Coastal and beach hotels
Oh we do like to be beside the seaside… and we know you do, too. So we've scoured coastlines, scaled cliffs and combed beaches in our search for the coolest coastal hotels, where the water's edge is never far away.
Clifftop castles, seaside stays and beach B&Bs – you'll find them all here, alongside paradise island resorts and Caribbean retreats. You just have to decide whether your idea of beach-hotel heaven is skimming stones in Brighton, surfing in Santa Monica or scuba diving in the Seychelles…
- Hotels
- Self-catering
- € £ $
We've found 204 Smith-approved coastal and beach hotels
The Bull Hotel
Dorset, United Kingdom
- Style
- Fresh prints, belle air
- Setting
- Busy little Bridport
Stripped wooden floors and quirky antiques partner vibrant bold-print papers and fabrics in a vintage-chic decorative scheme that's bound to win you over. Easy…
The Address Downtown Burj Dubai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Style
- Modern minimal via Miami
- Setting
- Towering alongside Burj Dubai
Showing admirable restraint among its blinged-up neighbours, and boasting an award-winning sky bar on the 63rd floor, Dubai's Downtown Address hotel is fast…
The George in Rye
East Sussex, United Kingdom
- Style
- Quirky-smart Regency inn
- Setting
- Cobbled streets of Rye
At this East Sussex boutique hotel – a striking coaching-inn conversion – the ballroom’s high walls are hung with a diverting bird-patterned wallpaper and…
Castell d'Empordà
Empordà, Spain
- Style
- Catalan castle cool
- Setting
- Costa Brava countryside
Sandwiched splendidly between the Pyrenees peaks and the Costa Brava’s cliffs and coves, Castell d’Empordà is a Catalan ruin turned romantic retreat.
Hotel del Teatre
Empordà, Spain
- Style
- Converted Catalan farmhouses
- Setting
- Rural Regencos’ oaks and fields
Take two 18th-century Catalan farmhouses in a mediaeval village, merge and renovate the result, add in soft lighting, fresh flowers, countryside views and a…
Heure Bleue
Essaouira, Morocco
- Style
- Ocean-liner elegance
- Setting
- No-worry, no-hurry ancient port
Built into the medina walls, Heure Bleue hotel is an oasis of luxe in laid-back, countercultural Essaouira, the sandy seaside sister of Marrakech.
Madada Mogador
Essaouira, Morocco
- Style
- Parisian apartment
- Setting
- Ocean-view ramparts
If you're staying at Madada Mogador on a summer escapade with a lover, there’s no doubt the rooms upstairs with the massive Balearic-style terrace are the…
The Grand Café & Rooms
Garden Route & Winelands, South Africa
- Style
- Sexy boho beach chic
- Setting
- Overlooking Plett lagoon
This most boho of beachy boltholes is the natural downtime home of the Ibiza regular or Soho House devotee – The Grand Café & Rooms in Plett is all about…













