OO Portonovi Montenegro - In the media

The One&Only is the perfect place from which to discover the ‘world’s smallest big country’, says Lauren Ho. A Balkan country set on the Adriatic Sea with Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia as its neighbours, this magnificent rolling landscape is most impressive along its coastline which, at not even 300km in length, packs a mighty punch with soaring mountains that loom majestically over crystal-clear waters.

Just over an hour’s drive south from Dubrovnik, Boka Bay (also known as the Bay of Kotor) is a breathtaking natural beauty where thickly pine-covered mountains run down to clear waters, and the shore is dotted with pretty medieval towns. Set on 1.8km of the bay’s rippling coastline, One&Only Portonovi – which opened in May 2021 – draws on the local Italianate architecture of those towns, with arched windows, stone colonnades and terracotta roofs standing proud over palm-filled gardens that run down a sandy (manmade) beach.

‘The most beautiful encounter between land and sea,’ Lord Byron allegedly said of Montenegro, and the One&Only group’s debut in Europe, fashioned as a contemporary take on a Venetian palazzo and perched on the water’s edge, could be described as exactly that.

This group’s first European resort promises to make Montenegro the summer hotspot du jour, where you can imbibe the old school magic of the Tivat Riviera. This is where the rich and famous will frolic with plenty of superyachts (the Portonovi Marina can accommodate the world’s largest yachts up to 800-feet ). Not to mention the glorious food, courtesy of Giorgio Locatelli, which will be among the best in Montenegro. And of course, The Espace Chenot Health Wellness Spa will be a destination retreat in its own right.

While Croatia may get the lion’s share of attention when it comes to the Adriatic Coast, don’t sleep on Montenegro, an emerging playground for jetsetters. Case in point: The One&Only is opening their first property there, One & Only Portonovi, which sits on the Bay of Boka Kotorska. It will have its own private beach, secluded pools, and pristine Venetian courtyards.