tiled flooring. Arched windows overlook the sunlit sea and a sleepy, yellow-brick fishing village known as Conca dei Marini. All 45 rooms face this infinite stretch of blue, while only a precious few adjoin their very own infinity pool. For dinner, venture to the terrace and take a seat at the candlelit Alici, which rightfully earned a Michelin star. Award-winning dishes include lobster tail served with muslin-light lashings of potato cream and a moreish anchovy risotto, in which the fish is prepared five separate ways. At breakfast, Alici’s open kitchen turns into a delicate grazing table. Expect arrangements of soft pastries, meats, local cheeses and chefs on standby, just in case you’d like something cooked on the menu. Or off it.

As you walk down the bustling waterfront of Marina Porto Antico, the ornate façade of Palazzo Durazzo may not be immediately obvious. The yellow building is tightly knitted into Genoa’s 17th-century skyline, yet it was once one of the most important buildings on the waterfront. Stepping through the vast iron doors into a great hall, its historical significance is immediately obvious, with its high ceilings and red-carpeted stone steps. Following a seven-year restoration by the same Genovese family that commissioned the building four centuries earlier, Palazzo Durazzo was built in 1624 by the powerful Durazzo family to serve as an official guest house of the Genoese state. Decades later, the magnificent rooms (after serving as a university campus) have been restored to guest rooms once more, presented with a collection of antique and contemporary furniture.

Palazzo Durazzo’s preserved splendour can be admired in its twelve suites, which are filled with frescoed ceilings and original architectural features such as a gilded chapel and 17th-century tritons sculpted by Domenico Parodi. To sleep beneath a glorious fresco seven metres above the king-sized bed, book the Il Doge suite, which celebrates the glory of Stefano Durazzo, who was Magistrate of the Galleys and then Doge. 

Those visiting by superyacht couldn’t be closer to the waterfront as Palazzo Durazzo is just a few steps from the Marina Porto Antico, as well as Genoa’s historic quarter, which extends from the hotel’s great city-side iron doors.

Tucked away amidst ancient olive groves and organic vegetable gardens that slope gently towards the Adriatic Sea, Borgo Egnazia is a complex maze of paved alleys winding between charming limestone cottages.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 reviving body and mind with a Roman Bath Ritual in the Vair Spa.

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 bright lights and boutique-lined streets of Cannes, yet it feels light years away. 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 anyone fortunate enough to be staying within the majestic walls of Le Grand Jardin, that is.

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 by the pool under the stars 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.

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 exudes 50’s Italian glamour. Festooned with selected artworks, retro designs and billowing diaphanous voiles, they lead onto private pillared balconies embellished with colourful geometrical tiles and swinging chairs. Take the Bellevue suite, and you’ll enjoy 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 installations.

Guests can now leave with a pair of handmade leather sandals thanks to Capri Tiberio Palace partnering 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 hotel's hues and embossed with your initials for the ultimate memento.