Tell Me Where: 8 Last-Minute European Stays
Because you didn't get your act together.
In our new series, Tell Me Where, we round up the destinations worth the haul. From under-the-radar stays to coveted gems, consider this your shortcut to escapism.
You meant to plan something in March. Or was it April? But here we are: the calendar says June, your inbox is on fire, and every third person you know is heading to Europe. You haven’t booked a flight. You haven’t booked a hotel. You haven’t even figured out which country you want to visit. You just know one thing. You need to get the F out.
You just know one thing. You need to get the F out.
This list is for that moment. The impulsive booking. The half-baked itinerary. The desperate scroll at 2am hoping for something stylish, available and worthy of your Zimmermann poncho. A few of these are under the radar. A few are long shots. A few are bucket-list central. But all of them scratch that highly specific itch: summer abroad, booked not by miles, but by vibes.
1. Les Roches Rouges - Saint-Raphaël, France
Set on the striking red cliffs of Cap Dramont, Les Roches Rouges blends modernist design with raw natural beauty. The hotel’s color palette mirrors the surrounding Estérel hills and Mediterranean sea, with airy rooms featuring private terraces and marble bathrooms. Its two restaurants include the Michelin-starred Récif, while a seawater pool carved into the rocks invites relaxation. Mornings start with terrace breakfasts, and days can be spent paddleboarding or hiking nearby. Unlike its pompous neighbors, it’s an effortlessly stylish Riviera retreat where the sea takes center stage.
2. Masseria Calderisi - Puglia, Italy
This 17th‑century farmhouse‑turned-boutique hotel lies amidst 24 acres of olive, citrus and almond groves near the town of Fasano. With 24 airy rooms—including stables, garden suites, and a Tower Suite—its interiors are whitewashed simplicity at its best, opening directly onto private terraces and framed by vaulted stone ceilings. The monastery‑meets‑minimal aesthetic doesn’t stop there: think lemon‑scented linens and a tufa‑lined pool bar under olive trees. Take a shuttle to the hotel’s private beach —complete with sunbeds and parasols—that make up for any responsibilities you left behind. Join a pizza‑making class in the ancient stone oven or just spend the day spritzing in the sun.
3. Hotel du Couvent - Nice, France
This quietly luxurious hotel occupies a beautifully restored 17th-century convent once home to the Visitation and Poor Clare nuns. The 88-room retreat spans terraced subtropical gardens, Roman-inspired thermal baths, and three on-site restaurants—including a bakery that sources its own sourdough. It exudes a sense of hushed elegance: light streams through high ceilings, fig and orange trees shade a central courtyard, and well-placed lighting amps up the serenity. There’s almost no fuss—no TVs in standard rooms, just soft linens, minimalist decor, and an apothecary stocked with herbal tinctures and tonics. It’s the kind of calm that makes you forget your phone and remember that time can, delightfully, stand still.
4. Colombe d’Or - Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
One glance at the Calder mobile hanging over the pool and you know you’re somewhere special. In the halcyon days of the early 20th century, the French Riviera was a magnet for the avant-garde. La Colombe d'Or became headquarters for creative wayfarers. Under the Provençal sun, luminaries like Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, and Léger found respite and inspiration. Every corner of La Colombe d'Or exudes a sense of history, and its essence is best encapsulated in its eclectic collection of art, a veritable pantheon of 20th-century masterpieces. If you can’t stay, book lunch under the pergola for Provençal fare amongst original artworks, then wander the cloisters hoping to bump into the spirit of Françoise Gilot or James Baldwin.
5. Borgo Egnazia - Savelletri di Fasano, Italy
Borgo Egnazia feels like stepping into a beautifully curated Mediterranean story. Designed to resemble a traditional Apulian village, it’s more cinematic than rustic—think labyrinthine alleyways, lantern-lit courtyards, and bougainvillea spilling over whitewashed arches. The rooms are spare in the best way: linen-draped beds, handmade ceramics, cool stone floors that feel good under bare feet. You drift from breakfast (figs, ricotta, just-baked focaccia) to the sea-club or spa, where the concept of “time” becomes something vague and optional. It’s not trendy, but it’s deeply stylish. Borgo Egnazia doesn’t try to dazzle; it draws you in with a slow magic.
6. The Rooster – Antiparos, Greece
Not Mykonos, not Santorini—Antiparos is the Cycladic island insiders don’t want you to know about. And The Rooster is where they stay. Set between cliffs and the sea, it feels more like a hidden compound than a hotel: just 17 private houses, each with a plunge pool, outdoor shower, and views that hit right at golden hour. The vibe is slow and sensual—barefoot mornings, long lunches, and zero pressure to post about it. Design is earthy-luxe: think stone walls, raw wood, woven textures, and a wellness program that doesn’t preach. You come here to disappear—stylishly.
7. Belmond La Residencia - Deià, Mallorca
Tucked into the wild terraces of Deià, a hilltop village that has long lured artists and romantics, Belmond La Residencia is made up of twin 16th- and 17th-century manor houses, their shutters thrown open to views of the Tramuntana mountains rolling toward the sea. This place oozes Spanish style. Inside, terracotta stone floors stay cool underfoot, while antique Mallorcan furniture lends a sense of lived-in elegance. Mornings begin with breakfast under lemon trees, and afternoons invite quiet reflection (or tennis, anyone?) among bougainvillea-draped courtyards, local art exhibitions, or a plunge into the saltwater pool.
8. Sublime Comporta - Comporta, Portugal
Tucked in a pine forest just outside the village, Sublime Comporta has that rare “rich but relaxed” energy. It’s the kind of place where no one’s wearing makeup, but everyone looks amazing. The rooms are scattered across private villas and minimalist cabanas, all dressed in wood, linen, and lots of glass. There’s a pool, a restaurant serving just-pulled-from-the-earth food and a sense that no one’s checking their phone. Days are for beach bike rides, eucalyptus-scented naps, and pretending you live here. It draws a creative crowd—Lisbon fashion types, architects, low-key art people—and the whole place runs on the kind of quiet confidence you’d like to have.