4 Best Hotels in Montenegro

The owners of this family-run boutique hotel were inspired by local sea captains bringing back treasures from around the world. The rooms and suites in the hotel's three 18th-century stone buildings are named after ships in the fleet belonging to the original owners and are furnished with antiques. The public spaces all feature funky combinations of ornate details and showcase local artists and jewelry makers. Tea is served in the library in commissioned screen-printed bone china, while the bar serves unique cocktails. Other offerings include an outdoor pool, sauna, and mini-fitness studio. The hotel is on the seafront in the village of Dobrota, 4 km (2 miles) from Kotor. For those arriving by boat, the hotel has its own mooring facilities.

In the heart of the Old Town, the quirky Hotel Astoria and its restaurant, housed in a 13th-century town house, is a breath of fresh air amid the blander options elsewhere in the center of Kotor. The bar and restaurant area incorporates tree trunks and branches intertwined with an elaborate mythological account of the development of the Greek alphabet (after which each room is named).

This solid old hotel is as magically central as it gets, occupying the 19th-century Napoléon Theatre, the 18th-century Duke's Palace, and other historic buildings on the Old Town's main square. The spacious rooms and suites have fantastic views—all looking onto the square below—and heavy decor with ochre yellow walls, beige curtains and bedspreads, and gray marble en suite bathrooms. Public spaces are decorated with reproduction pictures of seascapes and ships and portraits of local sea captains. Revelers can hit the in-house nightclub and casino before calling it a night.

The family-run Hotel Monte Cristo, housed in a 13th-century building (once the home of the first Bishop of Kotor), offers reasonably priced accommodation in the heart of the Old Town. Its on-site sister restaurant, Luna Rossa, is also a draw, with the choice between a vine-dappled rooftop café and seating in the square. The hotel is rustic in style, with revealed stonework in the rooms, all of which have views of the charming square.