Villa Sant’Andrea Sicily, Italy

Located on one of the most beautiful coastlines in Italy, the striking Villa Sant’Andrea seafront five-star hotel occupies its own exclusive beach on the Bay of Mazzarò. Its setting is nothing short of divine: swaddled by lush, sub-tropical gardens, overlooking an aquamarine shoreline in the heart of Taormina’s seaside district.

Once privately owned by an aristocratic family, Villa Sant’Andrea now belongs to the Orient-Express stable. After recent refurbishment, the lion’s share of its 65 bright, spacious rooms enjoy views across Mazzarò Bay – several suites open onto balconies directly overlooking the sand. The hotel has been given a classy nautical makeover, with an uplifting mix of blue-and-white palettes and ocean chic. The Oliviero terrace restaurant serves up renowned local seafood with spectacular views of the Bay and the Calabrian coast.

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If you can pull yourself away from the hotel, Taormina (and Sicily) has plenty of other attractions, including the famous ancient Greek amphitheatre with views over the sea and Mount Etna. During its annual summer film festival it’s transformed into what must surely be the most beautiful alfresco cinema on earth.

Mazzarò and the small island Isola Bella below Taormina are perfect for youngsters, with coves and grottos to explore, pedalos and water sports. Head inland to Mount Etna for an excellent day trip. Tour operators in Taormina offer a four-by-four minibus tour of its safer craters, while a train trundles around its lower slopes.

Head north to Messina for historic streets and a vibrant, busy market, and don’t neglect bustling Palermo with its opulent Baroque churches. Smaller gems not to be missed are Castelbuono in the mountains; Monreale, a hill town with a marvellous cathedral, and the medieval village of Castelmola, with Mount Etna as its backdrop.

Columbia beach resort Pissouri, Cyprus

With gentle arches, sloping terracotta roofs and shutters, the Columbia Beach Resort, set around a stunning 80m lagoon-style pool, evokes the style of a traditional Cypriot fishing village. There the similarity ends, however. Tucked into sheltered Pissouri Bay on the island’s south coast, it’s a five-star, all-suite resort with a glorious 2km beach backed by spectacular valleys of dense vegetation. The views across the bay to the crystal clear sea beyond and the steep white cliffs of Cape Aspro are breathtakingly beautiful.

The interiors are pretty tasty as well. The 95 suites blend natural wood, stone floors and hand-woven furniture to tasteful effect, mirroring the colours of the ocean and surrounding landscape.

Given the wonderful coastal setting, the Columbia Beach Resort offers every imaginable water sport. But it also has an acclaimed spa – voted best on Cyprus last year, and best in the Mediterranean in 2009. Naturally, its restaurants and bars have won praise, including the newly opened Bacchus serving gourmet Italian, while the nautical-but-nice Eros bar has a high-powered telescope for guests to spot the stars while sipping on iced sundowners.

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Kourion, in the west of Cyprus near Episkopi, has extensive ruins including well-preserved mosaics, public baths and a spectacular Greco-Roman theatre. It’s pretty wonderful, and the stunning Mediterranean setting is an added bonus. It’s now used for open air music concerts and theatre performances. Culture vultures should also storm the island’s two castles including 12th-century Limassol near the old harbour with its museum of medieval artefacts, and Paphos, originally built as a Byzantine fort.

For the more energetic, there are four championship golf courses in the immediate vicinity – yes, four – including Elea designed by Nick Faldo, and myriad hiking opportunities in the Troodos Mountains with their traditional villages and orthodox churches. You might also develop a new passion for botany (there are more than 40 species of orchids) and twitching – the white cliffs on Pissouri Bay are a well known nesting ground for Griffon vultures.

But despite Cyprus’ rich nature and history and culture, if you’re travelling with children, you’ll inevitably be dragged to Paphos Aphrodite Waterpark. Be warned: the Freefall ride does exactly what it says on the tin with a near-vertical drop that actually lifts off the surface of the shoot for a few stomach-churning seconds.

Cap Rocat Mallorca, Spain

Stand at ease! Relaxation is the only command at the former fortress of Cap Rocat, clinging to a cliff in a secluded pocket of Palma bay. The 19th-century military base, built during the Spanish-American wars in case Uncle Sam arrived after invading Cuba, reopened as a five-star hotel two years ago. It remained a barracks until the mid-1990s – and new owner, Antonio Obrador, designer of the famous La Residencia in Deià has respected its heritage by keeping drawbridge, bunkers, trenches and crenellations. The 24 spacious rooms and suites, all with bathrooms of local marble with standalone tubs – are located in the old munition rooms, and feature flourishes including gun carriages as coffee tables and old bullets for door handles. Along with army history, it offers a world tour of style, blending Indian artefacts, Moroccan rugs and Balearic antiques. The fine-dining restaurant serves organic Mallorcan and Mediterranean cuisine including pimientos al piquillo (red pepper with cod and aioli dressing) and ox loin steak. Each suite has a patio, where breakfast of ham, cheeses and pan con tomate arrives in a basket with a side serving of splendid isolation: the hotel sits on a private peninsula, with its own beach, gardens and dazzling saltwater infinity pool.

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Mallorca’s bustling capital, Palma de Mallorca (also called Palma), on the island’s southern tip, is a vibrant mix of historical beauty and contemporary hipness. Most visitors arrive for its fashionable restaurants, nightclubs and retail therapy. But long before cocktails and ambient backing tracks, the Moors built Palma in the style of a kasbah, or walled city, and you can still see the ancient foundations. Old Palma, the higgle-piggle of streets around the grand Gothic cathedral, is a medina-like labyrinth of narrow cobblestone alleys that are worth an hour of anyone’s time to explore. Outside the capital, Mallorca’s east coast is a string of sandy bays and open beaches with dense tourist development, while much of its south coast intersperses rocky cliffs with beaches and coves. Away from the coast you’ll find superb walking country, so swap your espadrilles for hiking boots and head for the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range in the north-west – a spectacular hilly terrain of pine forests, olive groves and ochre-tinted villages. Or, for a walk on the wilder side, go bird-watching in the Parc Natural de s’Albufera wetlands in the north east. Further north, the villages of Fornalutx and Biniaraix, set amongst lemon and orange groves, are well worth a visit, as is the artists’ colony and creative hub Deià nearer towards the north coast, where the poet Robert Graves is buried.

Domes of Elounda Crete, Greece

It may sound like the latest Star Wars instalment, but The Domes of Elounda, on Crete’s north-east coast, is a super-stylish, five-star beach resort with bungalow-style luxury villas and secluded suites, many with private terraces and open-air plunge pools. Its superb location, kissing the Mediterranean, attracts a seriously diverse guest list, from families to honeymooners and couples fleeing the rat race. So expect olive trees rather than umbrellas on the hotel’s private beach – a serene stretch of untainted sand. Just a few kilometres from Elounda, the resort has marvellous views over the sun-washed sea to the picturesque island of Spinalonga, where British writer Victoria Hislop set her novel, The Island.

As its name suggests, curved rooftops feature prominently in the design – each of the 80 suites, villas and private residences has a windowed dome, allowing a constant flood of light. The accommodation mingles with a spa and beauty centre, and three restaurants; two of which – Topos 1910 and Tholos – are overseen by Michelin-starred chef, Philippe Geneletti. Dine with a chilled Cretan white, on a seafront deck under a star-specked sky.

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Crete continues to inspire painters, poets and visitors with its diverse and magnificent scenery. It’s a classic escape destination if you’re looking to avoid the wilder frontiers of Mediterranean nightlife and simply laze on a sun lounger, swim in a gleaming azure sea or explore truly lovely beaches, bays and fishing villages. Others appreciate Crete’s spectacular array of archaeological sites, from Byzantine churches and Minoan palaces to Venetian castles and Turkish minarets. It’s also dramatic, if sizzling, hiking terrain with flowery meadows, vineyards, orange grove and rugged mountains, all drizzled with isolated churches and forgotten ruins. Elounda is a charming and picturesque fishing village with a petite but perfectly formed harbour lined with cafes and tavernas, alongside a small sandy beach where you’ll eat fresh calamari, drink strong coffee and snooze, in no particular order. If you want a break from the fine art of doing nothing, the island of Spinalonga, with its dark history, opposite the charming neighbouring village of Plaka, remains uninhabited but is easily reached by short boat trip for an afternoon exploring old stone fortifications. Alternatively, the 13th-century Byzantine church of Kera, about 20km away in picturesque Kritsa, has frescoes deemed the most beautiful in Crete.

Hotel Bela Vista Algarve, Portugal

Family-run since 1934 when it was a small hotel of just 15 rooms, Hotel Bela Vista is a charming old seaside villa with two modern annexes, overlooking the sweeping Praia de Rocha beach. The hotel’s horseshoe shape allows all 38 rooms and suites a view of the attractive Praia da Luz bay – and all have balconies for alfresco dining. The five-star beachfront hotel’s recent makeover by French hotelier Thierry Naidu and well-known Portuguese interior designer Graca Viterbo, is modern, elegant and already considered an important part of the Algarve’s renaissance. Likely to attract seasoned tourists who previously bypassed the region, the décor blends the Algarve’s Moorish origins with a splash of South Beach Miami: white laminate furniture and Murano-style amber glass chandeliers, amid a blue, yellow and white palate. After a dip in the sea, try the new L’Occitane spa, opened this spring, with five treatment rooms, a sauna, hamman and wet relaxation area. Diverse pampering includes hot stone therapy, lymphatic drainage and Ayurvedic and Thai massages. With a dreamy terrace overlooking the ocean, the restaurant has traditional – relaxed and friendly – Portuguese service with a contemporary twist on traditional Algarve cooking.

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Whether it’s sweeping, dune-backed white beaches or enormous golden stretches of sand overlooked by outcrops of rock like Praia da Rocha, magnificent beaches are not the sum of the Algarve’s parts. The region is as varied and adventurous as you want it to be. While calmer Praia da Rocha is excellent for water sports like waterskiing, you can follow the dudes with six packs and boards, and head west along the coast for surfing. The water will be colder, but the reward is longer stretches of sand washed by elegy inducing Atlantic rollers. Behind the ocean, the Algarve is, of course, a golfer’s paradise, with courses, especially prestigious Vilamoura and legendary Vale de Lobo, considered among the best in Europe. For those who consider golf a good walk spoiled, the chestnut and almond forests around Monchique are threaded with ideal walking trails. While it’s true that some Algarve resorts are pock-marked by high-rise development, even the most touristy areas retain strong links with their fishing village roots – and that means hilltop churches and narrow streets of fishermen’s cottages. Portimão, nearby, is one of the largest towns in the region with excellent shopping, but don’t neglect smaller towns and villages. Most hold their own weekly street markets – the stalls at Quarteira on Wednesdays, and Loulé on Saturdays, are particularly good for crafts and local artisan foods.