Village People
Your New Island Retreat in Montenegro

You know what they say: it takes a village.

To raise a child. To assemble a Finnish sauna. To throw together a last-minute pig roast.

And, in this case, to put you up in Montenegro.

Which brings us to Aman Sveti Stefan, a seaside resort near the Adriatic that’s just expanded to include the entirety of a 15th-century fortified island village, taking reservations now.

There’s no shortage of luxury resorts or old stone towns in the Balkans. But combine the two, and all of a sudden you’re sleeping on a California queen in the same red-roofed stone cottage where someone who truly feared invasion by the Turks—and probably owned a battle-axe—once slept.

So the next time you’re looking to bury yourself in pink sand (and really, when aren’t you), head for this place, just south of Budva. Choose your room—a suite with private swimming pool, maybe, or a deluxe cottage overlooking the bay—and settle in. When you finish dinner on your terrace, head to the village’s central piazza for armagnac in the cigar room.

Fill the next few days with diving, big-game fishing or sailing on the Adriatic. And if you crave private time with an expert in cranial massage, book a day at one of the island’s six spa cottages.

You wouldn’t want things to actually get medieval.