Summer is here – properly here – and the question returns: where does one actually summer now? Not just where to go, but where to be seen, and where long afternoons roll straight into late nights without anyone really marking the change.
Across the Mediterranean and beyond, a new wave of beach clubs is rewriting that answer. Less seasonal noise, more substance – places where design, food, landscape, and atmosphere operate as one.
These are the beach clubs worth booking, planning for, and showing up to this summer.
St Tropez – Lily of the Valley Beach Experience
St Tropez has always lived in contrast. One side is the polished version everyone recognises; the other is more grounded, and just out of frame. At Lily of the Valley above Plage de Gigaro, it’s the second version that takes over.
Designed by Philippe Starck and set within the Cap Lardier nature reserve, the property feels embedded in the landscape rather than placed on it. Pine forest, shifting light, and open sea do most of the work. Architecture stays low, clean, and just what you want.
Down on the beach, that same language continues. La Brigantine brings a simple Italian-led menu to the Côte d’Azur – lunches that stretch longer than planned, without anyone rushing them along. Nearby, Pépé covers the more casual side of the day: quick plates, fresh juices, and easy stops between swims.
This isn’t a static setup. You move through it. Swimming, sea walking, paddleboarding, cycling through the reserve – it all folds into the day without structure. Nothing is over-designed, which is exactly why it works.
It’s the type of place that works just as well for long days with your partner as it does for switching off entirely between the sea, the sun, and everything else on your own. Book here
Amalfi Coast – Le Sirenuse Mare, Nerano
The Amalfi Coast doesn’t really change – it resets every summer with a slightly different angle. Positano gets the attention, but Nerano has always moved at its own pace: smaller, more local, less performative, and exactly why we love it.
Le Sirenuse Mare brings the Le Sirenuse world down from Positano into Nerano, extending its language from hillside hotel to shoreline club without breaking character.
Arriving by boat sets the tone. The club unfolds across terraces that step down from pebble beach to sea, with sunbeds, dining areas, and swimming platforms shaped by the natural slope. It feels integrated rather than imposed.
At its centre is a 180-cover restaurant by Francesco De Simone, rooted in Campanian cooking: seafood, seasonal produce, and sharing plates designed for long lunches that don’t check the time. Elsewhere, Bar Mare and Rose’s Bar carry the day into aperitivo and late-afternoon drinks by the water.
Art is threaded through the space – from Giuseppe Ducrot’s fountain to works by Rose Wylie and Bosco Sodi placed across the terraces. It adds weight without formality.
It works for everything from long lunches with friends to slower days spent drifting between swimming, eating, and the water’s edge. Book here
Sumba – Nio Beach Club at NIHI Sumba
Some beach clubs are designed to be seen. Nio Beach Club is designed for the opposite.
Set within NIHI Sumba – a remote island hideaway in Indonesia – it sits in a landscape defined by jungle, empty coastline, and the Indian Ocean at full scale. Sumba itself is only an hour from Bali, but feels entirely removed from it.
At the centre is an open-air pavilion and a 20-metre infinity pool looking straight out to sea. Days unfold without urgency: swim, eat, sit, repeat. Offshore, surfers work the NIHI break while everything else slows around them.
Beyond the club, the island takes over. Horseback rides through jungle trails, hidden coves, long stretches of coastline with no infrastructure. There’s no need to stage moments here – the place already does the work. Book here
Mykonos – Anandes
Mykonos has never lacked energy. What’s changing now is how it’s having a rebirth – with more emphasis on space, privacy, and a more intentional way of experiencing the island. Anandes sits directly within that shift.
Above Mykonos Town, this adults-only boutique property looks across the island’s familiar landscape – whitewashed buildings stacked into the hillside, windmills on the ridge, the Aegean stretching out in every direction.
The design is stripped back: Cycladic architecture reduced to stone, limewash, timber, and linen. Suites with private pools or hot tubs set the pace. Days don’t need structure. Mornings are made memerable, afternoons drift, and evenings arrive without any real transition.
There’s a spa, hammam, and gym, but nothing here pushes itself forward. It’s built for space between things – whether you’re here solo, or with a partner using it as a base between nights out.Book now
Andalusia – Alma Beach Club at OKU Andalusia
Southern Spain already understands summer. Alma Beach Club at OKU Andalusia takes that tempo and sharpens it for a more contemporary audience.
Set on the Costa del Sol with views stretching across the Mediterranean towards Africa, it brings OKU’s minimalist design into a warmer, sun-heavy context. Neutral tones, stone, timber, oversized daybeds – all built for long hours outside.
The day moves in stages. Calm poolside mornings lead into long, produce-led lunches rooted in Andalusian cuisine. By late afternoon, the tempo lifts – cocktails appear, music rises, and everything settles into golden hour.
It works for groups and couples alike – especially those who want a space that can hold both downtime and energy without changing identity. Nothing here is overworked. It doesn’t need to be. Book now
