Our 2025 winners demonstrate the ongoing strength of classic leisure destinations like Switzerland, Italy and the French Riviera. But of course, great hotels aren’t confined to stops on the Grand Tour. Our favorite discoveries in the past year include a magnificently restored palace in the Indian countryside, a hilltop aerie in the Caribbean and — this year’s Hideaway of the Year — a luxury resort on the coast of Montenegro.

At all of these properties, we posed as Andrew Harper members, keeping our true identities secret, and we paid the regular rate. Few companies are still willing to incur such expenses, but we’re proud to carry on the tradition of undercover travel that dates to the Hideaway Report’s founding in 1979.

HIDEAWAY OF THE YEAR

One&Only Portonovi
Herceg Novi, Montenegro

Pint-size Montenegro packs in a gallon’s worth of attractions, and now, it also offers several luxury hotels. The best of them is One&Only Portonovi, set on the Bay of Kotor about halfway between Dubrovnik’s international airport and the formerly Venetian city of Kotor itself. With 111 rooms and 12 villas, this chic resort is larger than most Hideaway of the Year winners, but on our visit, it felt tranquil and far removed from the cares of the world.