Budget beautiful: Europe's 17 best affordable hotels
What price would you pay to stay in a great hotel? This is not a trick question. Many might assume that what you would be happy to pay versus what you are expected to pay for a night in an amazing establishment do not match up. I have good news: there are now, more than ever before, a crop of cool hotels which will not break the bank.
We asked our experts around the globe to nominate their favourite hotels – all reviewed for us – which offer excellent value for money. They all have a standout feature: it might be a honey-toned hideaway in Provence for gourmands, a buzzing spot on the west coast of Ibiza, or a tiny island bolthole in Greece or Croatia. All of them cost from as little as £50 up to around £150 a night in low season (and some fall between these prices in high season, too). Happy budgeting.
ITALY
Il Baciarino
Vetulonia, Tuscany, Italy
8Telegraph expert rating
Il Baciarino comprises stone cabins built into the side of a mountain, with spectacular sea views towards the island of Giglio. Owner’s Clelia and Andrea met at his family’s former fishmonger, fell in love, and created the hotel together. The design details – driftwood sculptures, family photos, cosy communal spaces – make for an unforgettable experience. Communal dinners might include perfectly seasoned fresh anchovies, raw amberjack or homemade pasta. Read expert review From £62 per night
Casale Valigi
Narni, Umbria, Italy
8Telegraph expert rating
Rome has Palazzo Fendi; Florence has Gucci Garden; and Narni has Casale Valigi, the Umbrian answer to the fashion-branded hotel. Run by the founders of the same name, this farmhouse honours the region’s rural simplicity while imbuing it with an impeccably elegant style. Expect family antiques, French flea-market treasures, contemporary Groppi lighting and Artemide chairs. Outside, there is a saltwater pool and lush gardens. Each room has a charming original architectural detail. Read expert review From £103 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• An expert travel guide to Florence
La Locanda del Benaco
Lake Garda, Italy
9Telegraph expert rating
This stylish boutique hotel is situated along the waterfront promenade right in the heart of Salò. The rooms are designed with industrial materials including oxidised iron, slate and cement. The buzzing restaurant is rated among the best in the area: try lake fish alongside seasonal favourites. Staff can organise activities in the area including bikes, motorbikes and boat rental, along with water sports, paragliding and visits to wineries. Read expert review From £99 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Albergo il Monastero
Ischia, Naples, Italy
9Telegraph expert rating
A stylish boutique hotel housed in a former monastery within the medieval Aragonese Castle, perched atop a rocky outcrop connected to the island of Ischia by a narrow causeway. The castle is one of Ischia’s main attractions, and visitors queue for entry at the foot of the rocks. Hotel guests are waved on through and directed skyward in an lift shaft carved into the rocks, with pleasing echoes of a Bond villain’s lair. Bedrooms (originally monks’ cells) are fittingly modest and tranquil. Read expert review From £61 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best boutique Amalfi Coast hotels
FRANCE
Le Moulin du Roc
Champagnac-de-Belair, Aquitaine, France
8Telegraph expert rating
Le Moulin du Roc offers French heaven in a handsome mill and trout-serenaded brook. The 15 rooms slumber peacefully beneath beams and exposed stone; some have a private terrace overlooking the river, pristine green lawns and pool beyond. Foie gras, lamb, mushrooms, Périgord truffles and strawberries are among the local products exalted in the restaurant, which has had one Michelin star since 1979. Read expert review From £114 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Château de Mazan
Mazan, Provence, France
9Telegraph expert rating
Foodies and wine-lovers will lap up the Provençal lifestyle in this honey-toned hideaway, which was the Marquis de Sade’s ancestral home (the only memories of him are restricted to several languorous female nudes). Bedrooms reveal faded Empire-style furniture, romantic beds and glimpses of grounds planted with lavender beds, mulberry and olive trees. Staff can organise bikes or kayaking on the River Sorgue, though you might prefer to sip the signature peach and champagne cocktail poolside. Read expert review From £115 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Le Barn
8Telegraph expert rating
Le Barn crosses the bucolic charms of a French country home and the design chops of the ever-growing hip boutique hotel scene in Paris, providing a chic and relaxing base for Parisians and visitors, less than an hour out of the city. The main building houses the principal restaurant La Serre (the Greenhouse), set in a sun-dappled conservatory and dotted with greenery, offering views into the surrounding fields. Next door you will find L’atelier, another grass-roofed space where cookery and cocktail-making classes are held. There is a spa and wellness area housed in former flour mill. Read expert review From £139 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
SPAIN
Little Beach House
Garraf, Catalonia, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
Soho House’s take on a Spanish beachfront motel, in the small fishing village of Garraf, just 30 minutes’ drive from Barcelona. The group took over the former Hotel Quim which originally opened in the 1950s, and the retro feel still remains, not least because the interior design choices respect the hotel’s heritage: the restaurant tables, for example, were created using original designs. Sea View rooms are best. Read expert review From £116 per night
• The best hotels in Catalonia
Hotel Iraragorri
Galdakao, Basque Country, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
This 500 year-old farmhouse, on the outskirts of Bilbao, has been passed down generations – the youngest has made it into a boutique hotel, decorated by top interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán. Antique artworks, knick-knacks and furniture is arranged in a way that is distinctly modern, yet fully vintage. The restaurant, Petit Komitée, is farm-to-table inspired, so always ask what’s in season — you might be pleasantly surprised by, say, a simple heirloom tomato salad. Read expert review From £58 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Finca El Cerrillo
Malaga, Andalucia, Spain
9Telegraph expert rating
A beautifully blanched 200-year-old Andalucian finca framed by palms and pines, backed by the Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park. It was a working olive mill until the 1960s, then home to well-known artist Jack Rutherford. A flower-fringed path leads to the perfectly turquoise pool, gazing out across the valley and offset by red-and-white-striped sunbeds and terracotta tiles. Delicious Mediterranean dinners are served four nights a week. Read expert review From £78 per night
• An expert travel guide to Malaga
Hostal La Torre
San Antonio, Ibiza, Spain
8Telegraph expert rating
La Torre packs the essence of Ibiza into a deceptively simple package. The luxuries here are the kind that money just cannot buy: location, light and that all-important feel-good factor. It’s one of the best places on the island to watch the sun go down. The family behind the hotel – who also run the renowned Café Mambo – have got it down to a tee with a predominance of white, bleached wood and natural materials. Read expert review From £67 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
PORTUGAL
Companhia das Culturas
Castro Marim, Algarve, Portugal
8Telegraph expert rating
This rural, family-run hotel is a relaxing alternative to the Algarve’s usual resorts. There’s a simple, contemporary design ethos with polished concrete floors, whitewashed walls, mid-century furniture and a muted colour palette. Outside, there’s a pleasant garden and pool and you are welcome to walk through the farm and explore its produce. One of the highlights is the hotel’s hammam, an egg-shaped building with an interior of butter-coloured marble. Read expert review From £77 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• Scenic drives in the Algarve
Casa Azimute
Estremoz, Alentejo, Portugal
9Telegraph expert rating
On the parched plains of the Alentejo, amidst the olive groves, stands a beautifully restored, whitewashed farmhouse and a contemporary structure of varnished cement, glass and bold local tiles. It houses six simple rooms overlooking a pool and the medieval city of Estremoz beyond. Various activities include watersports, biking and hiking. And then, of course, there are the amazingly clear, star-filled nights to study with the Casa’s telescope. Read expert review From £99 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
CROATIA
Hotel Odisej Mljet
Pomena, Mljet, Croatia
8Telegraph expert rating
The finest hotel on Mljet – an island beloved of Jacques Cousteau – the Odisej is for hikers, bikers, wanderers and writers. It’s far removed from the fashions of Dubrovnik, a two-hour ferry putter away. It’s a place to linger over a seaside macchiato in a decades-old lounger, or lock your watch in the safe and wake up to sunshine, birdsong and a knockout Croatian breakfast. Read expert review From £35 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
GREECE
Mediterraneo
Kastellorizo, Greece
8Telegraph expert rating
Kastellorizo harbour is an artist’s dream of colourful shuttered houses huddled around a tear-shaped bay, backdropped by spectacular cliffs and snow-capped Turkish mountains. With its sculptures and lounging areas, vantage points and bold colour scheme, Mediterraneo feels like the kind of place Picasso might appear from with a paintbrush in his mouth. The hotel can organise boat trips to satellite islands, and to the breathtaking ‘Blue Cave’. Read expert review From £73 per night
White River Cottages
Crete, Greece
8Telegraph expert rating
Expect rustic charm with a good dose of comfort at this family-friendly retreat, located in the unspoilt eastern region of Crete. A winding path lined with shrubs and sweet-smelling flowers leads into the secret heart of the hobbit-like stone house complex which clusters around an attractive pool. Most areas have glorious views over the olive groves to a glimpse of shimmering sea beyond. Read expert review From £94 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• From Santorini to Skiathos, where to stay on the Greek Islands
TURKEY
Kekik Hotel
Selimiye, Turquoise Coast, Turkey
8Telegraph expert rating
This rustic, 12-room, adults-only hotel in the hills above Selimiye offers total peace and quiet and panoramic views. Yoga buffs can keep in shape in the big perspex yoga dome – there are workshops throughout the year – and there’s a small infinity pool with a sunbathing terrace, parasols and sun loungers. Locals come here for the fresh koöfte (meatballs), pirzola (Turkish lamb chops) and mezes of grilled vegetables. Read expert review From £81 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
