Falkensteiner Hotel & Spa Iadera

The Adriatic coast of Croatia has been beautiful since basically forever, at least in its natural state — it’s only fairly recently, however, that the travel infrastructure has had time to catch up a bit with the stunning landscapes and seascapes. And Punta Skala is no different. This peninsula, a few minutes’ drive from the town of Zadar, and a few hours up the coast from more familiar locales like Dubrovnik and Split, has put itself on the international travel map in a big way, thanks to the advent of the massive, modern, and luxe Falkensteiner Hotel & Spa Iadera.

With a little luck the shade of Adriatic blue that’s used as the Falkensteiner’s primary accent color will someday be as famous as the Aegean blue that’s the first choice for so many Greek island hotels. Along with substantial expanses of white and plenty of blond wood, it lends a certain nautical aspect to the proceedings. But these rooms and suites are sunnier and more spacious than any ship’s cabins — they start at thirty-two square meters, complete with full-size balconies, and they only go up from there.

In fact there’s not much about this gleaming modern resort that’s not relentlessly state-of-the-art. The Acquapura spa is somewhere between “quite large” and “monumental,” equipped with four pools, including one for children, as well as hammam, saunas, steam baths and all the fixings. There’s more meeting space than you’ll realistically need, as well as a handful of restaurants serving the local cuisine — Dalmatian, if you’re keeping track, which we’re told bears a strong Italian influence, rarely a bad thing. Two of them happen to be located on the beach — which, if you retain one fact about Croatia, let it be the fact that the beaches, and the islands in the Mediterranean beyond, are nothing short of extraordinary.