The List
Stays We’re Loving
A running list of hotels that deliver real luxury for far less than you’d expect — places we’ve actually stayed and still think about. Each one earns its spot by punching well above its price.
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The affordable Aman
Naman Retreat — Da Nang, Vietnam
A wellness resort that feels like an Aman for a fraction of the price — and it includes one spa treatment for every night you stay.
Naman sits on the white-sand coast between Da Nang and Hoi An, with vertical gardens spilling down its walls and a wall-less spa open to the sea air. Every guest gets a 50-minute treatment per night, plus daily yoga and meditation. It was named Vietnam’s Best Wellness Retreat at the 2024 World Spa Awards, and the free shuttle drops you in Hoi An — the lantern-lit old town famous for same-day custom tailoring and handmade leather. We still think about this one years later.
- Good for: a slow, restorative week where the resort is the destination.
- Roughly: mid-range luxury — a true Aman runs several times more.
Two Michelin stars downstairs
Villa Favorita — San Sebastián, Spain
A 19th-century villa directly on La Concha — arguably Europe’s most beautiful city beach — with a two-Michelin-star restaurant downstairs.
Villa Favorita is the last grand villa still standing on San Sebastián’s famous crescent bay, restored into a 23-room, adults-only boutique hotel where most rooms face the water. Downstairs is Amelia by Paulo Airaudo, holding two Michelin stars — dinner is a thirty-second walk from your bed. It costs more than our other picks, but for a night or two of unforgettable views, flawless service, and small luxuries that stay with you (yes, the heated Japanese toilet), it earns every euro.
- Good for: a special-occasion night or two, not a long stay.
- Roughly: top of our range — but a fraction of a comparable seafront suite on the Riviera.
Movie night, grown-up edition
POD Camps Bay — Cape Town, South Africa
A sleek, modern boutique hotel steps from Cape Town’s “Malibu” beach that won’t wreck your budget — and will bring popcorn to your room.
POD Camps Bay is a five-star design hotel about fifty metres from the Camps Bay beachfront, surrounded by some of the city’s best restaurants and sunset bars. It’s all clean lines, sea views, and warm service at a price that undercuts Cape Town’s flashier names. Our favourite touch: on the nights you’d rather stay in, you pick a film from their DVD menu and they send up popcorn, sweets, and hot chocolate. Luxury that knows when to be cozy.
- Good for: a stylish base for Cape Town with permission to recharge.
- Roughly: accessible luxury — strong value for a five-star beach address.
Five-star, fraction of the price
The Peninsula Bangkok — Thailand
One of the world’s great luxury hotels, at a nightly rate that would barely cover breakfast at its sister properties.
Every one of the Peninsula Bangkok’s 370 rooms faces the Chao Phraya River, with a three-tiered pool running down to the water and the hotel’s own shuttle boats ferrying you to the Skytrain and ICONSIAM. It’s the same white-glove Peninsula service you’d find in Hong Kong, Paris, or Beverly Hills — for a fraction of what those cities charge. If you’ve ever wanted to know what genuine five-star feels like without the five-star sting, start here.
- Good for: a first taste of grand-hotel luxury, or a riverside splurge that doesn’t feel like one.
- Roughly: high-end, but routinely half (or less) of comparable Peninsulas abroad.
Charming, historic, a little haunted
The Garrison Inn — Newburyport, Massachusetts
A boutique inn inside an 1809 brick mansion in one of New England’s prettiest seaside towns — ghost stories included.
The Garrison Inn anchors Brown Square in Newburyport, a walkable coastal town of bookshops, clapboard houses, and good food an hour north of Boston. The building dates to around 1809 and is named for the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison; its restored rooms and downstairs dining make it a cozy weekend base. It also has a genuine haunted reputation — room 408 is where the stories cluster — which, depending on your temperament, is either a reason to book or a reason to bring a friend.
- Good for: a New England fall weekend, leaf-peeping, and a town worth slowing down in.
- Roughly: approachable boutique pricing — a charming-inn rate, not a resort one.
More stays, tables, and bookshop-worthy detours land in Borrowed Time, our weekly note. One thoughtful guide a week — no noise.
Borrowed Luxury 