For the coast
Empire Beach Resort
Dhërmi · Albanian Riviera
For years this was the Mediterranean coast no one had. That is over. Albania drew more than 11.7 million visitors in 2024, a record, and the money followed: a Marriott rising over the Vlora marina, an MGallery at Palasa, a billion-dollar plan for Sazan island offshore. The much-delayed Vlora airport, once it opens, will put the Riviera within a short transfer. For now the way in is Tirana, or Corfu and a ferry across.
Dhërmi sits on a slope of the Ceraunian mountains, a white-stone village looking down at the Ionian. Locals call the shore below it Drymades. The resemblance everyone reaches for is a Greek island, and it is no accident: the people here are largely ethnic Greek and still speak an old Himariote Greek. Empire holds a private beach a five-minute drive from the village, with pools stepped toward the water and adults-only calm. Around seventy rooms and suites, from sea-view doubles to junior, executive and duplex suites, in a clean contemporary key rather than anything grand.
On a stay in July 2026, the things that hold up are the calm and the upkeep. The rooms are spare and minimal, the whole place is kept very clean, and the staff are courteous without hovering. It is unshowy in a way this coast could use more of.
Sanur is the reason to book dinner in. The à la carte kitchen cooks fresh seafood in front of you and keeps a sushi night by the sea, with cocktails and a broad cellar to go with it. It is beach dining done with care, not a destination restaurant, and on this coast that is already rare.
The Albanian Riviera is the Mediterranean's last stretch to be discovered, and polish is still thin on the ground. Empire is the most composed base in Dhërmi right now: a four-star, not a grande dame, and it does not pretend otherwise. For a foothold on this coast, at this moment, it is the easy call.
