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Beach Hotels: Editor's Top 10

Our Editor's Top 10 list for Beach Hotels helps you decide where you want to go. Editor's Top 10 lists offer selections from our editors that help you plan your travel based on your lifestyle, entertainment, sightseeing, or recreation options.

For a memorable beach vacation, head to one of the coastal hotels on this list. Convenience to the shore combines nicely with comfortable accommodations and good dining to provide you with a fun, relaxing, sun-kissed visit. If lazing by the ocean and strolling for seashells sounds like your idea of an ideal vacation, choose one of these hotels hand-picked just for you.
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17 Hotels Found
1. Disney's Vero Beach Resort Add to eGuidebook
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$199-$1,150 
Built: 1995 
9250 Island Grove Terrace, Vero Beach, FL
Located off I-95 at exit 156, between A1A and the ocean, two hours' drive south from Orlando, this was one of Disney's first vacation-club time-share operations (similar properties have since sprouted up in Hilton Head and Orlando). Little has changed here since the hotel renovated back in 2004, tho... Read Entire Review »
2. Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel Add to eGuidebook
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$326-$2,500 
Built: 1989 
Renovated: 2001 
1700 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, CA
Abutting Santa Monica's colorful boardwalk and eyeing one of America's widest golden sand beaches, this outstanding beachfront hotel is a smaller, sleeker version of the more conservative Fairmont Miramar, a hotel geared to those who prefer Blackberries to briefcases. Although the newer Le Merigot n... Read Entire Review »
3. Malibu Beach Inn Add to eGuidebook
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$375-$725 
Built: 1989 
Renovated: 2003 
22878 Pacific Hwy, Malibu, CA
Located 8 miles northwest of Sunset Boulevard, this inn is wedged between busy Highway 1 and one of Mailbu's most star-studded strands, Carbon Beach (Courtney Cox and David Arquette have put their neighboring 4,500-sq-ft beach cottage up for sale for $32 million). With the soaring cost of real estat... Read Entire Review »
4. Le Meridien Eilat Add to eGuidebook
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$157-$175 
Renovated: 2004 
Northern Shore, Eilat, Israel
At the far southwestern end of the hotel strip, next to prestigious Hayam Mall, one km from the airport, this all-suite operation caters specifically to individual tourists. Unlike the more commercial Magic Palace and Dan Panorama Eilat, its competitors in the middle range, this hotel offers up styl... Read Entire Review »
5. Tambor Tropical Add to eGuidebook
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$140-$190 
Tambor Beach, Tambor Bay, Tambor, Costa Rica
The idyllic, authentic tropical jungle fishing village of Tambor and its beloved luxury hotel that is organically entwined with the jungle on Tambor Bay come as a surprise to travelers who think that they know Guanacaste. Unlike the rapidly developing northwest, this southern tip of the province, on... Read Entire Review »
6. Hotel Capitan Suizo Add to eGuidebook
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$130-$500 
Built: 1995 
Renovated: 2004 
Playa Tamarindo s/n, Tamarindo, Costa Rica
One of the few Small Distinctive Hotels of Costa Rica, this hotel keeps alive its dedication to nature in spite of being located on the outskirts of one of the country's most congested beaches, which is overrun with surfers, tourists, shops and a plentitude of hotel and condo constructions. A simply... Read Entire Review »
7. Horned Dorset Primavera Hotel Add to eGuidebook
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$510-$1,585 
Built: 1987 
Renovated: 1997 
Carr 429, Km 3 Po Box 1132, Rincon, Puerto Rico
The only Relais & Chateaux property on the island, this hideaway remains Puerto Rico's most select retreat. The operating principle still proudly touts "No Activities." Forget about crab races or limbo contests. Reading seems to be the primary occupation of guests, though there are some complimentar... Read Entire Review »
8. Hotel Santa Fe Add to eGuidebook
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$105-$245 
Calle Pel 6 Morro Numero, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico
On a rocky point separating the calm town beach from world-famous Zicatela surfing beach, one km south of town, this property is the only real international-standard hotel between Acapulco and Huatulco. Consequently, it can be hard to book, with most reservations being made through the hotel's direc... Read Entire Review »
9. Pestana Alvor Praia Add to eGuidebook
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$322-$346 
Built: 1968 
Renovated: 2003 
Praia Dos Tres Irmaos, Alvor, Portugal
Next to a condominium development, 4 km southwest of town and 55 km west of Faro, this property boasts one of the prettiest and most accessible beaches along the Algarve. This is one of the top midrange hotels in the Algarve, attracting the upper crust of the British and German charter and group bus... Read Entire Review »
10. The Lodge at Pebble Beach Add to eGuidebook
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$645-$1,950 
Built: 1919 
1700 17 Mile Dr, Pebble Beach, CA
Hugging one of the most scenic coastlines in the world, and reached by one of only a few private toll roads west of the Mississippi, two miles northwest of Carmel, this is the classic West Coast golf resort. Though others surpass this one in service and quality of amenities, The Lodge remains incomp... Read Entire Review »
11. Jumeirah Beach Hotel Add to eGuidebook
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$273-$2,564 
Built: 1997 
Renovated: 2005 
Jumeirah Beach Rd, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
This hotel instantly became a Dubai landmark after it opened in 1997 thanks to its striking architecture imitating a breaking wave. The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, together with the iconic Burj al Arab across the bay and the glorified Madinat, are the most talked-about hotel complexes in the Middle East.... Read Entire Review »
12. Elounda Beach Hotel & Villas Add to eGuidebook
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$794-$5,397 
Built: 1971 
Renovated: 2007 
Elounda, Elounda, Crete Island, Greece
Nine km from town, this hotel is one of the best of the big lavish resorts clustered along this tony stretch of coastline, along with Porto Elounda and its adjoining sibling, The Peninsula. Elounda Mare offers more personality, however, and its small scale is a definite plus for escapists. All four... Read Entire Review »
13. Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel Add to eGuidebook
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$404-$2,150 
Built: 1929 
Renovated: 2004 
Avenue Princesse Grace, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France
Just meters from Monaco, this hotel is, for all intents and purposes, part of the Rainier domain. The gracious, spacious 1929 beach resort is under the umbrella of Rainier's Societe des Bains de Mer (SBM). Lucky lodgers here have access to that group's spectacular facilities: the adjacent beach club... Read Entire Review »
14. Shutters on the Beach Add to eGuidebook
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$400-$2,500 
Built: 1993 
Renovated: 2004 
1 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA
Located at the start of Pico Boulevard, on a sandy plot abutting the boardwalk and its only real competitor here, Casa Del Mar. This refined Los Angeles beach house could almost fool guests into believing they've landed in the Hamptons. A favorite of Hollywood's rich and celebrated for more than a d... Read Entire Review »
15. Jamaica Inn Add to eGuidebook
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$280-$1,600 
Built: 1950 
Renovated: 2000 
Main St/Old Rd 1 Po Box 1, Ocho Rios, Jamaica
This property is one of the few remaining traditional beach hotels. A paragon of the posh 1950s Jamaican resort, this is the kind of hotel where room-service dinners are served course by course, just as they were when Winston Churchill, Errol Flynn, Noel Coward and Ian Fleming were guests. It remain... Read Entire Review »
16. Hotel Morabeza Add to eGuidebook
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$109-$315 
Built: 1967 
Santa Maria Beach, Santa Maria, Ilha do Sal, Cape Verde
This Belgian-owned hotel has expanded from a wealthy family home built in 1967 into a large beachside resort. Rooms are in low-rise blocks spread over a few hundred yards with direct access to the stunning beach. A new reception has been built but has not opened because of incomplete road access. Th... Read Entire Review »
17. Grosvenor House West Marina Beach Dubai Add to eGuidebook
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$245-$1,729 
Built: 2005 
Dubai Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Managed by Le Meridien Hotels and carrying the "Royal" designation (yet divorced from the chain's Starwood Preferred Guest program), the Grosvenor House opened in 2005. The hotel is located amidst the building frenzy of Dubai Marina, within walking distance of Jumeirah Beach and a short drive from t... Read Entire Review »