Sensational Montenegro private island hotel

A jaw-dropping luxury fortress hotel on a private island at the entrance of Montenegro’s spectacular Bay of Kotor – includes breakfast, e-bike rental and optional suite.

• Between sea and sky: Mamula Island Hotel has a thrilling past: built in the 1850s as a network of Austro-Hungarian fortifications guarding the Bay of Kotor, later becoming an Italian prison camp during World War II and later becoming abandoned. The reconstruction took seven years to transform the fortress into a magnificent, luxurious hotel with an eye on sustainability – the 170-year-old cisterns have been repurposed for water storage and recovering, glass is recycled onsite and both food and furnishings are locally sourced.

• Island living: The island is small but perfectly formed and manages to fit a lot into its uniquely shaped space. There are 32 beautiful rooms and suites, a spa, private beach, three swimming pools, three restaurants and four bars. The holistic design weaves through all the elements of the hotel, using locally sourced stone and organic materials. Each of the rooms and suites is uniquely appointed, though cloud-like beds, dreamy views and luxurious finishings come as standard.

• Fine dining: Flavours of the Med are complemented by French fine dining techniques in the hotel’s restaurants, where plates of fresh seafood, wood-baked specialities and local meats are served with a side of sunset sea views. Whether you’re lounging by the pool, celebrating a special occasion or just looking for a picnic on the beach, the hotel has a restaurant or bar to suit.

• Spa luxury: Wellness is big part of Mamula, with a focus on holistic wellbeing in the jaw-dropping spa. Feel nourished in body and soul after a trip to the Finnish and herbal saunas, sweating it out in the steam bath and daydreaming in the aqua flotation zone. The hotel’s treatment rooms offer the chance to enjoy massages, facials and beauty treatments, and there’s a well-equipped fitness centre with cardio and weights equipment, a personal trainer and complimentary workouts and classes like yoga or plyometrics.

How to get there

It’s a 35-minute transfer by road from Tivat Airport to Mirišta or a 90-minute drive to Herceg Novi, from where you’ll take a boat across to Mamula Island. You could also take a helicopter transfer (the island has a helipad) or a boat transfer direct from Tivat. There’s also the option to fly to Podgorica Airport (about two hours’ drive) or Dubrovnik Airport in neighbouring Croatia (about two and a half hours or shorter with a helicopter transfer).

Entry requirements

The passport, visa and health requirements at the time of booking can be viewed on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website for UK citizens, and on the Department of Foreign Affairs website for IE citizens. It is your responsibility to ensure that you and all members of your party are in possession of all necessary travel and health documents, and in compliance with any other immigration/entry requirements before you travel, including whether your passport must be machine readable or which visas/waivers may be required for entry, such as ESTA for USA travel and/or ETIAS for EU travel. Please also be sure to check the validity of your passport and allow up to 10 weeks for passport renewals.