Villa Dubrovnik

Set on a cliff above the Adriatic Sea in Dubrovnik's Sveti Jakov area, Villa Dubrovnik was designed in 1961 as a residential building and became a hotel in 1963, an annex to Hotel Argentina. The building's architecture still reads as a departure from the pre-war hotels around it. Rooms and suites are designed by Studio Arthur Casas, furnished with pieces by Croatian maker Prostoria and by Italian designer Gio Ponti, who paired solid wood with gold metal frames. Interiors use Croatian stone in whites, sandy tones and beige, set against sea blue and terracotta. Textiles carry a Dubrovnik pattern made exclusively for the hotel. It is a compact stay by design, its suites named after old Dubrovnik dialect words. The Romantiko Suite runs to 80 square metres with a 17-square-metre terrace facing the sea and the Old Town. The Amor Suite adds a 40-square-metre terrace with the same double view. Villa Kolin Residence, the largest, has three bedrooms, a top-floor living room, a kitchenette and a garden terrace with a whirlpool. A heated indoor pool sits behind floor-to-ceiling windows, with a sundeck looking toward Lokrum island. You can swim indoors, then take the sauna or steam room before dinner. The hotel also holds a spa using Sodashi products and local ingredients such as immortelle and carob, plus a fitness area and a conference room for up to 80 guests.