Villa Nai 3.3

Croatia may not be as plentifully supplied with extraordinary hotels as its neighbor across the Adriatic, but the best of them are up there with the most inspiring hotels in the world. Among them is Villa Nai 3.3, the work of the Croatian architect Nikola Bašić, whose plan called for the excavation of the interior of a hillside on the Dalmatian island of Dugi Otok — halfway between Venice and Dubrovnik — and whose low-profile exterior structures are built from the stone extracted from the caves.

It’s set on an estate with a century-old olive mill, which is still in production today. And while from outside you’d be hard pressed to see the resemblance, from inside the “landlocked yacht” concept of the hotel is clear — the eight rooms and suites are laid out a bit like ships’ cabins, though unusually spacious ones, and each of them frames its own unique view of either the olive groves or the seascape in the distance.

Villa Nai’s restaurant puts the housemade olive oil to fine use, serving a menu that’s as true as possible to the culinary history of the island, and uses locally raised meats and vegetables and fresh-caught Adriatic seafood. There’s a spa and an indoor pool, and a second outdoor infinity pool — more ambitious guests hike, dive, or set sail on a variety of local seafaring expeditions.