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Every hotel we shortlist170 hotels, one listFilter by place, by what each hotel is best for, and by the judges behind it.Browse all hotelsJourneys
Rail · 5 trains
Luxury train journeys
Five great trains, from the Orient Express to the Andes.
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Cities · 1 perfect day
One day in Rome
Sunrise to midnight: the walk, the tasting menus and a view of St Peter's.
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Islands · 12 months
The Maldives, month by month
When the sea is glass, when the mantas come, and when the price halves.
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Wild · Jul to Oct
The Great Migration
Where two million animals will be, and where you should be waiting.
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Rail · London to Venice
The Orient Express
When it runs, what each cabin costs, and the best month to board.
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Flights · Door to door
Emirates business class
From the car at your door in London to the lights of Dubai, in ten moments.
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The Shortlist
A villa on Dubrovnik's cliffs, an island hideaway built into an olive grove, and wine estates in Istria: the Croatian hotels independent judges rate highest, and who should book somewhere else.
Photo: Unsplash
The short answer
The best hotels in Croatia are small and spread along the coast: a clifftop villa in Dubrovnik, wine estates on the Pelješac peninsula and in Istria, island hotels on Hvar, and one remote hideaway on Dugi Otok. Our 2026 shortlist has 12 hotels, every one of the 12 Croatian hotels holding a MICHELIN Key in the 2026 selection. The most decorated are Villa Dubrovnik, Grand Park Hotel Rovinj and Meneghetti Wine Hotel & Winery. Go in May, June or September to avoid the July and August crowds.
Shortlisted means chosen on research: a Michelin Key or Forbes Travel Guide rating, or praise from two independent publications, each linked below. We have not stayed at these hotels yet. Read how we choose.
The walled city and the quiet harbour
Dubrovnik's walled old town is the most famous sight in Croatia and very busy in high summer, so the best hotels sit just outside it, on the cliffs or along the coast. Cavtat, a small harbour town a few minutes from the airport, is the calm alternative.
Shortlisted 2026
A clifftop hotel looking straight across the sea to the old town, promoted to Two MICHELIN Keys in 2026.
About 55 rooms and suites. Pools: indoor sea-view pool and hot tub, with rock-cut platforms for swimming in the sea.
Shortlisted 2026
A restored century-old waterfront villa in a car-free harbour town, with One MICHELIN Key.
21 rooms. Pools: seasonal outdoor pool among citrus trees.
* Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.
Lavender, wine and island hideaways
Hvar is the glamorous island, with a lively harbour town and quieter Stari Grad across the island. The Pelješac peninsula, two hours from Dubrovnik, is vineyards and seafront villages facing Korčula. And Dugi Otok, off Zadar, is home to Croatia's most decorated hotel.
Shortlisted 2026
Croatia's only Three MICHELIN Key hotel: eight rooms and suites built into a hillside olive estate by the architect Nikola Bašić.
8 rooms and suites. Pools: indoor pool, a seasonal outdoor infinity pool and a jacuzzi.
Shortlisted 2026
A calm, wellness-led resort on its own pebble beach, with One MICHELIN Key.
50 rooms and suites, and 3 villas. Pools: two heated pools, and some suites and villas have plunge pools.
Shortlisted 2026
A 13th-century palace remodelled in 1899, in the middle of Hvar Town, with One MICHELIN Key.
45 rooms and suites. Pools: outdoor and indoor pools; no beach.
Shortlisted 2026
A restored 1930s estate making its own Pelješac reds, with eight suites and One MICHELIN Key.
8 suites. Pools: pool, on the seafront.
Shortlisted 2026
A new 11-room seafront hotel, opened in 2026 and given One MICHELIN Key in its first year.
11 rooms. Pools: pool above the Adriatic, and a pebble beach.
* Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.
Truffles, wine and the Venetian coast
Istria is the heart-shaped peninsula in the north-west, closer to Venice than to Dubrovnik: Rovinj's Venetian old town on the coast, and inland, hill villages, vineyards, olive groves and truffle woods. It is Croatia's food region.
Shortlisted 2026
Croatia's first hotel on The World's 50 Best Hotels list, in 2025, with One MICHELIN Key and Agli Amici, a restaurant with two Michelin stars.
209 rooms and suites. Pools: indoor and seasonal outdoor pools, and some suites have their own.
Shortlisted 2026
A 19th-century stone farmhouse making its own wine and olive oil, with One MICHELIN Key and a place in Condé Nast Traveller's Readers' Choice Awards.
58 rooms and villas. Pools: indoor and seasonal outdoor pools, and some villas have their own.
Shortlisted 2026
A restored medieval village turned hotel, a few miles from the coast, with One MICHELIN Key.
24 rooms, suites and a villa. Pools: seasonal outdoor infinity pool and an indoor spa pool.
* Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.
A night or two in town
Split's old town is built inside Diocletian's Roman palace and is the ferry hub for the islands. Zagreb, the capital, is inland, with Austro-Hungarian squares and cafes. Both work as a first or last night rather than a stay.
Shortlisted 2026
A newly opened five-star city hotel at the gateway to the islands, with One MICHELIN Key.
About 70 rooms. Pools: no confirmed pool.
Shortlisted 2026
An Art Deco grand hotel built in 1925 for Orient Express passengers, with One MICHELIN Key.
208 rooms. Pools: no pool; spa, sauna and whirlpool.
* Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. It never decides what we recommend.
Coming in 2027
None of the hotels above carries our second stamp yet. Hotels we stay at earn the Stayed and verified stamp, with what we found written down and any hosted stay disclosed. Run a hotel on this list? See how verification works.
If your plan is to sail, a yacht or a gulet is the better way to see the islands, and a hotel is just the night before and after. And if you can only travel in July or August, expect Dubrovnik and Hvar Town to be very busy whatever you pay. Pick your month first with our guide to the best time to visit Croatia.
Questions people ask
Croatia has 12 hotels with a MICHELIN Key in the 2026 selection, and all of them are on our shortlist. The most decorated is Villa Nai 3.3 on Dugi Otok, the only Three Key hotel in the country, followed by Villa Dubrovnik, promoted to Two Keys this year.
Dubrovnik for the walled old town, then either the islands or Istria. Hvar and the Pelješac peninsula pair easily with Dubrovnik by road or ferry. Istria, in the north-west, is a different trip: hill towns, truffles and wine, closer to Italy than to Dubrovnik.
Maslina Resort on Hvar has its own pebble beach and swimming platforms, Hotel Katarina and Villa Korta Katarina sit on the seafront at Orebić, and Villa Dubrovnik has rock-cut platforms for swimming. Croatia's beaches are mostly pebble or rock, not sand.
One: Villa Nai 3.3, an eight-room hotel built into an olive estate on the island of Dugi Otok, reached by catamaran or helicopter from Zadar. It is remote by design, so plan it as a stay of several nights rather than a stop.
By catamaran in summer, or by car and ferry. Hvar Town is reached by catamaran from Split, and Stari Grad by car ferry; Orebić on Pelješac is about two hours by car from Dubrovnik airport. Book summer crossings ahead.
Not yet. Every hotel on the 2026 list is Shortlisted on research. Hotels we stay at will carry the Stayed and verified stamp, and any hosted stay will be disclosed on the page.
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