The Best Boutique Hotels Around the World: My All-Time Favorite Stays

Last Updated on October 30, 2026 by Lauren Belzer Sanford

Some hotels fade the moment you check out. Others stay with you for years: the light across a stone courtyard, the welcome prosecco, the staff who treated you like family by the second morning. This list is only the second kind.

Every hotel here is one I’ve personally stayed at, from the masserie where Max and I spent our wedding week in Puglia in June 2025, to the hotels that carried us through our Italian honeymoon, a family trip to Lisbon in the fall of 2023, and a few favorites closer to home in California. Many are small, family-run, and far from famous, which is exactly the charm. It’s an ever-evolving guide, and a hotel only gets added once it’s earned its place.

The best boutique hotel I’ve ever stayed at is Masseria Le Torri, a whitewashed masseria in the countryside near Polignano a Mare in Puglia, and it’s firmly in my top five stays of all time. For a city, Stella d’Italia in Florence is my pick: a 16th-century palazzo on Via Tornabuoni with just 24 rooms. For the beach, Hotel Buca di Bacco sits right above Positano’s main beach. And in the U.S., The Bower on Coronado Island and Stanly Ranch in Napa are the two I’d book again first.

What Is a Boutique Hotel?

To me, a boutique hotel is a smaller property, usually well under 75 rooms, that puts distinctive design, personal service, and a real sense of place first. Instead of cookie-cutter layouts and standard-issue amenities, it leans into character: thoughtful interiors, locally inspired touches, and a stay that feels one of a kind.

And yes, a hotel can still be boutique if it belongs to a larger group or collection, as long as it keeps its individuality and charm. That’s why one Auberge property made the list below.

Europe

Europe is where my love for boutique hotels really comes alive: centuries-old buildings turned into stylish retreats, countryside masserie that feel like a secret, and city stays that put the whole old town at your door.

AlmaLusa Baixa/Chiado – Lisbon, Portugal

When I visited Lisbon with my parents and younger sister in the fall of 2023, we stayed at AlmaLusa Baixa/Chiado, a boutique hotel with just 28 rooms and suites right on Praça do Município, in front of Lisbon’s City Hall. The location couldn’t have been more central. We explored most of the city on foot (and if you know Lisbon, you know there were plenty of hills involved), with Time Out Market Lisboa, Praça do Comércio, and the Rua Augusta arch all within reach.

My parents had a spacious Triple Room with its own fireplace and sitting area, while my sister and I shared a Mini Deluxe, cozy and perfect for what we needed. In the evenings, saxophonists and street musicians filled the square below, the most magical soundtrack to come home to. What sets AlmaLusa apart is how deeply it leans into Portuguese culture, from the design details to the local brands throughout, down to the Portuguese tea always waiting in the lobby. It made an easy home base for the city and for our day trip to Sintra, which you can book as a guided day tour from Lisbon. For more options across the city, see my guide to where to stay in Lisbon.

Masseria Grieco – Ostuni, Italy

Set in the Valle d’Itria just outside Ostuni, Masseria Grieco is one of the most stunning properties in Puglia and, for me, the most meaningful: it’s where we celebrated our destination wedding in Puglia in June 2025. A masseria is a traditional Apulian farmhouse, and Grieco is a restored 16th-century one, now a boutique hotel with 25 rooms.

Think centuries-old stone, a courtyard in front of a little stone chapel, and trulli-style roofs. The grounds are expansive, the pool is a showstopper, and the staff could not have been sweeter or more accommodating. Our time here was all wedding, so I’d love to return as a hotel guest someday, to have dinner at its restaurant and take in the place alongside fellow travelers. Knowing we can come back year after year to somewhere that already holds so many of our memories is its own kind of magic.

Masseria Le Torri – Polignano a Mare, Italy

Some hotels come and go from memory; others etch themselves into your heart. Masseria Le Torri is one of those rare places, and it’s firmly in my top five stays of all time. Tucked into the countryside near Polignano a Mare, this whitewashed masseria was our home base for three nights with our families just before the wedding.

From the moment we arrived, owners Mimmo and Silvana and their staff treated us like family. The property feels like stepping into a dream: bright white walls, citrus trees and olive groves all around, and a sense of magic that’s hard to put into words. We spent a day in Monopoli and took a boat tour to Polignano a Mare from here, and I’d recommend both to anyone staying nearby. My full review of Masseria Le Torri has the whole story, but it bears repeating: this is the boutique hotel that set my bar impossibly high.

Masseria Santo Scalone – Ostuni, Italy

Fifteen minutes from Grieco, Masseria Santo Scalone is where we spent the first three nights of our Italian honeymoon, slowing down and savoring Puglia at a gentler pace after the joyful chaos of the wedding. It’s one of the oldest buildings in the Ostuni area, with all-stone interiors, terraces shaded by old olive trees, and a gorgeous pool.

We spent our days poolside under orange umbrellas with Aperol spritzes, and our first night ended with a four-course Apulian dinner from the chef. I wrote a full recap of our stay at Masseria Santo Scalone, but what stood out most was the warmth: beautiful grounds, generous hospitality, and the sense that time had slowed down just for us. For more masserie across the region, my guide to where to stay in Puglia goes deeper.

Hotel Buca di Bacco – Positano, Italy

From Puglia, our honeymoon carried us to the Amalfi Coast and three nights at Hotel Buca di Bacco, a four-star boutique hotel right above Spiaggia Grande, Positano’s main beach. You’re steps from the sand, the boat dock, the waterfront shops, and the best restaurants in town.

We booked the lowest room category, which still came with a door facing the sea, and that view was what we looked forward to every morning. Breakfast on the terrace over the beach quickly became our favorite ritual, and the staff went out of their way to make our stay feel special. There’s no pool, but with the beach right below, we never missed it. The full story is in my review of Hotel Buca di Bacco, and my guide to the best hotels in Positano covers more options. If you want a day on the water, a private boat tour from Positano is the classic.

Stella d’Italia – Florence, Italy

For the Florence chapter of our honeymoon, we based ourselves at Stella d’Italia, set inside a 16th-century palazzo on Via Tornabuoni, Florence’s famous luxury shopping street, with charming everyday side streets just around the corner.

Each of its 24 rooms is unique, and for peak season in Italy, ours felt like a genuine value: spacious, high-ceilinged, full of natural light, and pink, because they gave us the room I’d requested by email before our stay. Breakfast was included, though we still snuck out for an espresso and pastry most mornings. The Duomo, the Uffizi, and the wine windows were all a short walk away, and coming back each evening, pre-aperitivo and post-dinner, felt like stepping into a stylish little sanctuary. My guide to boutique hotels in Florence has more picks, including the sister hotels.

Casa Monti Roma – Rome, Italy

In Rome, we stayed at Casa Monti, the first Italian property from the small, family-owned collection behind La Fantaisie in Paris and Cœur de Megève in the French Alps. It pairs the Monti neighborhood’s creative, bohemian energy with color, thoughtful detail, and the cozy-luxe feel boutique hotels do best.

We only had two nights, but we made the most of the restaurant, the rooftop bar, and the lobby bar, and peeked into the Susanne Kaufmann spa on our way through. I loved the design of every single space. My guide to boutique hotels in Rome has more picks across the city.

If you’re packing for any of these, my Euro Summer Outfits collection on ShopMy is where I keep my favorite pieces for warm-weather Europe.

United States

Boutique hotels aren’t always the first thing people picture in the U.S., but these two prove you don’t need to cross an ocean for a stay with real character. I’ll keep adding to this section as I find new favorites stateside.

Stanly Ranch, Auberge Collection – Napa, California

A quick note: with 135 cottage-style rooms, Stanly Ranch is bigger than most people picture when they think boutique. But as part of the Auberge Resorts Collection, it has everything I value in a boutique stay: distinctive design, a strong sense of place, and an experience that feels personal rather than corporate.

Max and I stayed here the night we got engaged in December 2023, and it’s one of the most beautiful properties I’ve ever set foot on. Spread across 712 acres of vineyards and farmland at the southern edge of Napa, it feels expansive and unhurried: standalone cottages, endlessly photogenic grounds, and that golden-hour glow that makes Napa feel like nowhere else, even in winter. It’s a splurge, no question. But for an engagement, an anniversary, or a milestone birthday, it earns its price tag completely, and Bear is one of my favorite restaurants in the valley. More picks in my guide to where to stay in Napa Valley.

The Bower – Coronado Island, California

The Bower is the reason I finally had a proper stay on Coronado. It opened in March 2025 as a 39-room boutique hotel, and in June 2026 it became the first Small Luxury Hotels of the World member on the island.

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We stayed for Max’s birthday, and what struck me most was how unhurried everything felt. Instead of a traditional front desk, you sit down at a counter for a chat at check-in, and the free electric bikes make getting around the island easy. The rooms are neutral and simple, with Frette linens and Le Labo toiletries and no visual noise at all. My guide to where to stay in San Diego has more picks, from La Jolla to Coronado.

Bookmark this one and come back for updates. As new places earn their spot, I’ll keep adding them here, and each destination guide linked above goes deeper on a single place. And for the hotels I haven’t made it to yet, there’s my 2026 boutique hotel bucket list.