The New Riviera
With its rich heritage and natural charms, the tiny state of Montenegro is a luxury-tourism magnet.
Are Montenegrins – all 622,000 of them – among the happiest people on the European continent?
They certainly seem to be. Happy, and patriotic. Strike up a conversation with anyone on the ground – a taxi driver, a pharmacist, a fishmonger – and you’ll likely hear all about how the smallest Balkan state by population (and second-smallest by area; only Kosovo is more diminutive) punches way above its weight in multiple categories, quality of life and longevity foremost among them.
Also: scenic capital. Which you’ll understand for yourself more or less as soon as you arrive. Croatia may have the sigh-worthy island escapes and Game of Thrones location cred, and Slovenia the verdant vineyards that have begotten a buzzy wine scene, but Montenegro harbours all manner of spectacular topography within its borders. There are cinematically pretty mountains, with at least two dozen peaks reaching 2000m or more skyward. There are undulating hills closer to the Adriatic, many planted with olive groves, organic orchards, or the country’s own new-ish vineyards – small-production, intriguing cultivators of both obscure local grapes and cabernet sauvignon that begets wines of surprising character. There are around 150 miles of photogenic coast, where pre-war Yugoslavian royalty kept their summer palaces.
And there is the Bay of Kotor, also known as Boka Bay, a UNESCO-protected World Heritage site – moving sinuously inland towards those sky-scraping limestone peaks, its inky-blue, calm waters hemmed by a coastline dotted with pretty villages. They owe their patrician 16th-century waterfronts to the reach and riches of the Maritime Republic of Venice, whose preserve this was for around three and a half centuries.
In the 21st century, prosperity of a different sort has come to Montenegro, in the form of an ultra-luxury tourism market. Post-war political stabilisation and the subsequent spate of inward investment have resulted in it becoming one of the Mediterranean’s boating and disporting capitals. Aman’s arrival in 2008, to (sensitively) remake the heritage village of Sveti Stefan as a chic five-star resort, was a harbinger. There followed a boom in high-end marina, lifestyle and residential development.
Among the key players are Porto Montenegro, which hosts a Regent hotel along with various bars, cafes and boutiques (and whose marina is home to a 250m berth, one of the largest in the world); and Lustica Bay, which boasts a luxury golf, townhouses, and a Chedi hotel and spa. All reasons that Boka, and Montenegro in general, is being billed by some as a New Riviera.
But for anyone shopping for a superlative holiday, or some seriously credentialled wellness, or – genius – a destination where you can combine them, Portonovi will be the place to set in the sights. The newest of the large developments, it has its own residences, its own giga-yacht berths. And it is where One & Only Hotels and Resorts has recently planted its flag – the first on the European continent for the Dubai-based company (though two more properties, in Greece, are soon to follow). A new market for the brand required some fresh thinking, and the O&O brass have both expanded on the conventional resort brief and engaged some compelling partners in their bid to become Montenegro’s, and one of Southern Europe’s, ne plus ultra luxury destinations.
A New Riviera Montenegro may be, or be touted as, but for the long-haul market Portonovi is competing with dozens of long-established and much-loved properties and places, from the Atlantic coast of Portugal to the far eastern reaches of the Aegean. That said, nowhere else in the Mediterranean currently combines the full services of a luxury resort, a private beach and beach club, residences (some of which also form part of the hotel’s room inventory), a Michelin chef-manned restaurant, and – here is the real USP – the full medical-spa services and programs of one of the world’s pre-eminent wellness purveyors.
First, the hotel itself. One & Only engaged Jean-Michel Gathy to oversee the architecture and design of its various elements (name a luxury hotel company, from LMVH’s Cheval Blanc to Aman or Four Seasons, and Gathy’s firm, Denniston, has left its elegant mark on one of its properties somewhere). Here at Portonovi, Gathy took inspiration from Kotor’s Venetian heritage: the signifiers, from the rosy terracotta roof tiles to the colonnades, leaven the otherwise imposing scale of the buildings. Square and solid, they enclose pristine lawns lined with cypresses and date palms. The wide powdery beach, raked to perfection each early morning, faces almost due west and delivers postcard sunsets; behind it, a bi-level infinity pool extends to the sand’s edge.
I – you – may not always be 100 per cent in accord with the One & Only school of interior design. Minimalist it almost never is, and some of the public spaces here lay on the multi-height chandeliers and marble and metallic surfaces a bit thick. But equally, when they nail the balance of indulgence, understatement, and place-appropriate materials and volumes (see Wolgan Valley in NSW), the result can be very satisfying indeed. Such is the case here once you’re inside the rooms and suites, which are huge, and progress broadly in a loose horseshoe form, from the generous entrances, with spacious, mirrored wardrobes, through to the bedroom, where one wall is fitted with elegant floor-to-ceiling shelving lined with art tomes and novels and a well-lit workspace (not that you want to get up to much of that, but good to have when needs must). The light pours in from glass doors leading to a covered veranda; tufted leather and soft chenille abound; floors are elegant herringbone oak.
A wide doorway, anchored in one corner by a sleek glass-and-metal cheminée, leads to an enormous bathroom, with twin basins and more wardrobes. Gathy’s skills really come through here: the space essentially doubles as a sitting room, with a generous chaise longue at its centre and a bathtub cleverly configured to become a huge window seat, or even a child’s bed, thanks to a removable wood cover that’s cushioned and upholstered.
Design is subjective, but superlative eating and drinking experiences aren’t; this is where One & Only Portonovi absolutely nails the brief. Having enlisted the estimable talents of Giorgio Locatelli (whose Locanda Locatelli in London earned him his stripes decades ago), One & Only gave him Sabia, the beach bar and restaurant, in which to flex his skills. It’s hard to say which is more satisfying, the space itself – all light wood, sand-hued tiles, travertine terrazzo floors, blue and white accents, and walls of glass doors folded back to let in the views – or the food. Locatelli’s menu mixes classic Northern and Southern Italian with a few of his signatures (the baby spinach with grapefruit, pomegranate and delicately smoked ricotta doesn’t have much to do with Piedmont, but it is a banger of a dish).
At Tapasake, meanwhile – part of the beach club on site, which is operated by the resort but open for day passes, or lunch-dinner-drinks, to outside guests – the menu fuses Asian and Latin traditions. This might mean spicy salmon or ponzu-wagyu “tacos”, various ceviches and nigiri, or furikake hummus with crudites. I more or less sampled my body weight in its extensive list of small plates and entrees; everything dazzled, the dishes playing with citrus, umami, heat and buttery sweetness all the way through. There are some assertively creative cocktails, and – as across all the food and drinking outlets on site – an impressive wine list, not only for the selection of prestige cuvees and super Tuscans but also for its focus on interesting Balkan wines, including ones from Croatia’s emerging Istria region, Serbia and Slovenia.
The whole is made significantly more satisfying by the fact it’s all run by a 28-year-old female sommelier – Rafaela Pons, a native of Ecuador who has also curated an intriguing series of tastings and winery visits. She’s one of two powerhouse women who make the dining here so strong; the other is Australian Nancy Kinchela, who was brought over from Wolgan Valley. Kinchela brings a wealth of multinational experience (including stints at the Savoy in London and the Northern Californian cult favourite, Heritage House). She spent almost two years prior to the opening researching local farms, fishmongers, butchers, olive mills and more; their output accounts for around 80 per cent of what you eat when you’re there (organic and biodynamic are drivers, of course), and they also factor into a further portfolio of experiences and excursions offered year round.
Because it turns out there’s quite a bit worth experiencing in this tiny country, much of which, thanks to those compact dimensions, is easily accessed. Some of the more elementary must-dos – such as a visit to the island church of Our Lady of the Rocks, for instance, or to Kotor’s Old Town to admire the gorgeous, tiny 14th-century Church of St Luke, with its late-medieval frescoes of saints – are elevated with private boats and excellent guides.
I spent half a warm late-September day with a young historian on a sleek speedboat (one of two the resort owns) skimming the far reaches of the bay, visiting the charming maritime museum tucked into the side of Our Lady of the Rocks (full of fascinating stories, and thousands of silver votive tablets, brought back by grateful sailors, which clad the tiny church’s walls), and wandering old Kotor’s narrow back streets, where the mayor offered a grin and a handshake as he loped by. You can also hike fairly deep into the mountainous interior with a naturalist – or scale peaks with a trail runner; or tour historic sites spanning the 13th to the 20th centuries in the resort’s 55-year-old Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, which once belonged to Marshal Tito.
Back at the One & Only, the one experience not to be missed is Chenot Espace. Housed in its own building on the north side of the resort, the full-service medical wellness facility, spa and salon is only the third comprehensive Chenot-branded destination in Europe (the others are in Switzerland and Franciacorta, Italy). A staff of doctors, physios and massage therapists, osteopaths, a nutritionist (who works closely with Kinchela on menus calibrated for gluten, fat, sugar and carb content), and various other specialists are teamed with experts in eastern and alternative medicines and therapies. Physically, it’s a sleek multi-storey affair, replete with marble and curving staircases and next-generation gym equipment, a thalasso-therapy circuit and a cryro-therapy chamber as large as one of the hotel rooms.
The beauty of a full Chenot Espace on site at a resort like this is that you can pick and choose, mix and match wellness with indulgence. There are four- and seven-day detox programs offered year round, with dedicated medical attention and bespoke menus, state-of-the-art arteriographs, dermal ultrasounds, cardiovascular risk and redox assessments (that’s how effectively your body processes free radicals, for the wellness philistine), heavy metal and vitamin content testing, and more. There are half- and full-day massage and skincare treatment packages with Chenot’s own excellent products, and free use of the saunas, steam rooms, ice baths and truly massive indoor pool. And there’s a beauty salon for scalp cleanses, a blow-dry or a gel mani-pedi. You can go full wellness, or dip a (prettily painted) toe in. You can take on all of it, or just a single pampering component, while still enjoying the beach at sunset, the spoiling surrounds of the rooms and suites, the groove of the evening DJ sets at Tamasake (there’s a nice list of low-sugar non-alcoholic drinks, but in any case you can just have your bespoke juices or tisanes sent over from the Espace).
And while not everything was perfect during my stay, the enthusiasm quotient among the young staff more than made up for a few blips in service (par for the course in any hotel’s first few months of operation, and a norm that Covid has only exacerbated the world over). The landscaping, still raw last summer, will be lush by June 2022 and the service kinks likely smoothed away. The beach will – again – be beckoning. One & Only has big plans for this little country; but so far, it’s a pretty good fit.
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