Domaine Les Oliviers de Palombaggia

When staying on an island with its own unique language and character, it makes sense to stay in a hotel that’s properly rooted in the place. Enter Domaine Les Oliviers de Palombaggia, a hillside boutique hotel that serves as a refreshing antidote to the contemporary hotels that have opened on Corsica in recent years. Instead of conventional rooms, the hotel has stone cottages inspired by the island’s traditional architecture. And it’s not just family-run, it’s family-built — one member of the local Bougon family, a daughter, designed the villas, while a father-and-son duo handled the carpentry.

Each cottage is one of a kind, but most are rustic-chic with whitewashed walls, stone floors, and wood-beamed ceilings. Several come with indoor-outdoor kitchens and large wooden decks with plunge pools, and superior villas have larger private pools, outdoor showers, and spacious bathrooms with freestanding soaking tubs. There’s peace, quiet, and privacy galore, thanks to an abundance of olive trees and native shrubbery surrounding each cottage, so it’s easy to forget you’re in a hotel at all. It’s fitting that there’s no restaurant on-site, though breakfast can be delivered to villas on request and there’s local wine and cheese available in the afternoon. The hotel is located on the road between the port village of Porto-Vecchio and the idyllic Palombaggia beach, both an easy drive away.