Hotel AM Meer & Spa

The resort towns on the northern German island of Rügen present quite a different image of the European beach holiday. Ibiza this is not; it’s a much mellower scene, and a somewhat less crowded one as well. A simple, clean-lined modern hotel like the AM Meer & Spa, set on the beachside pedestrian promenade in the town of Binz, feels just the right speed. It’s neither ostentatious nor austere — just an attractive, well-run sixty-room hotel and spa, all oriented toward the sea.

Except for the handful of single rooms, all the accommodations come with a private deck, the better for taking in the sunlight and sea air. Inside, the emphasis remains on the views. There are glass doors and picture windows practically everywhere you look, most of them facing Prorer Wiek Bay or the wooded hills. A maritime theme runs through it all, but it’s applied lightly — oak flooring patterned to suggest drift-wood, coral-shaped lamps, the occasional porthole window.

Just out the door is a pristine private beach, and at the end of the day there’s a stylish little bar and restaurant to retire to. And if it’s not all sufficiently relaxing already, an extensive spa is more than up to the task of busting any stubborn, residual stress.