D-Resort Šibenik

Croatia’s Dalmatian coast has never had to work very hard to attract landscape junkies or seafaring lifers. It’s got a bit of everything: here, the handsomely rugged Dinaric Alps peter themselves out in a patchwork of national parkland, olive groves, and vineyards. Zoom in a bit to the Krka river estuary, emptying placidly into the Adriatic, and you’ll find a narrow spit of land just south of the Renaissance stronghold of Šibenik. Right on the tip of that peninsula, luxuriating in the clement Mediterranean breeze, sits a four-story, teardrop-shaped contemporary edifice, flanked by a fleet of swanky yachts. Welcome to D-Resort Šibenik.

Sensibly, the proprietors didn’t attempt to outdo the old town’s arched, cobblestoned, clay-roofed grandeur; it’s quite correctly considered impossible beauty, after all. Instead, the 63 rooms (plus 6 suites and 3 villas) espouse bright, roomy, 21st-century minimalism, highly polished and equipped with gorgeous hardwood flooring. The view is nearly the entire point, which explains the floor-to-ceiling windows; it works both ways, too, shedding supernaturally vivid light on the interiors as long as the sun’s out.

There’s something of a dining and drinking surplus at D-Resort, comprising a pair of restaurants and no less than four wine-and-cocktail establishments. We won’t enumerate them all — you’ll thank us later for the surprise element — but we’ll certainly point you towards Skyline, the top-floor eatery, for its intoxicating mix of haute-Mediterranean tapas, supreme views of the old town and marina, and after-dark DJ roster. We hear you can also snag some scrumptious Asian fusion plates at the yacht club. Should decision-making prove a challenge, best mull it over in the infinity pool.