Blue Eye Hotel

Finished in clean lines and pale tile, the rooms at Blue Eye Hotel keep to a simple, modern palette: air conditioning, a flat-screen television, a minibar and a private balcony or terrace. The hotel sits in Ksamil, on Albania's Ionian coast, within easy reach of the town's beaches and harbour. Rooms are set across the ground floor and above, in double and twin configurations, some with balconies looking over the street below. It is a small hotel, run by a family rather than a chain, and guests notice the difference in service. Breakfast is served on the roof terrace, with a spread that changes daily, and the same terrace doubles as a bar in the evening. Downstairs, a swimming pool gives guests a place to cool off between trips to the sea. Wi-Fi runs through the building at no extra cost, and parking is free and secure, a detail worth having in a town as busy as Ksamil in summer. Michael, part of the family that runs the hotel, is often on hand to help with plans for the day. The result is a stay that trades scale for attention: modern rooms, kept clean and current, wrapped around a routine of pool, breakfast and rooftop drinks. Check-in is straightforward and unhurried.