Nobu Hotel Marbella

Though it feels like one of those overnight success stories, they’ve been laying the groundwork for years. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s restaurants were the advance guard, spreading their distinctive Japanese-Peruvian cuisine all over the globe. And with the ground suitably prepared, the second wave is the Nobu hotels, famously co-owned by the actor Robert De Niro. With the Nobu Hotel Marbella, they’ve established a luxe, elegant, adults-only escape in one of Europe’s great coastal resort towns.

The rooms and suites are uniformly luxe and understatedly stylish, starting out large and quickly growing to gargantuan proportions. We could go on and on about the design and the detailing but suffice to say they’re the modern luxury state of the art. Nobu’s advantage lies in its restaurant, and in its broader setting. The cuisine here, naturally, incorporates Andalusian flavors, and it does so under the direction of Eleni Ioanna Manousou, the first female head chef in Nobu’s history.

There’s a Six Senses spa, in case you were wondering if any aspect of the experience would be any less than top-shelf. And beyond the hotel proper you’ll have VIP access to La Suite, the most exclusive club in town, and you’re right on the doorstep of the rest of Plaza Village at Puente Romano, with its celebrated restaurants and nightlife.