The Best Resorts in Croatia

A 50-metre infinity pool cantilevered over the Adriatic sets the tone at this waterfront luxury hotel in Rovinj, where Piero Lissoni's interiors lean into stone, wood, and the kind of minimalism that somehow feels warm rather than cold. Six cascading floors face the old town and St. Catherine's Island, with a spa, seven restaurants, and enough breathing room to make Croatia's busier coastline feel like someone else's problem. It holds a Michelin Key and a spot on the World's 50 Best Hotels list.

Every one of the 53 rooms, suites, and villas at this Michelin Key resort faces the water, and the interiors are deliberately restrained so the bay does the decorating. It sits just outside Stari Grad on the island of Hvar, far enough from the summer crush that seclusion feels designed in. Nordic minimalism meets Mediterranean warmth throughout, a Buddhist-inspired spa anchors the wellness side, and the kitchen leans on its own organic garden.

The building tilts toward the Adriatic like it's trying to get a better look, and the balconies on those terraced floors do get a very good look indeed. Le Méridien Lav is a large resort hotel on the Split marina, with nearly 400 rooms, a spa, and several restaurants ranging from coastal Italian to beach-club plates. The rooms are sunny and the sea views are exactly why you came.

Rooms and suites step down a cliffside in terraced rows above the Adriatic, a mile from Dubrovnik's old city walls. This polished luxury resort earns the views rather than coasting on them: the glass-walled Turquoise restaurant, the sprawling pool deck, a teppanyaki spot, and ladders down to the sea all feel considered rather than obligatory. Suites with private sea-facing balconies go fast, and you'll understand why the moment you see what they're facing.

A teardrop-shaped contemporary building perched on a narrow peninsula just south of Šibenik's Renaissance old town, with floor-to-ceiling windows that face the Adriatic and a fleet of yachts moored outside. This 63-room resort keeps its interiors minimal and polished, wisely letting the view do the decorating. Two restaurants, four bars, and an infinity pool for anyone paralyzed by the options. The Michelin Guide has it among its selected hotels.

Thirteen restaurants and bars is not a boast you can shrug off, and Sun Gardens backs it up with four hundred rooms, suites, and apartments spread along the Croatian coast outside Dubrovnik. The resort's interiors lean sharp and contemporary, with Adriatic blue deployed tastefully rather than relentlessly. Three pools, a beach, the region's largest spa, and a food market stocking local pastries, fish, and wine round out a property that runs big without feeling anonymous.

The Adriatic blue used throughout the rooms will one day rival Santorini's signature whitewash as a color worth traveling for, or so one hopes. This large, modern luxury resort sits on the Punta Skala peninsula minutes from Zadar, with spacious balconied rooms, a monumental spa with four pools and hammam, beachfront restaurants serving Dalmatian cooking, and a coastline that makes the whole setup feel less like a hotel and more like a reasonable argument for Croatia.