Domaine Les Oliviers de Palombaggia

Stone cottages built by a single Corsican family sit on a hillside between Porto-Vecchio and Palombaggia beach, surrounded by olive trees thick enough to make you forget there are other guests. This boutique hotel trades conventional rooms for one-of-a-kind villas with whitewashed walls, wood-beamed ceilings, and plunge pools on wide timber decks. There's no restaurant, which feels right; breakfast arrives at the door, and local wine and cheese appear in the afternoon.

One honor, in evidence: