Riviera Strand A Gram Hotel

Båstad's shoreline runs wide and shallow for its entire length, and Hotel Riviera Beach sits right where the sand meets the town. The hotel traces back to 1932, when the original Hotell Riviera opened as one of Sweden's first seaside hotels, prized for its courtyard and terrace. Its replacement, built in 2015, kept the restaurant's original mix of neoclassical and functionalist lines from architect August Svensson. It is a low, wide building rather than a tower. The 144 apartment suites each hold a separate bedroom, living area, bathroom and kitchenette, with room for up to six guests and a private balcony or terrace off every one. You can walk straight from the lobby onto the beach, or follow the coastal path toward Båstad harbour a kilometre off. Behind the hotel, a small wood called Malenskogen carries footpaths and a cycle track down to a footbridge over Öresjön lake. The restaurant works from produce grown on the Bjäre peninsula around it. Check-in guests get bicycles, a beach fishing spot for crab, and a stretch of Kattegat water clear enough for snorkelling.